Tough Draw Tuesday: Jace Trosclair’s Drive to Keep Chasing the Dream
“I’m proud of you.”
Without context, those simple words may not seem significant, but they’ve had a lasting impact on Jace Trosclair.
On paper, Trosclair has built an impressive career. In 2024, he won more than $300,000, finished sixth in the world, and qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo. After a major groin injury and surgery kept him out of much of the following winter run, he’s spent the 2026 season fighting his way back to the top.
But the heart of his story begins in Chauvin, Louisiana, with a single mother who made a way for her sons, the people who told Trosclair to keep going when he wanted to come home, and four words from someone who understood exactly what it took for him to stay on the road.
Humble Beginnings
Trosclair didn’t grow up following a traditional path into professional rodeo.
He describes himself as a country kid in a part of Louisiana where there weren’t many others living the same way.
While other kids spent time hanging out after school, Trosclair went home, helped his grandfather around the house, and waited for his uncle to get off work. Then, he went with his uncle to check cattle across several properties. Together, they put out hay, fed cattle, and sometimes caught a few to buck.
“That’s how I learned to ride bulls, actually,” Trosclair said. “I was the dummy, pretty much.”
Trosclair tried his luck at a few amateur rodeos and youth associations near home, but his family wasn’t able to haul several hours every weekend in search of the next event.
Most of his early experience came from getting on what was available close to home and figuring things out as he went.
Rodeo wasn’t Trosclair’s only sport, either. He played basketball, football, baseball, and soccer, in addition to competing in track. Trosclair believes football may have given him an opportunity to play in college had he continued pursuing it.
At 16, however, rodeo became the priority.
“When I was 16, I got a job running equipment at an alligator farm,” Trosclair said. “That’s when I decided I’d save up some money so I could go rodeo when I turned 18.”
At the time, he didn’t know much about professional rodeo or the people whose careers had helped shape the sport.
“I didn’t know who Sage Kimzey was. I didn’t know who Donnie Gay was. I didn’t know any of that until I turned 18,” he said. “People made fun of me for it.”
One rodeo story Trosclair did know was Lane Frost’s.
“When I was really young, I had a babysitter while my mom was at work, and I’m pretty sure I watched 8 Seconds every day,” he recalled.
For years, the film was one of Trosclair’s primary connections to the sport of bull riding as he found his own path.
Trosclair worked, saved money, and got on bulls every chance he had. He quit basketball, and when his coaches tried to bring him back the following year, he knew where he wanted to be.
“I told them, ‘No, I’m going rodeo,’” he said.
Trosclair didn’t have a guaranteed path ahead of him, but he did have a dream and a mother willing to help him chase it.
The Foundation at Home
At the center of Trosclair’s early career was his mother, Heidi Price Trosclair, who raised Jace and his younger brother, Levi, as a single mother.
“She was everything to me,” he said. “She did everything she could for us to do what we wanted and follow our dreams.”
Heidi kept her sons involved in sports and found ways to provide what they needed even when there wasn’t much room in the family budget.
“She’s the reason me and my brother are where we are today,” Trosclair said. “Without her, I don’t know where we would be.”
When Trosclair decided to pursue rodeo, Heidi backed him every step of the way.
Finding His Way
As Trosclair began pursuing bull riding more seriously, building a career required him to leave the familiarity of South Louisiana and find people who could help him grow in the sport.
Family friend and early mentor DJ Domingue was among the first to tell him he needed to leave home in order to find success.
His uncle Tyler helped him take that first step by driving him to Kobe Radley’s house to get on practice bulls. Those trips connected Trosclair with Radley and Jacob O’Meara. As he ventured farther into professional rodeo, he later began riding with Jeff Askey and Dustin Bouquet.
Each relationship taught Trosclair more about what the sport would require.
In true cowboy fashion, his peers didn’t go easy on him.
“Those guys will make you figure it out on your own,” Trosclair said of Askey and Bouquet. “They’ll ignore you until you figure it out. But the only reason I know as much as I do is because of them.”
During those early years, another relationship began taking shape.
Trosclair first met Brad Hughes while working on LANE: Life | Legend | Legacy, before he had qualified for his first NFR. The project gave him an opportunity to be part of a story he had known since childhood.
“Getting to be part of LANE was a full-circle moment,” Trosclair said. “I went from watching 8 Seconds when I was little to getting to be part of that project.”
What began through the film grew into a lasting relationship with Tough Draw Sports that has continued through some of the most difficult and defining years of Trosclair’s career.
When the Road Got Heavier
While Trosclair was still building his professional rodeo career, his mother was diagnosed with cancer.
Heidi’s illness brought a new weight to the dream she had worked so hard to make possible for her son. Trosclair wanted to keep rodeoing, but he also understood what his mom and younger brother were facing at home.
When Trosclair officially signed with Tough Draw Sports, he wrote about watching Heidi fight cancer, the sacrifices she had made for her children, and the perspective her illness had given him.
If Heidi could keep fighting, Trosclair believed he could fight to make the NFR and chase the No. 1 position.
That perspective didn’t make the 2022 and 2023 seasons any easier.
Trosclair spent much of those years going back and forth between the rodeo road and home. Heidi wanted him to keep competing, but the distance made it impossible to stop wondering when he might receive the call that brought him home for good.
“In the back of my mind, I kept wondering, ‘When is it going to happen? When am I going to have to fly home?’” Trosclair recalled.
Even as her health declined, Heidi continued encouraging her son to stay on the road.
“She wanted me to stay out there and keep rodeoing, so I did,” he said.
Trosclair also knew Levi was enduring a different part of the experience. While Trosclair traveled, his younger brother remained close to Heidi and witnessed the hardest parts of her illness while he was still a teenager.
“I can’t imagine what my brother had to go through watching it all happen that young,” Trosclair said. “He’s the real champion right there.”
Then, a hurricane left the Trosclair family without a place to live. Tammy and DJ Domingue stepped in.
“When my mom was really sick, Tammy took her and my brother in, and they stayed at their house,” Trosclair said. “She was a retired nurse, so she knew how to help her with everything she needed. They lived there for about a year.”
Their decision changed what was possible for Trosclair.
Tammy and DJ opened their home, helped care for Heidi, and gave Levi a safe place to stay. At a time when Trosclair felt pulled between returning home and continuing to rodeo, they reinforced what Heidi had already told him.
“They always told me, ‘Stay out there. Don’t come back,’” Trosclair recalled. “I wanted to go home, but they kept telling me to stay out there, and that’s what I did.”
Trosclair remained on the road knowing the people he loved were being cared for.
In September 2023, Heidi lost her fight with cancer, leaving her two sons to carry on without her. Only weeks later, the 2024 PRCA season began, and Trosclair once again headed out on the rodeo trail.
A Breakthrough Season
Trosclair continued following his mother’s wishes in the only way he knew: keep rodeoing and keep chasing the NFR.
Trosclair carried both her memory and the goal she had encouraged him to pursue into the new season. The loss, he explained, gave him a different drive, and the results soon reflected it.
“I don’t think I dropped below the top 15 that whole season,” he recalled.
By the end of the regular season, the goal Heidi had encouraged him to chase had become a reality when Trosclair qualified for his first NFR.
With Him on Every Ride
When he finally arrived in Las Vegas, Trosclair entered the Thomas & Mack Center carrying more than his own expectations.
“It was a big blur, but it was also a moment that I’ll never forget,” Trosclair said. “Just going through that tunnel and hearing everybody roar, and then carrying the flag…I felt like I had the state of Louisiana on my back.”
By the time the Finals concluded, Trosclair had earned more than $300,000 and finished sixth in the world for the 2024 season.
With every ride, Trosclair knew Heidi was right there with him.
“I like to think she’s with me on every ride,” he shared.
The pink chaps that have become part of Trosclair’s recognizable look carry a broader meaning. Although pink is most commonly associated with breast cancer, he uses it as a visible show of support for everyone fighting cancer and for every family facing that fight alongside them.
“Most people know cancer as pink,” Trosclair said. “You always see the pink ribbon. You see pink everywhere for cancer. That’s the real reason—just letting people who are battling cancer know that we support them.”
The Road Back
Trosclair’s first NFR qualification marked a breakthrough, but it didn’t lead to a simple upward trajectory.
He entered the 2025 season with less of the motivation that had carried him through the previous year. As the regular season drew to a close, Trosclair sat 17th in the world standings with just a few major rodeos remaining and another NFR qualification within reach.
Then, at Pendleton’s Xtreme Bulls, he felt something go wrong as soon as his bull left the chute.
“As soon as I nodded my head and the bull left, I heard a loud pop, and my foot went numb,” Trosclair recalled. “I got on five more bulls after that. I didn’t know what was wrong, but it hurt really bad. I could barely walk.”
With his second NFR just out of reach, Trosclair took a step back to let his body heal. However, when he attempted to return to competition in early 2026, the injury flared again. He continued riding long enough to place at a rodeo in Des Moines, Iowa, before seeking another medical evaluation.
Doctors eventually discovered that three groin muscles had completely torn away from where they attached near his pubic bone. The damage was more extensive than the initial imaging had shown, and surgery was required to repair it.
Recovery forced Trosclair to approach bull riding differently.
“I’d never really worked out to ride before,” he said. “During recovery, I worked out, watched what I ate, tried to stay healthier, and started stretching a lot more. It definitely gave me a new drive.”
The injury cost Trosclair much of the winter run, but it also renewed the motivation he admitted had been missing at the beginning of the previous season. Now, nearly the end of the summer run, he has fought his way back past $100,000 in earnings and into the top 25.
Despite the roadblocks he’s faced, Trosclair doesn’t dwell on the months he lost or calculating where he might have been without the injury.
“At the end of the day, I don’t have that time,” Trosclair said. “I just keep going and take it day by day.”
Support Through Life
As he continues toward the end of the 2026 season, the experiences that shaped Trosclair’s early career continue to influence how he recognizes genuine support today.
That standard extends to the companies he represents. Trosclair describes CINCH as a family because its relationships with athletes go beyond clothing, contracts, or results. He values partners who want to know how their athletes are doing and continue standing beside them through difficult seasons.
“If we get to talk to a company before we sign, and they’re not like that, I don’t think I’d sign with them,” Trosclair said. “I don’t really care about the money. If they’re not going to support me through the whole deal, then I don’t want to support them.”
For Trosclair, the best partnerships reflect the kind of loyalty he has experienced personally. Support matters most when it remains steady through injuries, missed opportunities, difficult seasons, and long stretches when there is no guarantee of what comes next.
That same understanding has become part of the life he is building with his fiancée, Madison Schalla.
As a specialty act performer and fellow Tough Draw Sports athlete, Schalla understands firsthand the travel, preparation, and uncertainty that come with building a career in rodeo.
“I’m extremely thankful for Madison and everything she’s done,” Trosclair said. “She’s been through a lot with me, too. She understands everything I do and all the decisions I make. Heck, she helps me make pretty much all my decisions.”
After the 2024 NFR, Trosclair and Schalla bought a place together. The property didn’t have an arena, and Schalla needed somewhere to train and work her horses, so Trosclair built one.
It was a practical decision, but it also reflected the way they support each other. Their schedules often send them in different directions, so they travel to meet when they can, help at each other’s events, and make the most of the time they have together.
Now, as they prepare to get married, Trosclair is thinking about the family they hope to build and the kind of father he wants to become.
“When we have kids, I’m going to make sure I’m always there for them,” he said. “Whatever they want to do, I’m going to make sure they have what they need to be able to do it. We’ll be a working family that supports our kids in whatever they decide to do.”
The promise reflects what Heidi gave Trosclair and his brother. She created opportunities even when resources were limited, made room for their dreams, and continued encouraging Trosclair to pursue his future during the hardest season of her own life.
What Stays With People
Many chapters of Trosclair’s life and career are still being written. His first NFR qualification proved he could compete among the best in the world. His recovery from surgery tested how badly he wanted to return. The standings, goals, and opportunities ahead will continue changing with every ride.
Still, those aren’t the things Trosclair hopes will define him when his career is over.
“I want people to remember that I was a good person,” he said. “Well raised and respectful to others.”
That answer reflects the standard set by the people who helped shape him. Trosclair wants the result of their sacrifices to be measured by more than what he accomplishes inside the arena.
It also brings his story back to the four words that stay with him.
“I’m proud of you.”
The person who spoke those words to Trosclair is Tammy Domingue.
“Every time I talk to her, she tells me how proud she is of me,” Trosclair said. “I’m extremely thankful for them because they’re the ones who really pushed me.”
Through it all, Tammy has supported Trosclair. She's seen the struggles. She knew how badly Trosclair wanted to come home, what his family was carrying while he was away, and how much trust it took for him to remain on the road. When she tells him she is proud, she isn’t responding to one ride, one qualification, or one season.
She is speaking to the entire journey.
For Trosclair, that is what gives four simple words such lasting meaning.
Continue the Conversation
This week’s Tough Draw Tuesday was inspired by a recent conversation with Jace Trosclair on Tough Draw Talks.
In the full episode, Trosclair shares more about his path into bull riding, his mother’s influence, the people who made it possible for him to remain on the road, his first NFR qualification, his recovery from a major groin injury, and the future he is building with Madison Schalla.
Listen to the complete conversation with Jace Trosclair on Tough Draw Talks on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you stream podcasts.
For Trosclair, four words carry the history of the people who helped make his career possible.
Who told you they were proud when you needed to hear it most?
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