After he qualified for the 2020 National Finals of Rodeo but was sent home following a positive COVID-19 test, Bellville native Caleb Smidt, and his horse Pockets, returned for the 2021 NFR and secured their third World Championship in tie-down roping last weekend in Las Vegas, NV.

Smidt previously won the tie-down World Championship in 2015 and 2018 and added a third belt buckle and saddle to the collection after he won the average with a time of 83.1 seconds on 10 head for a payoff of $69,234.

He also won the aggregate with an eight-second cushion over Haven Meged, who finished as runner up, to help finish second in the all-around standings with a purse of $313,887 behind only Stetson Dell Wright ($585,850).

Out of the 10 NFR rounds, Smidt finished in the top six seven times – and won Round 3 – to help compile nearly a third of his total earnings of $318,455.60.

In a tight Round 3, Smidt won with a time of 7.1 seconds ahead of the second, third and fourth-place finishers who recorded times of 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 seconds respectively. He added second-place finishes in Rounds 4 and 5, finished third in Round 8, fourth in Round 10, fifth in Round 6 and sixth in Round 9.

Smidt said in post-performance interviews that he made an adjustment with Pockets heading into the third day of competition which proved to be a key to victory.

“The horse was great, been a little soft these first couple of days so I put a little different jerk line on him and probably should have waited until they run the big ones back in there because we were up against the smaller pen tonight and he’s a little strong but he let me do my run,” Smidt said in a Dec. 4 interview with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “I felt good, had a good calf, didn’t love her when we tied her, she wasn’t one of the layups this morning but she was dang sure good so I can’t complain.”

The roper-steed connection has been building as Smidt and Pockets competed in their sixth NFR together in 2021.

“He’s 14 now, I’ve had him since he was 7 so I’ve ridden him at six – should have been seven had I competed last year – NFRs, rode him on every calf since I bought him. I ride him all summer long and he’s been durable, takes on big arenas and small arenas,” Smidt told the Wrangler Network after Round 3. “He’s awesome and gives me a chance to win each and every time. Big calves, little calves, fast ones – whatever, I feel like I’ve got a chance. When you’re back in the box with that kind of confidence in your horse, it’s all on you then just gotta do your job.”

The duo both got their jobs done on the largest stage of rodeo in the Thomas and Mack Center and brought home the reward they were hoping for.

“It’s awesome, you ain’t going to rope anywhere better than the Thomas and Mack,” Smidt told PRCA. “The loud crowd, they’re diehard rodeo fans and a lot of them are calf roping fans so anytime you get to rope in front of them for $26,000 a night, it’s a good day.”

After he was crowned the world tiedown roping champion, he was sure to thank the support system that helped him get there.

“Unbelievable, it’s still just a dream I’m here,” Smidt told the Cowboy Channel in a Dec. 11 interview. “I give all the glory to God, because without Him none of this would be possible. My horse Pockets, my family, they push me to be better and better every day – no words to explain it really.”

He acknowledged he would have liked to compete for the world title last year but was still glad to be among rodeo’s best.

“Any time you qualify for NFR and they don’t let you compete it’ll get you kind of mad inside,” Smidt said Dec. 11. “I wanted it from the start of this deal and I was just more blessed to be here to rope again. It’s not easy to make it even to the NFR and really when you make it but you don’t get to compete, it’s kind of a shot in the back but I’m just glad to be here, glad to be back and be able to rope this year.”

The world title capped a 2021 season that saw Smidt earn four all-around victories (Gladewater (Texas) Round-Up Rodeo; Coleman (Texas) PRCA Rodeo; Kansas (Phillipsburg) Biggest Rodeo; Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo (Abilene, Kansas)), two wins in team roping with B.J. Dugger (Coleman (Texas) PRCA Rodeo; XIT Rodeo & Reunion (Dalhart, Texas)) and four tie-down roping championships (Black Hills Roundup (Belle Fourche, South Dakota); Crooked River Roundup (Prineville, Oregon); Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo (Abilene, Kansas); Buffalo (Texas) Pro Rodeo presented by Bill Fick Ford).