Rodeo Life

Blog

  • American Hat Presents Click Thompson

    American Hat Presents Click Thompson

    “My first hat was an American. I’ve always been particular about how I looked and that’s where it started – they are definitely family members at this point for me. They have a great product and have helped me progress and connect with other people.”

    Click Thompson grew up in Virginia. His passion for photography was sparked in high school, and further fueled in college when he went to his first PBR event. “I was hooked,” said the 34-year-old who migrated to Decatur, Texas, in 2019 to further his plan to become a successful Western sports photographer. “I started shooting bull riding and barrel racing. I was working at a theme park and got my first taste of shooting at a monthly event three hours from my house.” Click received his undergrad degree in visual communications from Virginia State University. “It was a mix of communication tools like graphic design and photography,” he explained. He went on to get his Master’s of Fine Arts in photography from Savannah College of Arts and Design while working as a photographer for the Department of Defense. “What you learn what you’re interested in from a bachelor’s degree. The Master’s degree is where you develop your own voice.” He picked Western Sports because of the unique aspect of the photography.
    “Western sports are a reactionary type of photography; I have learned how to be conceptual and intentional in what I shoot,” he explains. With clients ranging from American Hat Company to individual athletes, and projects including catalogs, print and social media creative, and photography, he has etched out a market that allows him to utilize his many talents into various platforms that his clients need for marketing.
    He admits the last three and a half years have been a whirlwind. “Overall, I’ve shot western sports for 11 years. Geographically, moving to Texas was perfect. Fort Worth is the headquarters for all of it. It allowed me to network and meet new people and clients to work with.” Click planned out this future for himself. “When Covid hit, I had to step back, but that allowed me to focus on my profession and process. I am dedicated to my craft and being a professional.” His short-term goal is to continue to give back to the western industry through his work as an artist. However, it’s his work as an instructor that serves as the driving force and foundation for his long-term legacy. Click instructs the next generation of rodeo photographers hosting clinics and workshops nationwide. “That ties back to me being an instructor years ago at Virginia State.”
    For now, it’s on to the next one for this American hat wearing cowboy from Virginia.

  • NLBA World Champion Mason Elder

    NLBA World Champion Mason Elder

    Through the July 1-11 NLBA championships in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Mason Elder became the world champion cowboy he has dreamed of becoming since he was a kid. The fourteen-year-old competed in the flag races, roping events, and rough stock events. After the long week, he returned to his hometown of Benton, KY with the bull-riding championship, all-around championship, two saddles, and nine belt buckles. Having grown up on his family’s ranch, Mason remembers watching bull riding on his television. At seven years old, he was inspired to attend the little rodeo school down the road where he learned about all that goes into the eight second ride. Here he was introduced to the NLBRA and Mason has been hooked ever since. “It was a big deal for me back then,” he said, “we started traveling to all these different places to rodeo. Jason Hoffman, one of the coaches at bull riding school, is who Mason credits for teaching him all he knows, “He pushed me to be the bull rider I am today.”
    Once he got the hang of what to do on the back of buckers, Mason began tying goats and roping calves. He has grown up with horses thanks to his mom, Blaine, who ran barrels and poles when she was his age, and his older sister, Brooke (16), who ties goats. Mason has had his roping horse, Doc, for two years, “He’s done amazing,” praises Mason, “Bull riding has taught me how to ride my horse better.” Along with his mom and sister, Mason also idolizes his dad. Matt has been helping Mason with his rodeo passion from the very beginning. Another idol of Mason’s is PBR cowboy, Cody Nance. Mason met him at one of the bull ridings that Cody hosts. Cody’s genuineness is what Mason admires, “Even though he’s a big deal, he’s a nice guy. He’ll help you with anything you need.”
    Since he is homeschooled, Mason can devote his time to a consistent practice routine. Daily he will exercise his horses, practice on the drop barrel, tie goats, and rope the dummy. The consistent practice paid off in the eight-month season leading up to the finals. “It was stiff competition the whole year, but I knew I had a shot at the bull-riding and all-around going into it,” he said. The race to the championship was close. 10,000 kids were vying for championship titles in Oklahoma and many of Mason’s closest friends were also his closest competitors. Mason’s steady mindset got him through the pressure. “You can’t worry about what could go wrong,” he asserts, “think about what can go right. Nerves won’t help you ride well, but consistency will.”
    Although he was calm in the chute, the announcement of his win still took him by surprise. “My parents knew, but they didn’t tell me, so I didn’t know until they called my name. It was shocking. I was so grateful all my hard work had paid off.” With four years left in National Little Britches, the glory Mason has experienced this summer is something he plans on continuing. “I want to win more world titles and just keep doing what I’m doing,” he declares. Although he has enjoyed the memories, friends, and moments in Little Britches, his ultimate dream is to become like the top fifteen Pro Rodeo cowboys he once saw on television.

  • 6 Over 60: Jimmie Munroe

    6 Over 60: Jimmie Munroe

    Rodeo’s opportunities for many athletes, and women in particular, wouldn’t be the same without Jimmie Munroe. Today’s professional barrel racers owe a tip of the hat to the 11-time WNFR qualifier as their horses dig into the well-groomed ground of a rodeo and run for home past precision timers. A trip to the pay window especially has Jimmie’s touch on it, as she advocated alongside her WPRA Board of Directors to increase purse money for barrel racers starting in the 1970s.
    Born in 1952, Jimmie’s love of horses knew no bounds, and she started riding at three and competing in local Central Texas horse shows at four. Her grandfather, Zach Miller, was one of the brothers of the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch and Wild West Show, and both her parents ranched and rode. “My dad taught me to rope and I roped dummies on the ground. Then we got calves and I just loved to rope,” says Jimmie. At 10, she joined the AJRA and competed in all of the girl’s events on a little bay gelding named Bill. Together they won the barrel racing and the tie-down roping in the 12 and Under, with many more titles to follow. Jimmie’s parents, Jim and Blevins Gibbs, were her greatest supporters, and she also looked up to Texas cowgirl Wanda Bush, who was one of the first members of the GRA in 1948 and won more than 30 world titles in 5 events. “I went down and spent a week or two with Wanda when I was ten. She helped me and was such a role model to me, not only in the things she accomplished, but the person that she was. I was very blessed to have her as a mentor, and she was very instrumental in the GRA back then.”
    Jimmie ran barrels on her roping horse, but her senior year of high school, she and her parents went in search of a barrel horse for her to ride when she joined the Sam Houston State University rodeo team on her rodeo scholarship. Several of Jimmie’s friends were running fast times on horses by Flit Bar, and she and her parents went to look at a five-year-old Flit Bar gelding. By the time the deal was closed, the family purchased two Flit Bar geldings for $1,400, including a three-year-old, Robin Flit Bar “Billy”, that caught her mom’s eye and would eventually carry Jimmie to the NFR.
    “Billy is the reason I got into professional rodeo,” says Jimmie, who bought her GRA (now WPRA) card in 1974. “In college, I didn’t plan to rodeo professionally—that wasn’t my goal until I got him. He was talented and such a nice horse.” Her last two years in college, Billy and Jimmie won the NIRA barrel racing title in 1974 and 1975, and she capped off her senior year by winning three world titles in the GRA: barrel racing, tie-down roping, and the all-around. Jimmie also served on the NIRA student board as one of two women’s directors, and there she met her future husband, Dan “Bud” Munroe, a saddle bronc rider who rodeoed for Montana State University.
    In the 1970s, there were roughly 30 all-women’s rodeos around the country that Jimmie competed in, while also entering PRCA rodeos. The barrel racing had just been added to the NFR in 1967. Billy carried Jimmie to the NFR six times, but his career was cut short when he developed a viral infection in early July of 1980 and passed away. At the time, Jimmie was sitting second in the world. “Billy was running at his peak then, and that’s how I’ll always remember him. I wound up 16th that year. I came home and had a couple young horses that I seasoned.” Jimmie took one of those horses on the road in 1981, but when her friend Lynn Flynn broke her leg at Red Lodge, Montana, she insisted Jimmie ride Lynn’s barrel horse Leroy the rest of the season. “He was a great horse, and I went on to make the Finals on him that year. That was also the first time Bud and I made the Finals together,” says Jimmie, who married in 1980. The following season of 1982, another barrel horse, Smooth Cadet “Cat” came to Jimmie through Pauline Haller. Jimmie seasoned Cat in 1982 and made the NFR on him four times, starting in 1983. “In 1984, I won the first five rounds of the Finals on him. No one had ever done that before and it hasn’t been done since. Pauline owned him the whole time, and she gave me quite the opportunity.”
    Alongside her barrel racing achievements, Jimmie and the GRA Board were making advancements for women in rodeo every season. Jimmie, who was first on the board in 1976 as the All-Women’s Rodeo Director, was voted in as president in 1978 at 26 years old. “At the time, I’d said I don’t think I have enough experience, but I was very fortunate with the directors on the board. A lot of people were very helpful to me stepping into that position.” In 1982, Jimmie and the Board started on a three-year plan to bring women’s purse money up to equal that of the men’s PRCA events, including at the NFR. “I don’t believe it would’ve worked if we’d just said we want equal money. These ladies worked with the committees and stayed in such close contact with them in their circuits. When 1985 came, we lost very few rodeos, and the few that we did lose came back within a year or so when they could come up to the equal purse money.”
    Ground conditions also improved when Jimmie and the GRA had the idea to incentivize rodeos to improve their ground. Justin Boots had recently started their Justin Sports Medicine program. “We said the wellbeing of the cowboy tied in with the safety and wellbeing of the equine athletes, and ground is important for all other events and livestock,” says Jimmie. “Justin came in with the Best Footing Award, and it was really a good start to encourage the committees.” The GRA also incentivized the use of electric timers for the barrel racing starting in the late 1970s.
    Jimmie and Bud continued to rodeo together through the 1980s, Jimmie qualifying for the NFR a total of 11 times and Bud 12 times. He won the world in saddle bronc riding in 1986, and retired from competition when their daughter Tassie was born in 1989. He and Jimmie, who finished her WPRA presidency term in 1993, ran a cattle brokerage company with Jimmie’s dad in their hometown of Valley Mills, Texas. But the adventures didn’t stop there. Jimmie began hosting 20 or more barrel racing clinics a year, and was invited to teach in Australia, Canada, and Brazil. She and Bud also adventured into the world of English riding when Tassie began showing hunter jumpers all over the country and competing in Nationals. She later attended Texas Christian University on an NCAA equestrian scholarship. “We thoroughly enjoyed it. I always said whatever she wanted to do we would support it, and that’s the way my parents were.”
    Jimmie and Bud were happily married through April of 2022 when Bud passed away. Both were inducted into numerous rodeo halls of fame, including their induction into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame together in 2016. They were also inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame—Bud in 2007 and Jimmie in 2019—one of few husband-and-wife competitors to have that honor. Jimmie continues to make her home in Valley Mills and ride horses, along with picking up the reins as the WPRA president again in 2021. “There have been a lot of milestones since the WPRA started in 1948. The barrel racing developed into a major event in rodeo, and now the breakaway roping is growing phenomenally and also developing into one of the major events. The sport of professional rodeo was very good to me through the people I’ve met and friends that I made, and places I was able to travel to. I’m very blessed that the things in my life fell into place the way they have, and I wouldn’t go back and change anything.”

  • Family Values

    Family Values

    Intro by Chaney Larson

    Story by Amy Outhier Maynard

    If you follow rodeo, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard the last name, Outhier. Madison Outhier has been one of the biggest names in the sport over the past few years with her dominance in the breakaway competition. She continues to be a leader in and out of the arena, and is an amazing example for young girls as the event continues to gain wide acceptance and exposure like never before.
    Madison’s winning spirit and leadership abilities comes from her upbringing and runs deep in her family. Her proud Aunt, Amy Outhier Maynard, is no stranger to the rodeo world as well. Amy has always been an incredible rodeo athlete. Her rodeo accolades include 2x Central Plains Region Goat Tying Champion, 3x Qualifier to the CNFR, and 2x IFYR Goat Tying Champion.
    These days, Amy continues to hustle and grind daily as a momma to two adorable boys, Max and Major. Her husband, Zac, is the head football coach in Elk City, OK, and as for her professional career, Amy is the Program Coordinator at Southwestern Oklahoma State University for the Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program.
    Through her knowledge, positive attitude, work ethic, and genuine kindness, Amy Outhier Maynard is a special soul.
    Here is a message from my friend, Amy!
    – Chaney Larsen

    Growing up, my family had unspoken core values. We were raised to prioritize what matters most, treat others with respect, do things to our best ability, and so on. Over the years, I appreciate those values more and more as I am raising a family of my own.
    Now more than ever, I believe it is important to clearly define your family’s core values. To clearly understand them, it is important to write them down and discuss them as a family. As parents and guardians of our children, it is our responsibility to begin that discussion with our kids that will create a foundation that will set the course of their life. It is nothing new, but our world is volatile and ever changing. If we do not set the narrative for our children, the world will do it for us.
    Put simply, core values are what matter most to you. They are the navigational compass that you live your life by. They influence the decisions you make, your response to other people, as well as your goals. They provide direction for your daily behavior and are the foundation that will ultimately determine your success.
    Your core values influence every aspect of your life. They affect your circle of influence and determine how you handle life’s challenges. By creating a foundation to live your life by, you set your children up to be secure in themselves, in you, and the purpose laid on their heart.
    After you establish your family’s core values, you can begin to align everything with those values. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where learning is caught and not taught. As moms and parents, the work begins with us first.
    A practical way we use our family core values is to use them to discipline our children. For example, one of our core values is having a positive attitude. If one of my children is moping around or complaining, I simply say, “The Maynard family has a positive attitude regardless of our situation. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react.” Another one of our core values is respecting others. If one of my boys disrespects his brother, he is not allowed to play with his friends until he can learn to respect his brother first.
    Our rodeo family is a rare group of individuals that already operate out of solid core values. I just want to encourage you to discuss them with your family and physically write them down. It is like setting the GPS on your phone. Once you write them down, the navigation becomes clear. It helps to create clarity and focus, communicate what is most important, influence behavior, and elevate effective leadership. Like never before, our children need us to step up our leadership and show them how to build a house on the ROCK.
    Do you know your core values?
    Can you list them in order of priority?
    Does your life reflect the values you have listed, in the order listed?
    If you would like to dive deeper into this subject, I highly suggest reading Your Divine Fingerprint by Keith Craft.
    God Bless and Journey On

     

  • Pro File: Summer Kosel

    Pro File: Summer Kosel

    Summer Kosel from Glenham, South Dakota, was talked into entering Cheyenne to “experience it just once.” That experience will be with this mother of four for a long time as she and her eight-year-old gelding, Apollo (registered as FireWaterFrenchFame), set the arena record during the qualifying round on July 22. Her time of 17.02 broke the 26-year-old record set by Kristie Peterson and her horse, Bozo. Summer devotes most of her time to her family, helping on the family ranch and stock contracting business, Smokin Guns Rodeo Production. “My husband, Kevin, was a bull rider, and now we put on amateur rodeos in South Dakota and we have a few bulls that we take to PBR events,” she explained. “We ranch for a living and Kevin is a cattle order buyer as well. Our kids compete, so we’re running in one direction or another all the time.
    “I honestly didn’t think the time was that fast,” said Summer about her arena record. “It felt wild to me. Apollo is very broke and touchy- feely; I have to be careful how I ride. He just felt like he was running through me. Apparently, he was just running very hard.”
    “I always say that ‘The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.’” says Summer, quoting Proverbs 21:31 in an interview with Cheyenne Frontier Days. “Most days I’m amazed myself when I come out!” She is currently sitting in the top 30 of the world barrel racing standings and second in the WPRA Badlands Circuit.
    The drive to Cheyenne was a little over nine hours. “My trailer is a stock back instead of slant, so my horses have water and hay strung for them. I check their water when I get fuel. They adjust themselves and move around. They have soft rides and wraps to keep them more comfortable.” She came back and ran three more times in Cheyenne, and left Wyoming with a little over $12,000.
    Summer had no plans to rodeo outside her circuit this year. “I made up my mind that when Apollo started firing again, I’d go to where God sent me. I had no intent on trying to win anything, I was just going to stay in my circuit. I don’t need to hit many circuit rodeos to get into the finals, so I’m going to venture out – I’ll stay around home for a week, and then I’ll go to Billings and Baker, Montana, and some in the Northwest. My kids will be in school, but my friend Kailee Webb, is going with me.”
    Summer is following the gift that God blessed her with – her horse and her ability to ride. “I think He blesses everyone with something, and it’s our job to find that out and use that to bless God. My dad (Tom Anderberg) raised racehorses and he threw me on horses – usually three year old’s straight off the race track. My dad was a firm believer in figure it out and never say you can’t. From a very young age, I had to figure out how to make a horse work, even if it bucked.” Summer was the only girl in a family of four older brothers. “I like going fast – these horses would come to us and the mares went to the brood mare pasture, and the geldings we’d use as ranch horses.”
    She is a little nervous to venture into the Northwest but believes “If something scares you a little bit, then you should do it. It will be tough not being around my family, they are my greatest blessing, and I will never let rodeo become an idol that I am chasing after. I like being a mom. I’m a nobody trying to tell everybody about Jesus, that’s it.”

  • National Day of the Cowboy

    National Day of the Cowboy

    I had the honor of being asked to help with a fun media event that Wrangler hosted during Cheyenne Frontier Days in celebration of their 75 years as a brand honoring the legacy of the West. They welcomed several publications from diverse backgrounds such as Esquire, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, and Harper’s Bazaar just to name a few. The idea was to immerse them in the cowboy spirit, drive brand awareness, and promote interest during National Day of the Cowboy. Their itinerary included a behind the chutes tour of Cheyenne Frontier Days, of course the rodeo, great food and fellowship, and then an afternoon of horseback riding, roping, and ATV exploring. The day was topped off with live music by American singer-songwriter, Stephanie Quayle from Bozeman, Montana. It does not get much more western than this!
    Our intern, Lindsey Fancher who was Larimer County Queen in 2019 came with her expertise in helping educate the media about horses, safety, general care, and basic horsemanship. Each person had their turn riding horses around the arena with professional photos taken to capture the new cowboys and cowgirls, while taking turns having their picture taken horseback. I believe they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it will be something they remember forever. We are so fortunate to live the western lifestyle it’s hard to comprehend how many people live surrounded by skyscrapers, subways, and lights 24/7. Overhearing one reporter’s comments, the one that stood out to me was, “I need more of this in my life,” referring to wide open spaces, the smell of green grass, horses, and Wrangler jeans! Before the evening was over, the journalist was back out in the pasture riding on her own, soaking up the western sunset.
    My takeaway from this opportunity was an overwhelming feeling of being blessed and not taking any of it for granted. We all miss in the short go, our horses get sick, and sometimes we aren’t sure how we’ll afford to feed our animals during a drought. But each day we get to swing a leg over a horse and it is indeed a good day. I’m so thankful to have been part of such a great event and I truly believe it’s a step in the right direction – keeping our western heritage alive and well!

  • 5 Star Champion: Michelle Darling

    5 Star Champion: Michelle Darling

    Story by Lindsay Humphrey

    Usually hovering in the top 30 in the WPRA standings, Michelle Darling decided it was time to take her dream of making the NFR seriously in 2022. By mid-summer, she catapulted into the top 15 in the world. Essentially, Michelle grew up in a sale barn while her dad bought their next great project horse. “My dad would get problem horses and we’d fix them and then sell them,” she said. “Before getting to high school, I was never mounted on anything that great. I think that’s why I can ride a wide array of horses now.” After graduating from the OKYRAs, Michelle found herself drawn to horses with Frenchmans Guy in their lineage. “Those horses have always been good to me. I grew up training them and I just get along with them really well.”
    It wasn’t uncommon for Michelle to have a string of 2- and 3-year-old colts to ride for outside clients. That’s how she paid her fees for junior rodeo and into high school. She then went on to compete well in open rodeos while pursuing her associate’s degree in science. “After having my son – Talon now 18 – I went back to riding horses and working part time at the hospital. I didn’t buy my permit until I was about 23.” It shouldn’t be shocking that another Frenchmans Guy helped Michelle fill it. It didn’t take long for training to become Michelle’s full-time gig. A natural-born extrovert, Michelle had dreams outside the arena that competed for her attention in recent years. “Just before I headed out west this summer, I graduated as a licensed practical nurse [LPN]. It was a busy year leading up to the summer run, but I decided that Martini and I aren’t getting any younger.”
    Even though Michelle is enjoying her time out on the rodeo trail, she misses home. She’s lucky that she brought a piece of it with her for the summer. “My daughter [Demi, 7] is my traveling partner. I have to give a big shoutout to my husband [Cody] who’s holding down the fort back at home. Without his support, I wouldn’t be out here.” Cody has Talon and 9-year-old Case at home living the bachelor life while the girls turn and burn on the road and in the arena. And since life doesn’t stop for a rodeo entry, they’re keeping all the horses at home happy and healthy. “It really takes an army to do this. I’m lucky that I have a few people who can keep riding colts for me while I’m gone.”
    Even though Michelle’s tried her hand at just about all the events from the back of a horse, barrel racing was her niche from the beginning. “I tied goats, ran poles and roped a bit, but barrel racing is what I’ve always been good at. When I started winning and then figured out how to fix problem horses, I liked it even more.” Your name in lights for first place is sweet as honey but watching someone win on a horse she trained is the best compliment you can give Michelle. “I want people to be able to come behind me and win on those horses that I trained. Part of being a trainer is recognizing when someone else can ride a certain horse better than I can and handing the reins over to them.”
    Someday soon, those reins will be made by 5 Star Equine. “They’re coming out with a tack line and I’m excited about that. Even though I get product from them as a sponsored athlete, I still spend money with them because they have such a great product.” Michelle’s professional relationship with 5 Star began just four years ago, but she’s ridden the product for even longer. “I love their pads because they hold their shape and they don’t wear out. They also offer different thicknesses so you can get just the right fit for your horse and saddle.” Since using 5 Star pads Michelle can’t recall having any issues with sore backs. One of her favorite pads is over 6 years old and is still gets thrown on the colts daily. Some might think the sport boots are intimidating because of the extra straps, but that’s exactly what Michelle likes about them best. “The boots are little a different, but once you figure them out, they’re super easy. I think the extra straps support the leg a lot better. I just really love their products and their customer service is second-to-none. They drop ship whatever I need no matter where I’m at on the road.”

  • Back When They Bucked With Pete Leibold

    Back When They Bucked With Pete Leibold

    When his grandfather gave him a dollar bill to buy tickets at ten cents each for the pony rides at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, Pete Leibold was in heaven.

    From that first introduction to horses, Pete’s life-long passion for rodeo began.
    Born in 1949, he was raised by his grandfather, Wiley Warner, in the suburbs south of Lebanon, Pa. In sixth grade, when he and his grandpa moved to the country, they got a horse. Pete soaked up time with his horse, riding as much as he could. That same year, he asked his grandfather if he could ride to see his Aunt Betty, who lived thirty miles away in New Holland. “It was winter, it was cold, and it took me eight hours to go that far,” Pete chuckled.
    When he was fifteen, he began riding steers and young bulls at the Wellsville (Pa.) Frontier Days. Two years later, he was competing at the Cowtown Rodeo in Woodstown Pilesgrove Township in New Jersey. He continued to rodeo after graduating high school in 1967, and two years later, went to a bull riding school in Henryetta, Okla., put on by world champ Jim Shoulders. That same year, he bought his Rodeo Cowboys Association membership (predecessor to the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association) and filled his permit that summer.
    As a youngster, he showed horses in 4-H, and that’s where he met the woman who would be his wife, Bonnie. She also showed horses and barrel raced at Cowtown. They married in 1970.
    By this point, he had joined the Delmarva Rodeo Association, with rodeos across Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. (Later, the Delmarva Association was replaced by the American Rodeo Association.)
    Pete rode bulls until he was about 28 years old and was too big, he thought. So he began steer wrestling, learning from Mike Rhineer, Sr, at his arena in Willow Street, Pa.
    By this point, he had started picking up. Dave Martin, a stock contractor, hired him, and he worked for Dave for many years. He picked up for more than three and a half decades for a host of stock contractors and producers across the Northeast: Martin, Ernie Hostetter, Bob Alexander, for Pennsylvania High School Association, and more.
    Rodeo wasn’t his fulltime job. Pete started as a mason tender, then became a stone mason. He also worked as a blacksmith for twelve years.
    One day Bonnie asked him when he was going to work for himself. That was the impetus he needed to start his own business as an excavator, and for the next nineteen years, he was self-employed. With his John Deere backhoe, 951 Caterpillar track loader, dump truck and trailer, he made a good living.
    Pete remembers some of his best and favorite horses.
    One of his first horses was a big registered thoroughbred-quarter horse cross that was 15.2 hands and weighed close to 1,300 lbs. “He was a stout son of a gun,” Pete said. “I often said to my wife, if I’d have had two horses like him, I’d have been mounted in the top ten, as far as picking up went.” He was a barrel horse, too; Bonnie won a fair share on him.
    Pete team roped on the horse, named Norton. But Norton had his share of quirks. “After you’d roped six steers, you might as well tie him up and get on another horse,” Pete chuckled. “When you backed him in the box for the seventh time, you could feel it. He’d stand on his hind feet and walk out of the box, straight up in the air. He was like, I’m done.”
    When Pete picked up on Norton, he had another unusual characteristic. As soon as the horse heard the gate latch open, he would stand up and walk on his back legs, “just like a Lipizzaner.” But as soon as the buzzer went, Norton was back on all fours, ready to work.
    Another notable horse Pete used was one he never owned. Mooch, a bay, was his steady pickup horse for years and was owned by a barrel racer whose daughter had ridden the horse before passing away. She would never sell him, even though Pete asked her to name her price. Mooch could be hazed and heeled on, plus he was used for the barrels, goat tying and pole bending. “He was phenomenal,” Pete said. “He was a great horse. He didn’t get rattled over anything.”
    Pete was more than competitor and pickup man. He has judged and been an arena director and co-producer with the late rodeo clown Bobby Paul. Working with youth has been important to him, too. The Leibold arena is often used for practice nights of roping and steer wrestling and has hosted clinics. He’s been active with the Pennsylvania High School Rodeo Association, the Keystone Rodeo Association, and the Central Pa. Youth Rodeo Association, where he served on the board of directors and as the chute dogging director for fifteen years.
    The accomplishment at the top of his list is being chosen nineteen consecutive years as pickup man for the APRA finals. Being voted for that role by the APRA roughstock contestants showed how much they appreciated his talents.
    With a fulltime job, Pete never traveled far from home to compete. In 1985, he finished in the top three in the ARA (now the American Pro Rodeo Association) in the steer wrestling. At the time, the North American Rodeo Commission held a finals, inviting the top three in each event from the 40-some regional associations across the continent, to compete in El Paso for a week. Pete wasn’t going to go; it was a long ways to haul from Pennsylvania to Texas, and he had the APRA Finals to pick up a few days after he would be done in El Paso.
    But Tommy Harvey, president of the ARA at the time, arranged for a horse for Pete to ride in El Paso, so he went. On his first steer, he made a four-second run; his second run didn’t go as well. But he enjoyed it. “It was quite an experience.”
    He was also asked to pick up the North American Rodeo Commission Finals, but it required five pickup horses and he didn’t have that many. After he reluctantly turned down the offer, his good friend Mike Rhineer told him he’d have secured the pickup horses for him amongst his rodeo friends. But it was too late.
    Pete bulldogged till he was 54 and his knees couldn’t take it anymore. That same year, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, had it removed, and sold his business. That was in 2002, and he’s continued to work for another excavating company. “There’s nothing hard about it,” he quipped. “A man tells me to dig a hole here, I do it. He tells me to cover up a hole there, I do it. Nothing hard about it.”
    When Dave Martin began riding bulls as a young man, Pete was riding. “There was no better bull rider than Pete Leibold,” he said. “He was good.”
    When Dave began his own stock contracting company, Pete often helped out. “He’d come to the ranch and help try out new stock. I’m sure I got him in trouble more than once for keeping him later than he was supposed to stay,” he said. Pete was as good a steer wrestler as he was a bull rider, Dave noted. “Just like in the bull riding, he was hard to beat.”
    Mike Rhineer Jr. knew Pete because his dad, Mike Sr., rodeoed with him.
    “He’s the most honest man you’ll ever meet,” Mike Jr. said. “The man will not lie to you.”
    Mike, a tie-down roper, team roper and trick roper, pointed out that Pete gave back to the sport of rodeo. “He judged a lot of youth rodeos,” he said. “He was always there to help kids who wanted to learn. It didn’t matter if it was roping, riding, steer wrestling or riding bulls, Pete was there to help.”
    He and Bonnie have three children: sons Todd and Cody and daughter Caiti-Ty Leibold. All three excelled in rodeo at the youth, high school, regional and national level.
    Pete was never a world champ, but he loved rodeo and it treated him well.
    “I would have loved to chase a steer wrestling buckle for a year, just do nothing but steer wrestle. But when you pick up, you’re guaranteed a paycheck. It’s one of those things. I was never a (year-end) champion, but I got some buckles rodeoing.”
    He’d do it all over again, if he could.
    “I spent a lot of time horseback, and we made a lot of friends going down the road. We met a bunch of super people. We have friends all over the country.”

  • On the Trail With Rayne Grant

    On the Trail With Rayne Grant

    Wheatland, Wyoming, cowgirl, Rayne Grant, took home the 2022 National High School Finals Rodeo All Around title, AQHA horse of the year, pole bending championship as well as reserve world champion in the barrels. “It feels crazy still,” said the 18-year-old. “I remember in junior high looking at all the national champions; those kids seemed so cool to me. Now that I’ve won it, it doesn’t feel any different, I’m still just a normal person.”

    Growing up on a fifth generation ranch south of Wheatland, Rayne is accustomed to roping and riding. She started riding when she was three, and watched her older sister, Allie, and her dad, Mike, compete. Rayne started competing in Colorado Junior Rodeo Association when she was five, entering all the events she could. Rodeo News wrote about her seven years ago. https://mwdatademo1.com/association/meet-the-member-rayne-grant/

    She moved up to Wyoming High School rodeo and also helped her parents put on a weekly team roping jackpot in the summer. Rayne competes in the Colorado Pro Rodeo and the Wyoming Rodeo Association as well as entering futurities with her barrel racing prospects.

    Her barrel racing and pole bending horse, Chily, won the girls AQHA Horse of the Year award at the 2022 NHSFR. VF A famous Lady, has been part of the Grant family for four years. “We were looking for a barrel horse and she was a really nice horse – Chily was 8 and I took her to some races and it went good. A year and a half later, my pole horse got hurt so I entered Chily in the event. Her first time running, she clocked a 20.3 – the fastest time I’ve ever made.” The Grant family all ride Quarter horses. “They are the best – I don’t know why I’d try anything else.”

    Rayne will be a freshman this fall at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo., where she will continue to compete in college rodeo in team roping, breakaway, barrels, and goats. “This region (Central Rocky Mountain) is so tough; I feel like I fit in well here. I’ve been fortunate to go to Arizona in the winters, but I don’t want to go to school there.” She is studying applied management; “to do something with horses. I want to train futurity barrel horses – they are amazing, and I love being in that industry.” She will take five of her quarter horses with her to school; four to compete on and one colt that she will continue to train and futurity on. “I’m confident about going to college and making it all work with the horses and school. My parents have prepared me very well. I am pretty independent, and I’ve taken five or six horses to rodeos all year, so I can handle it.”

    The Grants have been buying, training, and selling Quarter horses for years. “We have one that we raised, but for the most part we buy two or three-year-olds,” explained Rayne. “You are investing in bloodlines, and you find the bloodlines that are winning and you like and go from there. My dad trains more of the head horses and I do more with the breakaway and barrel horses. Mom (Becky), videos and supports us and gets mad when we buy more horses.” Mike still does general ranch work on the family ranch, but he also manages Fox Farm Storage, a company the family has built up. Rayne is quick to be grateful to her parents for providing her with horses all of her life. “I’ve ridden so many – I’ve had four-year-olds since I was 12 and then I’d sell them. It’s what I want to do for a living, train and sell horses. You keep going and better yourself to move up.”

    One of the obstacles Rayne had to overcome at the National High School Finals was three broken vertebrae. “I had a horse fall with me a month ago before Nationals and broke L1, 2, and 3.” Doctors orders as well as the pain made practice for Finals impossible. “I think I went to two jackpots between state Finals and Nationals and I wore a back brace at Nationals. The doctor said I could do what felt ok to me – they told me to take it easy, that’s why I didn’t go anywhere but it didn’t stop me from going to Nationals.”

    She made Nationals all four years of high school. “Nationals is a completely different set up – it’s not like any other rodeo you’ll compete at in the high school level. It’s the top four people from every state and the competition is tough.” One of the advantages that Rayne had was the winters spent in Arizona. “We would head down in November and come back in May. My sister (Allie Eddington) and her husband – he’s a banker in Wheatland – live on the ranch and they stay and take care of everything. We take all the horses – we have three rigs that go down every year.” With this win, Rayne will add three more saddles to her collection of 9 trophy saddles. Rayne’s interest is strictly horses. “I honestly don’t think I could do anything else.”

    For now, Rayne is heading to Cheyenne for college. “I’m excited about college – I’m ready to experience something new, move out and be on my own.” She’s not sure she’s excited about the winter though. “Wyoming will always be home, but I can train horses a lot better in the heat than in the cold. When it’s hot, I can still ride in the early morning – when it’s cold I just can’t get away from it.”
    One thing she is sure of is that she is following her passion. “Do whatever makes you happy and have fun. I think part of myself having this success, is I’ve always wanted to rodeo. It truly makes me happy and I focus on all the positives and have fun. I think people forget to have fun – I love my horses and I want to take care of them, and you do whatever you have to do. It makes winning a lot sweeter.”

  • Tuckness leans on his faith

    Tuckness leans on his faith

    Bad break during NFR slows bullfighter but doesn’t derail his dreams

    Dusty Tuckness didn’t have to look down to know something dire had just happened.

    It was the ninth night of the 10-round National Finals Rodeo, and the Cinch bullfighter had just helped bull rider Braden Richardson escape harm after making an 89-point ride on Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics’ Bouchon. As Richardson scrambled to his feet, Bouchon took one step toward the bull rider and Tuckness.

    The bull’s hoof landed on Tuckness’ left shin, breaking both the bullfighter’s fibula and tibia.

    “Instantly I knew it was something pretty bad,” said Tuckness, who has worked 13 straight NFRs and is a 10-time PRCA Bullfighter of the Year. “I didn’t have to look down for any clarification, but when I looked down, it was noticeable to any eye what had happened.

    “At that moment, I instantly started praying and trying to have peace about it.”

    The damage was done, and the prayers continued. Tuckness knew his NFR, and a good portion of the 2022 season, was done.

    “The biggest thing about it wasn’t the physical pain,” he said. “The physical pain was definitely there; it definitely hurt. The heartfelt pain is what hurt the most. So many times, I could tough out and fight through the injury and finish my job, but I knew this was something I physically couldn’t do, and they weren’t going to let me.

    “That was the thing that probably stung the most, knowing I couldn’t finish out that round and the next round. But you’ve got to take the good days with the bad days and build from them.”

    The injury was bad enough that doctors initially wanted to do surgery that night, but traumas at the Las Vegas hospital delayed the repair work until the next morning, Dec. 11. After the operation and with pain medicine coursing through his veins, Tuckness returned to the Thomas & Mack Center to honor all that had earned the right to be at ProRodeo’s grand championship.

    “It was good to see those guys,” said Tuckness, 36, of Meeteetse, Wyoming, now living near Purcell, Oklahoma. “There were a lot of emotions to be there that night.

    “Even laying in the hospital (Friday) night, I believed God was going to heal me, and I’d be back there the next night and go back to work. That didn’t happen, so there were some crazy emotions in a crazy situation.”

    It was just the first of many emotional days. It’s the nature of his injury, but a few weeks after his first surgery, Tuckness noticed something hinky with his leg. There was movement where there shouldn’t have been. That was disappointing, because he was ready to get back to work and shock the rodeo world by returning to the arena sooner than anyone had ever expected.

    Upon seeing doctors closer to where he lives in Oklahoma, it was determined that a second surgery was imperative if he were to heal properly. That delayed the process a bit more, and doubt started to set in.

    “I felt like I was almost three weeks into my recovery, so that information stung,” he said. “For probably three or four hours, I was pretty down.”

    Then he remembered something he’d learned from one of his mentors, the late Rex Dunn.

    “He would always say, ‘Life’s problems and issues are like a flat tire; you can get out and throw dirt and kick it, or you can change it and move on,’ ” Tuckness said. “As soon as that crossed my mind, I knew that was exactly right.”

    A bigger rod was put in place with more screws. The surgeon, Dr. Sean Bryan in Oklahoma City, also realigned the bones to make sure the healing process would improve.

    “The next day, I noticed how much more stable it was,” Tuckness said. “Those that know me know I’m pretty dedicated to my fitness and my nutrition. Instantly I knew and believed it was a better choice. God’s got a plan through this, and I’m going to trust in it and believe in it, and I’m not going to let my faith falter.”

    The work was intense, but that’s just the way Tuckness would have it. A man doesn’t become the best at his profession without a tremendous work ethic, and his is better than most. With the help of physical therapist Kevin Taylor in Oklahoma City, Tuckness was taking all the right steps.

    “I looked at it as a step process of 10,000 steps,” he said. “The steps I don’t take today I’m going to have to take in the future. If I could maximize every minute, watch what I eat, watch what I allow my mind to consume and put in the work, I could not only come back quicker than anybody thought, but I could come back physically stronger than before.”

    That’s what he did. When he wasn’t allowed to put weight on his left leg, he did everything else he could to build his mind and his body. He knew there would be some steps backward in his recovery, so focused his attention on the positives.

    “Sometimes it felt pointless, but I kept telling myself there’s a reason they’re giving me this, and it’s going to benefit me when I’m off my crutches or out of my boot and when I’m running and jumping,” he said. “There were some long, hard days, but I would try to reverse the thinking on it. The time I was putting in was going to allow me to come back and be mentally and physically strong and be able to handle it.”

    Always faithful, Tuckness took the words from James 1:2, which he translated in a way to help him through each level of the rehabilitation: “Consider it pure joy when you go through trials and tribulations, because the testing of your endurance will improve your faith.”

    “This is part of the challenge,” he said. “Jesus told his disciples that He would see them on the other side of the river. He didn’t say there wouldn’t be any storms or bad waves or anything like that, but he did tell them that that He would see them through it.

    “I knew God was going to walk through it with me and be there every step of the way.”

    Each led to his return to action at the Reno (Nevada) Rodeo, which took place June 16-25. He took advantage of his relationship with Maury and Nicky Tate and worked on a few things prior to arriving in Reno at the Cody (Wyoming) Night Rodeo, then was put through his paces during the Reno Xtreme Bulls to open things in western Nevada.

    His faith has continued to drive him. He’s worked dozens of performances since his return two months ago and has maintained a stern focus; from what he needed to do to get back to work to returning to elite form.

    “Ultimately it’s just a reflection of God and Him working through me,” Tuckness said. “If me going through something like this can help someone or inspire them get through something and make their life better, it was worth it.”

     

  • AQHA Will Jones

    AQHA Will Jones

    Chex Out Tuff, AKA Wilson, took home the honors of AQHA Horse of the Year at the 2022 NHSFR. He is ridden by Will Jones from Allerton, Iowa. Allerton is a small town in southern Iowa, 15 minutes from Missouri border. “It’s real humid,” said Will. “I live on a ranch five miles south of Allerton – my grandfather has 4,000 acres and we have 1,500.” They raise hay, cattle, and horses. “I rope all through the day,” he said. Between he and his brother Cort, they ride around 15 horses a day. “We team rope, calf rope, and train some on the dummy that we haven’t started yet.”
    His dad, Luke, has several cow horses in training and has shared his knowledge of horsemanship and training with his sons. “We are slowly taking over the roping horses when they are younger. I want to train rope horses and pro rodeo when I get older.” Luke started roping when he was 13 – his dad was a carpenter, he had horses, but didn’t do much with them. He competed in high school and college rodeo but found his passion in training and showing Quarter horses after watching the world show one year in Oklahoma City. Will started competing when he was young, graduating from mutton busting to bull riding, as well as roping. “I rode bulls until I was 10; I broke my arm and I was done. My deal with dad was I had to rope along with roughstock, so I stuck to roping.”
    Will is going to be a senior; his two brothers, Cort, 14, and Lane,10, all compete in high school or junior high rodeo. They are home schooled by their mom, Erin, who helps with the horses as well. Cort will compete in all the events and Lane’s rodeos start in a few weeks. Will competes in cutting, team roping, tie-down roping, and reined cow horse. He uses Wilson for reined cow horse and was able to win the AQHA award with just one event. For his accomplishment, Will received a Todd Sloan saddle and a $1,000 check that he will put in savings. “It was really cool to win a saddle at the National High School Finals Rodeo!” Wilson is 7 years old and the family has had him for three years. His mom showed him in Fort Worth during the World’s Greatest Horseman and won the boxing on him. Will goes to AQHA shows with his dad to help but plans to show more in the future. “It’s a great association to be part of.”

  • Today’s Youth Culture

    As David was gathering his “Mighty Men” there was a group of warriors who showed up. These 200 chiefs came with their relatives and are described as: “…from Issachar, (these were) men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32)
    Swords, horses and bows are important. More important, as any strategist will tell us, is a wise plan. Having such allows us to understand and gain wisdom. The Ancient’s confirm this. In Tsung Tsu’s famous “The Art of War” he states: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
    In Lukianoff and Haidt’s, “The Coddling of the American Mind”, they address the “untruths” that a corner of our culture is inculcating into our youth. Birth to college, the not-so-subtle messages are making inroads. I agree with their thesis and want to springboard with my own thoughts. As always, I hope they are helpful.
    Students are being told, untruly, that they are emotionally fragile. They are not. The point, in part, of childhood is to be able to explore unsafe things in a reasonably safe way. The job of parents is to help develop the child to be unafraid of real-life challenges because they have incrementally been exposed to controllable danger and have learned how to adapt, toughen and grow. Safety is a fantasy. Nothing is safe. Even love is dangerous. Maybe the most dangerous actually. But I digress.
    This safety notion started, like them all, with good intentions. Expand and over apply an exaggerated concept of safety, over several decades, it morphs into our current situation where even an opposing “idea” is considered dangerous. We “cancel” people and shout them down with mega-phones if someone has challenging ideas. We create “safe spaces” and help them flee to wallow in their own pseudo-brilliance instead of having legitimate debates in the marketplace with older experienced voices.
    The word “dangerous” has been reduced to include hurt feelings now. Our children are not being carefully coached toward resiliency and the ability to move wisely, with strength and thoughtful compassion in the face of opposition. If someone is pretending to be a duck, anyone who questions that will be attacked in some form. The pretender catastrophizes the issue and claims they are in a dangerous space. The pretender, today, has more voice than the one asking questions it seems.
    Now, of course you know, like me, that words can hurt. They can do tremendous damage. Especially to young children. There is a big difference however, from a fathers overly harsh words in a family of origin setting (which hurt) and a college campus where opposing ideas are supposed to be presented. When our ideas cannot be discussed and debated without being seen as “dangerous” we have lost our idea of democracy. We have further lost the idea of college (higher education) which is traditionally and intentionally the place for ideas to be studied. Instead of squelched.
    They are being taught, consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally, to be fragile and easily offended. Someone who disagrees is dangerous and to be silenced. Words like “triggered” and “micro-aggressions” are common. Casual conversations among friends are often framed in negative terms and discounted, instead of offering the benefit of the doubt.
    Further, increasingly, friendships get broken, and lines get drawn. Us against them is more prevalent. Good guys and bad guys are more distinct. This polarization creates division, and they blame outside forces for their life situation. Personal responsibility for thoughts and actions disappears. Some other group or ideal is to blame for life’s normal hardships.
    When I guided the big white-water rivers of the Northwest, there was a clear pattern even rookie guides noticed early. If during a flat-water section another boat initiates a water fight, the boat will band together. But shortly after the outside threat is gone, someone in the boat will throw a bucket of water on or push their own boat-mate overboard. Someone will get mad or lose a contact or a hat. And the boat tears itself apart. Sound familiar.
    Our youth are resilient and strong. We should not teach them to be fragile and weak. We need to help them to grow stronger and face challenges instead of reinforcing an emotional fragility.
    I need to stay tuned with the culture to be able to have a wise voice. However, if I shout, I might be cancelled. If I stay silent, I will have failed them.
    David needed cultural wisdom. So do I.