A Tale of Two Tails: Wall neighbors win big at Rodeo Houston

SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Blaize Benson and Stratley Strube took home impressive accolades and statewide recognition during the 2024 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, earning massive amounts of money and smashing records in the process. You’ve heard about their success — now get ready to experience their journeys.

A Blaize of glory

Blaize, 15, raised Woozy, a Simmental steer that would grow up to become the Grand Champion Steer of RodeoHouston 2024. The steer would sell for $1 million at auction, tying with the current RodeoHouston record. One thing’s for certain, in Blaize’s eyes: The experience was second to none.

“It feels awesome,” Blaize said. “This is something I’ve dreamed about since third grade, and I finally achieved it. It’s a dream come true.”

Blaize remembers first purchasing Woozy on Memorial Day weekend in 2023. He also remembers the tireless months of work that was poured into caring for the steer, tending to the animal’s every need and sticking to a strict regimen to ensure that Woozy was an optimal specimen for steer shows.

“Just waking up in the morning, feeding him morning and night, washing him, health care, hide care, exercise and just checking on him and making sure we’re on target for where we want him to be,” Blaize said.

Such efforts required several personal sacrifices, ranging from time spent with friends after school or during the many rodeos the Benson family competes in. Blaize was more than willing to give it up in pursuit of his aspirations, however.

“There’s been multiple occasions where people have wanted to hang out after school,” Blaize said. “But like I said, this is something I’ve dreamed about so I keep that goal in mind, I just focus focus and stay on the grind.”

RELATED: Wall student sells steer for $1 million

All of the hard work, dedication and sacrifices came together to rear a steer that would hopefully win the judges over. According to the Benson family, steer judges consider several factors when determining a steer’s ranking in the competition, including muscle mass, behavior and overall well-being.

“There are a bunch of different things you could look at first, but most people look at muscle mass, structure and how he presents himself in the ring,” Blaize said.

Blaize wouldn’t have to hope forever, though, as he would finally see the success he strove for at RodeoHouston. After winning the breed drive in the Simmental category with Woozy, the steer was taken to pre-judging, where he would officially earn his Grand Champion Steer status.

“We have a pre-judging where the judge and all of the breed champions go out there, and that’s when the actual selection was made,” Blaize said.

Afterward, Blaize and Woozy were taken to the floor of the NRG Arena to show off the new Grand Champion. The anxiety and excitement of the moment are still seared into Blaze’s mind like a cattle brand.

“It’s the biggest amount of joy you could ever imagine,” Blaize said. “Just the amount of dedication and work that goes into this and it finally paying off, it’s a dream come true, it’s a blessing.”

Woozy would then sell for $1 million at auction, approximately $925,000 of which was either put back into the rodeo or given to the Houston Rodeo Education Fund. Blaize left RodeoHouston with $75,000 and one inexhaustible ideal: Hard work can pay off.

“Just keep following and chasing your dreams,” Blaize said. “It’s still a dream, and I’m hungry for another one. I believe that if I work as hard as I did on him, then it’ll come true.”

A winning Stratley-gy

Stratley, 11, raised Johnny, a lamb that would one day become the Reserve Grand Champion Lamb of RodeoHouston 2024. Like Blaize, she feels the excitement of her accomplishment as though it happened yesterday.

“It was really exciting,” Stratley said. “It probably won’t really feel real until next year when I realize ‘I got Reserve Grand Champion?’ I’m shocked.”

Her feelings weren’t unexpected, however — RodeoHouston had always been the end goal of her plans for Johnny. She recalls how her family came to own Johnny after she went on a cross-country trip with them to pick up the sheep.

“My dad went up into Iowa, and me, him and my grandpa went and found my sheep,” Stratley said. “As soon as he got home, we got him into the barn, named him and started getting him ready for Houston.”

And get him ready she did. Stratley spent hours each day taking care of Johnny as part of a process that would slowly get the sheep show-ready.

“We had to wash his legs all the time, we had to train him, I hand walked him in our front yard,” Stratley said. “We had to take him to a bunch of different shows to get him ready and be in the routine of things when he actually went to Houston. Just a lot of socialization with other things, hearing different noises, calming him down and getting him hyper.”

Johnny wasn’t an easy beast to tame, though, and it came with a heavy amount of personal sacrifice. But after 11 months of dedicated effort, Stratley eventually shaped him into the pristine sheep she needed him to be.

“There are days when she has to tell her friends no or she’s not able to go do certain things because [lambs] are a 24-hour, everyday commitment,” Brooke Strube, Stratley’s mother, said. “When you’re going for it that big and you have set really high goals, it just takes that kind of motivation and commitment to stick with it and see it through to the end.”

It wouldn’t be long before Stratley and Johnny would hit the stadium floor at RodeoHouston. She vividly remembers the feelings of nervousness and excitement that flooded her head as she showed off her sheep.

“I was really nervous,” Stratley said. “A bunch of people were watching, and it was a lot of people I know. It was just really nerve-racking, but it was also exciting. It’s probably one of my favorite shows, so it’s always fun and exciting to be in Houston.”

Lambs have some variations from steers when it comes to judging criteria, though the two have significant overlaps as well. According to the Strubes, judges tend to look for traits such as appearance, muscle mass and balance to determine which lambs are worthy of the champion title.

“It’s all grading their market readiness,” Brooke Strube said.

Stratley and Johnny worked their way up the gauntlet of competitions, eventually making it past the championship breed drive and subsequent preview. The judge then chose the champion sheep, after which Stratley learned that Johnny had been chosen as the Reserve Grand Champion.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I was shaking,” Stratley said. “I was really excited.”

Johnny would sell at auction for $240,000, setting a record by surpassing every previous Reserve Grand Champion Lamb sale at RodeoHouston according to its coverage of the Junior Market Lamb and Goat Auction. She took home much more than money, though: She took home a life lesson rooted in dedication and hard work.

“I have to stay dedicated, and I have to sacrifice a lot of things,” Stratley said. “If you put in the work, good things will come out in the end.”

Two families, one fenceline

Blaize and Stratley may not raise the same kind of livestock, care for animals in the same way or go to all the same rodeos, but they have one big thing in common — their neighborhood. The Bensons and Strubes have lived next door to each other in Wall, Texas, for roughly seven years now, and they’ve been close friends for even longer.

“We’ve been family friends with them since the kids were born,” Brooke Strube said. “Bryan and Slayton, which are the two dads, both have grown up in the industry, showing, raising and judging livestock. They have obviously passed that down to their kids, and as families, we’ve stock-showed together.”

United by their shared passion for showing livestock, the families often look to each other for inspiration and motivation whenever either of them struggles.

“There are a lot of times when I come home and we’re tired and thinking, ‘Man, this is really a night that we need to go out there,’ and I look over there and their whole family is out there working,” Bryan Benson, Blaize’s father, said. “It’s really motivating to see their work ethic and how much time they put into it.”

The parents of both families also feel a great sense of pride and joy when they see their children excel in their passions.

“They’re different species, steers and sheep, but it’s all geared at being the same life lessons for these kids,” Brooke Strube said. “Just to see their family have success is incredible. It has been a crazy fun year, opportunity and blessing that we’ve all gotten to share together.”

With 2024’s RodeoHouston having come and gone, Blaize, Stratley and their families are far from riding off into the sunset. Regardless of where the trail leads them next, though, there’s one thing they all know for certain — dedication, hard work and success are best fostered with friends and family.

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