Balancing Horses and School: Ben Londo Rodeo Champion
By Ann Terry Hill
It's possible to mix business and pleasure successfully, says two-time Collegiate National All-Around Cowboy Ben Londo. “Try to be passionate about everything you are doing and stay focused."
Twenty-two year old Londo not only talks the talk---he walks the walk. Being a champion while going to school at the same time requires a lot more than wearing a championship belt buckle and sporting a 10X Stetson.
He's definitely a multi-tasker. Maintaining a 3.6 GPA at CalPoly in San Luis Obispo, he is in his senior year majoring in Construction Management. He plans to pursue this career once he graduates from college.
During the summer, he is working on starting his own construction related business, which allows him the freedom to rodeo almost every weekend. In fact, he and his traveling partners put thousands of miles on his Dodge Ram each year as they follow the rodeo circuit.
During the school year he cuts down his rodeo competitions a little, but he still manages to slip off to a few rodeos on the weekends.
“My major is such that I do a lot of work at school and can get away usually only on the weekends," Londo says. “I carry between 16 to 18 credit hours a term. Right now, I'm in school from 8am to 6pm three days a week, and 8 am to 3 pm one day. It is exciting. Currently I'm in a class where there are 10 teams of students made up of architects, landscape designers, construction managers, and engineers who are designing a parking structure for the school. The project covers everything from the research to designing to forecasting the actual cost."
After the class is over, if the school likes one of the designs, they can implement it.
Part of the secret to Londo's school rodeo balance is organization and good time management. On his bike ride to school each morning, he stops to care for two Quarter horses he is training. A friend takes care of them when he's on the road. He makes lists, and gets to school an hour or two early every day, where he maps out what he needs to accomplish that day, and tries to get it all done before class starts. Londo keeps in shape by hitting the gym after school and trying to stay active during rodeo downtimes. He is also careful about what he eats. And, he laughingly admits, he fits in time to sample a little of the plentiful entertainment that exists with college life.
Bareback riding and saddle bronc are his specialties in the arena.
“I love the thrill of climbing down on the back of a bucking horse, he says. “Keep trying. He has suffered through 2 broken legs, as well as several other injuries, but he persists. “I just can't wait for the next rodeo, he confides.
A love for all that you are doing seems to be the theme for Londo's success story.
“My advice," he says, “is to combine things you are passionate about in your work and extra curricular activities. I'm fortunate to be in a major that I want to pursue as a career. It's not like I'm sitting in the classroom all day being bored. I'm actually involved in projects day in and day out that truly interest me, and when the weekend rolls around its back to my true passion, Rodeo."
About the Author
Ann Terry Hill is a non-fiction writer, specializing in freelance travel, equestrian and Western writing. She is a native of Pendleton, OR, home of the world-famous Pendleton Round-Up.
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