COEUR d’ALENE – The Gem State Stampede PRCA Rodeo begins tonight at the North Idaho State Fair, but Jacob Paul will have to wait until Saturday for his appearance in tiedown roping.
He is ready.
The Post Falls-raised man said he would probably need just over 8 seconds, but would like to achieve a time of 7.4 seconds. In case you were wondering, that’s fast.
“That’s probably what it takes to win this rodeo,” Paul said. “That’s our goal. We can definitely try.”
Paul will be one of several hundred rodeo participants competing for prize money of around $200,000.
Cowboys engage in bull and bronco riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, and calf roping (also known as tiedown roping).
The grandstands will be packed for the sold-out rodeo that began Wednesday. Tonight is Xtreme Bulls, and then the rodeo continues Friday through Sunday. Grandstand seating is free on Sunday and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Dave Paul, Jacob’s father and chairman of the Gem State Stampede Rodeo Committee, said some of the toughest cowboys from across the country are in town, including world champion tiedown roper Shad Mayfield.
“The field is full of talent,” he said.
The man from Post Falls counts his son among them.
“He’s a calf catcher,” Dave Paul said.
Dave Paul was a bull rider for 15 years before retiring. He moved his family to Post Falls nearly 30 years ago and introduced his sons, Alex and Jacob, to the rodeo lifestyle. The boys practiced lassoing and riding almost daily.
Jacob Paul became interested in the sport at age 1. He grew up at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds and helped build the arena where the rodeo is held, his father said.
He turned out to be very good.
“His whole passion was calf catching,” Dave Paul said. “He loved it.”
Jacob Paul lives in Blanchard with his wife and two children who follow in his cowboy boots. His three-year-old daughter recently competed in her first rodeo at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.
“This is how Jacob grew up and this is how he wants to raise his children,” said Dave Paul.
Jacob has been doing tiedown roping since he was 12 years old. He has also tried team roping and bronco and bull riding.
He believes he will be fine when the calf breaks. He follows it on his seven-year-old horse Zena, catches the calf with a lasso, dismounts, takes it down and ties three legs.
If he pulls a good calf that comes out of the gate sharp and runs straight, he hopes to break the 8 second mark.
“We’ll see,” he said.
Jacob Paul has competed at a high level for years and won his fair share of prize money, but he also has a family and a job that no longer gives him full attention. Today he runs Big Iron Fabrication and Field Service.
Still, he travels and competes when he can. Tiedown roping is something he has done his entire life and wants to continue doing and teaching his children.
“I make sure my children are involved and experience the lifestyle I grew up in,” he said.
He admires his father.
“This is my biggest hero,” said Jacob Paul.
He broke his arm and suffered the typical scrapes and bruises that come with a rodeo, but at 29, he still enjoys rodeo.
“This is my life. At the end of the day, I’m a cowboy and nobody will ever take that away from me,” he said.
Dave Paul gives instructions during preparations for the PRCA Rodeo at the North Idaho State Fair on Wednesday.
Sisters Mardi Moran (left) and Macy Moran make sure the calves are put into the fenced pen for the North Idaho State Fair on Wednesday.
Children pose with the character Bumblebee from the movie “Transformers” at the North Idaho State Fair on Wednesday. From left: Elias Anderson, Avery Tarbutton, Asa Tarbutton and Merrick Tarbutton.
