‘Blayze’ of Glory
Young Blayze Fallis show his roping skills on ‘Little Big Shots.’
Blayze Fallis is a busy 6-year-old boy. He goes to kindergarten, he races Hot Wheels on a track in his bedroom, shares snacks with friends, says “please” and “yes, ma’am,” enters mutton busting at rodeos and always wears one of his cowboy hats.
Oh yes, he also can twirl a pretty good rope, catching everything from a dummy calf to three 55-gallon barrels stacked one on the other.
It’s this last skill that you’ll see Sunday night on “Little Big Shots.”
Blayze lives with his parents — Heather and Ryan — on a nice little farm outside Oklahoma City.
“The first time Blayze saw ‘Little Big Shots,’ he told his mother, ‘I want to be on that show.’ “
Blayze will chat with host Steve Harvey and show off this roping skills in a piece shot last summer in Los Angeles.
Asked what Blaze remembered about the host, he thought for a second, then said, “He’s bald, and he has a mustache.”
He also recalls telling Harvey his favorite country star is George Strait. He means it. He’s got a plastic guitar that looks like the one Strait plays.
The boy is a ball of energy. During this interview with him and his parents, he offered an orange as a snack. He went to the kitchen, peeled it, halved it and shared it with this reporter. He offered a piece of banana later, which was declined.
“Ryan used to rope, and I was a barrel racer,” Heather said. “We’ve always had horses. One day, when Blayze was 2, Ryan was working the horses when Blayze picked up a rope.”
His mother put a few videos of her son roping on Facebook, where it was well received and seen enough that “Little Big Shots” contacted Heather and asked for video of Blayze.
She sent them, and the show bookers said they definitely wanted to see Blayze in person. They flew the Fallis family to Los Angeles and went to what was pretty much a cattle call. They must have liked what they saw, because the show called and said they wanted Blayze on the show.
Blayze is a natural. He can swing a small lariat in a perfect circle over and over, but it gets impressive when he picks up a much longer rope and can swing a circle over twice his size and keeps that loop in the air until he throws it, and it goes easily over the top of the three stacked barrels. It’s then you realize he is talented, with more than a little drive.
He is full of great quotes, like the three rules of a cowboy. 1. God. 2. Always have manners. 3. Take care of your horse, and your horse will take care of you.
He has a new saying to add to his collection now.
“Steve Harvey told me, ‘Dreams don’t work unless you do.’”
Blazye already is working. He has belt buckles he has won in rodeos, and he owns his own rodeo gear — a helmet with a face mask, a protective vest and his own equipment to wrap around the sheep so he can hold on with one hand.
He also has eight pairs of cowboy boots and stacks of cowboy hats.
In the corral in back of their home are three horses. The newest, a buckskin named Tank, was bought by Blayze with money he saved. He and his parents go riding now, and Blayze can rope from horseback.
The “Little Big Shots” staff asked Blayze if he ever took his hat off. He said, “No.”
The Fallis family has proof. In a family photo, Blayze is at the beach, wearing a cute bathing suit, a cowboy hat and boots.