Rodeo, America’s cowboy showcase, was the boyhood dream of Mount Vernon native Chris Goodwin. Now 32, Goodwin is living that dream, calf roping at rodeos around the area. 

That included last Friday in front of the packed grandstand area at the 2021 Knox County Fair.

Goodwin, a Mount Vernon High School graduate in 2007, went to Hocking College and received a farrier science degree and was also in the natural resources law program. In his spare time, he shod horses at a racetrack.

“After that, I went down to Texas, managed a ranch, shod horses and rodeoed a little bit down there,” Goodwin said. “Then I moved back. I was born and raised right here. My parents raised some beef cattle here in Mount Vernon, so it's a way-of-life type of deal for us. We just came out here to have fun at the rodeo.”

The Goodwin family also owns Jeph’s BBQ – one of the most recognizable vendors at the Knox County Fair. 

Goodwin, who roped and tied a calf in an impressive 13 seconds flat in the tie-down roping competition on Friday, also does team roping with his brothers, Tim and Rufus. 

The rest of his family and his many friends watch from the crowd, but he cannot let that distract him. It takes all of his focus to chase down a speeding calf while on the back of a galloping horse, make a perfect toss of a lasso so it lands around the calves’ neck, and quickly dismount the horse. As soon as he gets to the ground, he has to scramble to the calf, firmly put him on his back and tie off his four legs. All of this as seconds tick off the judges’ clock.  

“The home crowd is good, but sometimes, you just have to tune the crowd out and take care of business,” Goodwin said. “You have still got to go in, make your runs and try to draw a check somewhere.”

Although he has been roping and tying calves since he was 15, he got into team roping for a while. In the process, he got away from tie-down roping for a few years.

“I'm starting to get back into it now,” Goodwin said. “The body's holding up, so I can keep going.”

His parents own a hundred acres of land just off the west side of Mount Vernon, where he was raised. His place is smaller but gives him the room to practice his craft.

“I've got a few cows at my place,” Goodwin said. “I've only got 10 acres there, five horses and a couple of calves there that I practice on.”

Knox County has some big rodeo fans, but Texas is one of the real Meccas for the sport.

“Rodeo in Texas is another way of life for the people down there,” Goodwin said. “Just like the way people talk about Texas football. Texas rodeo is the same down there. Everybody lives for rodeo down there.”

Goodwin even got a taste of the rodeo circuit in other states.

“I did a little bit,” He said. “I went to Alabama for a little bit, Georgia for a little bit and Louisiana, but I didn't venture too far.”

For Goodwin, and the other riders, rodeo is a labor of love and, with a little luck, there might be some prize money at the end of the day.

“A couple of weeks ago, I went to Michigan and got in the rodeo up there” said Goodwin. “I ended up drawing a second place. Not as good as I wanted to be, but I ended up drawing some money and putting some money back in my pocket. So, that was okay. It paid for my trip. That was all right. It was fun. I had fun doing it.”