COMPANION PASS: Haley Proctor

Hi everyone, I’m Haley Proctor, proud wife of Shane Proctor. You might have seen me performing at rodeos across the country and you might have even seen Shane out on the arena floor as “designated prop coordinator”, as he likes to call it. What some of you may not know is that I have been performing at Pro Rodeos since the age of six and my family has fully instilled this lifestyle in me from the time I was old enough to load up in the car. I’ve never known anything different. My Dad was a PRCA Bull Rider, my Papa had me on a horse nearly every day while he ranched and roped in his free time. My Mom would hold the fort down when my Dad headed out on a summer run and my Uncle was the specialty act and performer of the family, and the sole reason I was in trouble all the time for standing up and hanging off my horses when I wasn’t supposed to. He was also the reason my parents said that if I was going to do this then I needed to do it right, which led to lots of hours in the arena at just five years old and my very first performance at six. I guess you could say that their companion passes were what led me to one day having my own, and then one of my husband’s.

Fast forward several years and I was sitting in a parking lot gearing up for the performance when a big white van that you could see for miles pulled in and there stepped out my future companion pass, Shane Proctor. I swear he fell in love with me that day because I tossed a football back to him at a pretty fair distance after he missed a throw and it ended up at my trailer. Or maybe it was in the Justin Sports Medicine trailer just a few weeks later when we were both getting the same treatment done and gritting our teeth because it hurt so bad (our running joke is that we’ve had more dates in Justin Sports Meds than anywhere else). Maybe it was the time at Dodge City when I asked him if he wanted to stand up on my horses and he said his legs burned for days afterwards. Or it just came down to the weeks after weeks that we were a familiar face to one another, and a smile that turned into a friendship on the road. It was several months later when he called and asked if he could stop in to one of my shows. I had four perfs that day and it got pretty long and grueling. He not only swung by to watch one show but stayed to watch all four, gave some kids that were performing a pep talk, helped clean stalls, and even rode and worked a couple of horses with me that evening. I knew right then and there that he was the one I wanted to spend forever with.

Although Shane had already made a name for himself long before I came along, and I have always been his number 1 fan, honestly I’ve always just wanted to make a name for myself as well. I never wanted to be just ‘Shane Proctor’s girlfriend’, or now just ‘Shane Proctor’s wife’. Although that’s a title I carry proudly, I still have my own goals and own ambitions on top of his. Our job is to be as supportive of one another as we can without taking from the other. To be successful in this sport requires some selfishness and with both of us setting out on two different paths each year that can take a toll. Every year before setting out we talk about our goals, we pray over our horses, our rigs, and each other, and we give each other the biggest pep talks we can. Even with all of that the road is still hard. No one see’s the behind the scenes of it all. The all night drives, the being stuck on the side of the road in the middle of the night, the injuries, the strain on horses, the wear and tear on our bodies, the fear that if one of us does get hurt that we are out financially as well. Not to mention the loneliness that creeps in when you haven’t seen your husband in weeks. Most of the time I stay too busy to let those feelings sink in but it’s when the rodeos are over, all of your friends are heading out, and it’s quiet that it all hits you.

All in all the highs have always outweighed the lows. Shane has had victory after victory in his career from his time spent in the PBR, winning events such as Calgary Stampede and Iron Cowboy, to his 2011 PRCA World Championship, and the 2016 NFR Average. My career has treated me pretty well in its own right; back in 2007 I was able to win the Trick Riding World Title, and the day I turned 18 I bought my specialty act card and never looked back. Since then I have been cast and worked the stunt work in two movies, Cowgirls N’ Angels and Dakotas Summer, I’ve worked some of my absolute dream rodeos, and was nominated as the 2019 and 2020 Top Five Specialty Act of the Year. With all of that we could never have accomplished so much without the constant support of our friends and family. It really does take a village and I firmly believe we have the best. Not to mention having Shane there in your corner makes anything seem possible. He’s my biggest cheerleader when I need it and there to pick me up and dust me off when I fall… quite literally! Likewise, we’re a team and my job is to pick him up on his off days, when his head is drifting, or when he’s just really missing home. I’m there when he can’t physically untie his boot laces, or steps off of a plane with broken ribs, to cheering as loud as I can when he gets the round win from the back corner of the fairgrounds sitting on top of my horses waiting to go in. Shane is notorious for entering a rodeo I’m working for at least one perf even if it’s 7 hours out of the way! Teamwork makes the dream work (insert wink face!).

As far as the future holds, we never know what tomorrow will bring. This game is a young man’s sport for each of us and we both know that we can’t do it forever and we always knew there needed to be a back up plan. Shane and I are each just short of our education degrees, he also has his leather business, and I just started in real estate. We absolutely can’t wait to start a family and travel that way as well, but for now we’re taking each day that we get to live this amazing lifestyle as a blessing. Rodeo has always been our first love, but it’s also brought so much love to us along the way. Rodeo has given us friends, family, memories, and each other. To that we owe it all! We don’t ever know when the course will change but for now we are carrying our companion passes proudly, sharing them with the ones that make us who we are, and giving it all to the sport we love.