Stories From The Hart: Jade Corkill

The morning started out cold.  Not just cold.  Bitter cold for those of us who are use to our southern winters.  The sun was not yet up when we arrived on site at the Fightin’ 7 Ranches, owned by Kyle Caylor and his wife, Susan Caylor of Stephenville Trailers.

The four of us (Tracy & Amanda of Hart Trailer, and two additional members of Intellego Media) met Kellie, from Stephenville Trailer dark and early.  Kellie was a big help and helped make sure that everyone was on the same page and same schedule.  She helped us to have a really successful day shooting.

Shortly after our arrival Jade Corkill and his crew started arriving.  Jade was fresh off of the road from the night before.  Regardless, he showed up on set with a smile on his face, ready to go to work.

If you aren’t familiar with Jade Corkill, we will take a second to catch you up.  Jade is a professional heeler, a three-time world champion and a family man.  Jade currently lives in Stephenville, Texas but his roots stem from Nevada.  One might suspect that Jade first picked up a rope, not out of interest but perhaps out of necessity due to his family’s lifestyle.  He started helping his family rope and doctor cows on the ranch as a young child.  No matter the reason that he found himself with a rope in his hand, we are glad that he did.  Jade started roping professionally in 2005 and was named Rookie of the Year in heeling the following year in 2006.  The rest is pretty much history.  He is one of the most fun heelers in the industry to watch rope.  He makes it look effortless and there is no doubt of the amount of talent that he possesses.

Jade is married to his beautiful wife, Haley Corkill, and together they have two boys, Colby and Kelton Corkill.  Jade’s sister Bailey is also an accomplished roper and she was nice enough to join us on a cold morning in Texas.

If you think Jade looks in his element with a rope in his hand, you should see him with his family.  The Corkill family are a breath of fresh air.  A midst all of the success, they still know what really matters.  One another.  To hear Jade talk about his family, helping his family as a kid, roping with his sister, we were easily convinced of the convictions of his heart.

With donuts and coffee on hand we quickly went to work capturing Jade in his element.  He talked to us about his career, about his childhood, about his family.  It was nice to sit down and talk to a world champion outside of all of the bright lights.  Jade is the real deal.  He just is who he is.  After we had the opportunity to interview him he and his sister Bailey, and his eldest son, Colby saddled up the horses before heading to the arena.

We were able to watch Jade and Bailey take a few trips down the arena, which was really something on it’s own.

Then we had the chance to see Jade go to work with Colby.  Jade had the biggest, most obvious smile on his face when he was watching Colby.  Again…those priorities.

What did Jade have to say about his Hart Trailers?  Well, we’ll let him tell you that himself.  Find out why he chose Hart, not once but twice.  You can get Jade’s story from the Hart below:

All in all, hanging out with Kellie and the Corkills was an opportunity that we enjoyed through and through.  It is always a fun thing to get to connect with your customers on a different level, one outside of the office.

Left to Right: Bailey Corkill on Shy, Colby Corkill on Taco, Jade Corkill on Rosie, Kelton Corkill on Caveman (2x PRCA/AQHA Heel Horse of the Year), and Haley Corkill

Jade, Haley, Bailey, Colby, and Kelton, thank you.  Thank you for giving your time out of a crazy hectic schedule to sit down and talk to us.  The pleasure was ours and we are so proud to have you guys pulling a Hart down the road.

Kellie Hohertz, thank you for working out all of the little details and for getting the steers up and every other little and big thing that you did to help us pull this off.  Thank you for representing our brand well!

Kyle & Susan Caylor, thank you for taking amazing care of another Hart customer and for opening up your ranch to us.  Thank you for your hospitality, customer service and commitment to Hart Trailer.

If you were wondering…it never did warm up a whole lot.  But when you get to meet Jade, Haley and the entire crew, it is entirely worth it.

Here are a few more photos taken from the shoot and behind the scenes: