For rodeo’s Ironman KC Jones, there’s no substitute

Next to the season-end Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the Wrangler Timed Event Championships is one of rodeo’s most exclusive fields. Invitations go to the top 20 cowboys in the world.

Accepting an invitation to the Guthrie, Okla., event means five straight nights of action. Each performance, competitors are asked to showcase their versatility in rodeo’s five timed events — heading, heeling, steer roping, steer wrestling and tie down. At the end of the five days, the competitor completing their 25 attempts in the shortest time is declared the winner and receives the informal title as professional rodeo’s Ironman.

For Burlington’s KC Jones, it’s a title that fits.

For the fifth time in 20 Guthrie appearances, Jones walked away from the final day of the Timed Event Championships earlier this month sporting the first-place check, a saddle and the winner’s gold belt buckle. Only Trevor Brazile, a six-time champion, can boast of more Ironman titles.

Jones, a former Ralston native, has also finished as the runner-up at the event on five occasions. Despite that success, he savored the taste of victory just a little more this time around.

“It had been 11 years since I won the last title,” said Jones, age 44. “This win was pretty sweet because it had been too long.”

One of the secrets to Jones’ success in the Timed Event Championships is good old-fashioned horse power.

“You’ve got your horses, and then you’ve got your extra horses and backup horses because you don’t know when you get there what kind of calves and steers they’re going to bring,” said Jones, who took a dozen horses to Oklahoma with him this season. “When you go to that thing, you darn sure want to have the right horse or you’re in for a long week.”

Then again, with 12 horses, five disciplines of competition each night and practice time in the arena, an appearance generally means several long days anyway.

“Let’s just say that nobody has to tell you to go to bed at night,” said Jones. “You just think, by the time you take care of all those horses, put shoes on them, put a saddle on each one, train them, keep them in shape, feed them, lift weights, jump rope, run and then ride — it makes for a long day.”

Even the size of the arena makes for a long day. Whereas most rodeo arenas are anywhere from 200 to 250 feet long and 300 feet is considered on the larger side, Guthrie’s Lazy E Arena logs in at a whopping 460 feet from one side to the other.

“It’s a big arena,” Jones said. “They give everything a fair head start down there, believe me.”

It’s a long day that’s worth it when you’re able to hold the $50,000 winner’s check at week’s end. Jones, however, will be the first to admit the money is only part of the motivation.

“The money is good, but most of the guys that go to that thing do it because they love to rope and bulldog and ride horses,” said Jones. “We do it because we love it.”

Jones has been doing it for a long time, too. His appearance this year marked the 20th time in the 27-year history of the Timed Event Championships.

“The first year I came down here and won it, I was so broke that if I didn’t win something I wouldn’t have been able to afford to drive home,” Jones said. “I’ve come a long way since then, but it really takes a team to win this thing.”

It also takes year-round effort. Jones notes that he’s constantly on the lookout for horses that he can use. He notes his bulldogging horse, for instance, was discovered while he was in Mississippi a year ago.

“Any time I’m travelling around, I’m looking,” Jones said. “I’m constantly keeping my eye on horses that I can use there.”

Simply finding a horse is half the battle. Then comes the training.

“You have to live with them for two months before that event,” Jones said of the horses. “You’re practicing year-round, but two or three months beforehand, you really have to start getting serious.”

With the 2012 Timed Event Championship in the rear view mirror now, Jones said he plans to continue riding in some of the bigger rodeos. If he happens to be at home in Burlington, he’ll return to his roots and compete in the Cody Nite Rodeo where he got his start.

Beyond that, will rodeo’s Ironman be back in Guthrie next spring to try and match Brazile as a six-time champion?

“Oh man, you’re thinking too small,” Jones said with a chuckle. “I’m going to go for seven.”