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  • New Sense of Love

    New Sense of Love

    May 17th at 2:20 am, I witnessed a miracle like one I’ve never witnessed before. Overwhelming feelings of happiness, joy, and love raced through me all at once like never before. It is a day that will forever be etched in my memories as my wife Shelby and I welcomed our perfect little baby boy, Ryatt Boyd Vezain into this world. There for a minute the world stood still! Nothing else mattered, it was pure bliss. I couldn’t stop smiling when they laid the little man on his mother’s chest and she just held him ever so gently. Then, they put him in my arms and it melted me. I didn’t know a person could love something so much. As I looked at him and his dark blue eyes, his full head of slightly red tinted hair, his button nose that looked just like his mom’s, his itty bitty fingers and toes, I couldn’t help but notice how perfect he was. I just wanted to hold him forever. It was the proudest moment of my life. Words can not even explain how proud of my wife I was. After carrying the little guy for nine months and then watching her in the hospital that day I couldn’t help but just be admired by her strength and beauty as she birthed the perfect little miracle that God had so precisely knitted in her womb. I was so proud of her, feelings I can’t even explain have been born inside of me that I didn’t even know were possible.
    As we brought Ryatt home and began taking on this new responsibility a new sense of love has swept over me. Actually, to be honest Shelby does most of it I just do the fun stuff like rock him to sleep after feeding and play with him while he’s awake, Shelby does all the hard chores. She is such a great mother! But, as Ryatt turned two weeks old the other day I have noticed a change in both of us. Since he showed up he is the first and foremost of our attention. His mother and I would do anything for the well being of that kid. As a new parent I would go to the deepest depths and not even second guess it for my child. I would give up everything to make sure our boy has everything he needs to succeed. I know from here on out will be a learning experience like none before and there will be times that I will make mistakes but for the most part I have a completely new sense of unselfishness to where I would do and give anything for our kid.
    Although I will never completely understand the depth of the Lords love, nor will I ever be able to love like the Lord loves us, I have a new sense of the love he has for us. As I love my wife and my child more than anything in this entire world, it doesn’t even come close to how much God loves each and every single one of us. The way I looked at Ryatt the first few minutes of his life and how perfect he was, is how God sees us every single moment of our lives.
    Psalms 139:13 “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalms 139:16-18 “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
    The Lord loved us before we were born and every day we wake up he still loves us just as much. In John it tells us that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. What did Jesus do? He laid down his life for each and everyone of us. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I am forever grateful for this love.
    No matter what hardship you are facing. No matter how far off the deep end you think you have went. When you feel like there is no way God will accept what you have done. When you feel like there is no way God can love you because of the storm you are in, remember that he made you a miracle. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He loved you enough to make all your delicate parts. He knew you before you were even born. And, the precious thoughts he has about you can’t even be numbered! He loved you enough to send his Son to die on the cross so we could have eternity with him, and it is never to late to accept his love!
    Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

  • Garrett Tonozzi

    Garrett Tonozzi

    Garrett Tonozzi just won his second WCRA event, adding $50,000 to his check book, aboard Fulton Ranch raised mare, Streakin Disco. Heading for Joe Mattern, the team also won $62,500 a man at the $1 million Windy City Roundup in Chicago on January 11. On Sunday, June 2, the duo roped for the win at the Title Town Stampede at Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “I’ve been around rodeo my whole life and I haven’t seen this opportunity ever,” said Garrett about the WCRA. “The crowd was amazing – you can tell Green Bay is a rodeo town.”
    Garrett, who has been rodeoing professionally for 15 years, is mounted on an A Streak of Fling-sired mare named Streakin Disco, who was born and raised at Fulton Ranch in Todd County, SD. The beautiful, stout bay roan was sold in the Fulton’s 2012 sale to Monica McClung who started her on the barrels and at the futurities. She was then sold to Justin and Jordon Briggs, who started her in the heading and eventually sold her to Garrett. “He had taken her to a few jackpots and had won some money at the World Series Finals on her,” explained Garrett. “Brittany was talking to Justin’s wife and mentioned I was looking for a horse.”
    “We call her Disco and she is one of the fastest horses I’ve been on. She lets me win everywhere I go from Cheyenne to Green Bay. Every time I nod my head I know she’s giving me 110%,” he said. “When you have a horse like this, it makes rodeo a lot more fun.” Disco is Garrett’s number one horse, but he also has two others that he hauls with him. “She’s the most trainable horse I’ve ever owned. If she makes a mistake and you correct her that day, she’s over it.” Disco fits into the Tonozzi breeding program as well. “We didn’t have a Streaker in the lineup, so we pulled two embryos from her, one is in the recip mare now and the other foal is a yearling.”

    Garrett Tonozzi and Joe Mattern at the $1 Million Windy City Roundup, Chicago, IL – Bull Stock Media

    Brittany, Garrett’s wife, has been building the breeding program for years, and the couple now has more than 50 horses in their care; training, breeding, and continuing to improve their line. “It’s hard with this many horses. We don’t have a lot of help, so it’s just me and Brittany with Tinlee (their two year old daughter). There will be days Brittany and I will ride 8 to 10 horses each, switching when we ride so we can watch Tinlee.” They just bought a place in Lampasas, Texas, one hour north of Austin, Texas, and home to the world’s largest spur! They spend their winters there and head to Monument, Colorado, for the summer. “We are heading back to Colorado soon, taking 18 head with us.”
    They will begin the summer rodeo run from there, starting with Reno, the BFI and going on. They recently purchased a toterhome to make family travel easier. “Tinlee was moving too much and it’s easier on her to do this. She can hang out in the back.” Garrett wouldn’t have it any other way. Growing up in Fruita, Colorado, Garrett started roping at his granddad’s (Tony Tonozzi) jackpots when he was 8. He competed in CJRA, CSHSRA, went to college for a couple days and decided he wanted to rodeo, and he’s been doing it ever since. He married two time World Champion Barrel Racer Brittany Pozzi in 2015 and the couple have been traveling together ever since.
    At 34 years old, Garrett and Brittany have no plans to slow down. “We both agree that when it’s time to haul Tinlee, we will focus on that, but for now, this is how we make our living, rodeo and horses.”

  • Back When They Bucked with Franklin Manke

    Back When They Bucked with Franklin Manke

    The Edgemont, S.D. cowboy was the 1952 National High School Rodeo Bareback Riding champion, and it wasn’t until fellow South Dakotan Shane O’Connell won it in 2013, that the drought was over.
    Manke not only competed in the bareback riding, but also as a steer wrestler, cow cutter, wild cow rider, and occasional calf roper.
    He was born in 1935 to Alfred (Allie) and Dorothy (White) Manke, who ranched twenty miles south of Edgemont. As most country kids did in those days, he rode the three miles to the country school every day.
    By the time he was ten years old, he was riding calves at local county fairs, and as a freshman in high school, he got on his first bareback horse.
    High school rodeo wasn’t as prevalent then as it is now, and there were fewer rodeos to go to. But Franklin went to several, one of them being the Harrison, Neb. rodeo in 1952, when he won the bareback riding, calf roping, second place in the cow riding, and the all-around.
    That same year, his senior year, he won the S.D. state bareback riding and calf roping titles and split first in the cow cutting.
    Back then, if a high school finals rodeo contestant qualified for the National High School Finals in one event, they could enter a second event, and the all-around winner could enter as many events as they chose. He finished his high school rodeo career with not only the national bareback riding title, but the all-around as well, having competed at Nationals in Augusta, Montana in the tie-down roping, too.
    After high school, he came home to ranch with his parents. They owned two ranches, one south of Edgemont and the other about twenty-five miles away, in southeastern Wyoming.

    But he continued to rodeo, this time in the Northwest Ranch Cowboys Association (NRCA) and at local county fairs.
    In 1955 he went to a rodeo that was lacking steer wrestlers. The committee told Franklin they would pay his entry fees if he would bulldog. He’d ridden his rope horse in high school to bulldog, but the horse didn’t work out well. “I’d go to get off and he’d stop,” he said. “That left a lot of air between me and the steer.” But he borrowed a horse, rode him at that rodeo and all summer, finishing the year second in the steer wrestling for the NRCA.
    His dad, Allie, team roped when he was older, but as a young man, his hobby was race horses. He had a string of thoroughbreds he’d take to the county fair races, and some of them Franklin rodeoed on. It wasn’t a perfect situation, but back then, they made do. Every now and then the race horses didn’t know when to quit. “Sometimes it wasn’t very pleasant when you rode a race horse and you went to turn a cow and the horse just kept going,” Franklin chuckled.
    Franklin continued to rodeo in the NRCA. In 1956, he won the bareback riding, was second in the steer wrestling, and won the all-around. In 1957 and ’58, he won the steer wrestling both years. He competed in 1959, but injuries slowed him down.
    In ’59, he broke his riding hand while riding barebacks. As the pickup man approached, he worked to get his hand out of the rigging. Before he had it out, the bucking horse stopped, throwing Franklin’s body weight over the top of his hand and breaking a bone.
    The same year, he tore ligaments in a knee while bull dogging. There was no surgery for torn ligaments then; the only cure was time off. Franklin built a brace and wore it to bulldog, but his bulldogging days were coming to an end.

    After 1959, he quit rodeo for a few years, continuing to ranch on the family operation, which included mama cows, yearlings and sheep. His dad passed away in 1972, and by this time, Franklin and his wife Audrey had bought another place, between the Edgemont ranch and the Wyoming ranch. Without his dad’s help, it was too difficult to run both places, and he didn’t want to hire help. They also had a grazing lease that had expired, so it made sense to sell the S.D. ranch.
    Franklin’s parents owned and managed three motels in Edgemont, and after his dad’s death, his mom ran them for three years. It was more than she could handle, so Franklin and Audrey bought them from her, with the intent of running them for three years and then selling them. Two of them were side by side and shared an office, and one of them closed during the winter. They ran them for 22 years, before selling them in 1997.
    In the mid-1960s, when dally team roping became popular, Franklin began rodeoing again, at jackpots and a few rodeos close to home. He never ventured far from home, choosing to rodeo at NRCA events, local county fairs and jackpots in South Dakota and Wyoming. He didn’t go full time, believing it was difficult to do both well. “You either have to be a rancher and a part-time rodeo cowboy, or a full-time rodeo cowboy. That’s how I look at it.”
    Franklin team roped in the Old Timers Rodeo Association (now the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association.) He headed for a while, then switched to heeling, often partnering with Bob Stoddard of Douglas, Wyo. He enjoyed the jackpots the NSPRA held before the rodeo. He doesn’t brag, but “I guess I claimed my share of the money in the ropings.” He quit roping in 1994, after having a hip replaced.
    Franklin and Audrey first met when they were in country school. He had had his eye on her, he says, and asked her out on July 4, 1953. They married later that year and celebrated their 65th anniversary in October of 2018.
    And the rodeo gene didn’t end with Franklin. The couple’s daughter, Janie, was the 1971 Wyoming High School Girls All-Around champion, and their son, Jay, was the 1976 S. D. State High School Team Roping champion. Janie and her husband Butch Tinint live in Valentine, Neb., and both of Janie’s daughters competed in rodeo. Jay’s daughter and son, Katie and Ty, have also done well. Katie and her husband Jeremy Langdeau have three children who ride and compete, and Ty, who is married to Trista, has won the saddle bronc riding average at the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo twice. Franklin started Ty in the saddle bronc riding while in high school, buying him his first saddle. “In fact, I think he still owes me for that saddle,” he joked.
    Franklin and his great-grandson Jackson Langdeau goat rope together. On foot, Jackson heads and Franklin heels, and Franklin loves it.
    The couple sold the ranch in 1989, when the work with the motels became too much. They fully retired in 1997, when they bought forty acres and built a house on the east side of Edgemont. They stay busy: Franklin, traveling to rodeos to watch his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and Audrey, who paints. Her artwork is excellent, Franklin said, and jokes that they’ll have to build longer walls to hang her work.
    He loved his days in rodeo. He and Audrey made it through the bad times, of which there weren’t many. They lost a granddaughter, Jay’s daughter Jayme, when she died in a car accident, but life is still good, filled with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “We’ve never really had any downs in life.”

  • On The Trail with The Hinrichs Family

    On The Trail with The Hinrichs Family

    The National Little Britches Association was founded in 1952, and sanctions rodeos in over 33 states, giving children 5 to 18 years old opportunities to compete in rodeo events across the country. For kids in the central part of the country, NLBRA is one of few choices they have when it comes to being a rodeo competitor, and they couldn’t be more grateful. The Hinrichs family from Ellsworth, Minnesota have only been involved with the NLBRA for a few years now, but much of their time is now centered around the rodeo schedules in both the Dakota Prairie Little Britches and Minnesota/Eastern South Dakota Little Britches rodeos.

    “The Big Deal Land & Cattle Company, that’s what everyone likes to joke about and call me around Minnesota and South Dakota,” laughs Steve, patriarch of the Hinirichs family, who supplies all the timed event cattle and goats for Little Britches rodeos across Minnesota and South Dakota. The fact is, the busy family hasn’t slowed down enough to give the stock-contracting business an actual name since they started rolling along three years ago. Not only do Steve and his wife Bridget work jobs outside of the family’s horse training business, but all three of their children, Paige, 18, Tanner, 15, and Kiana (Bubbles), 8, compete in the Little Britches Rodeo Association with quite a bit of success. In 2016, the Hinrichs children became more involved in rodeo and started in the MN/Eastern SD Little Britches Rodeo Association. Word spread that the family kept stock for the kids to practice on and train horses, and it wasn’t long before the requests started coming to bring livestock to the rodeos. “A contractor backed out right before a rodeo a couple years ago, so they asked if we could bring some stock. People were happy with what we brought, and it’s grown to full-time from there. We bring stock to rodeos in both states and will supply cattle and goats at approximately 50 rodeos this year.”

     

    Paige competes in all 7 rodeo events available to a senior girl competitor; breakaway roping, ribbon roping, team roping, barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, and trail. She recently graduated from Adrian High School, and will be attending the Southeast Technical Institute, where she’ll be studying Invasive Cardiovascular Technology. Besides maintaining a 4.0 GPA, which helped her obtain a full-ride scholarship to the school, Paige has worked for two years as a CNA at Parkview Manor, a nursing home in Ellsworth. Paige also helps with farm chores and attends the Salem Reformed Church in Little Rock, Iowa with her family on Wednesday nights. “I’ve enjoyed competing in the Little Britches Association. I really like the leadership role I can have as a senior in the association and cheer on and mentor the little ones.” Paige favors roping the most, “At home I normally break in the tie-down calves, so the kids often ask me how they’re going to run at the rodeos. It’s been nice competing with Tanner and we’re fortunate we can practice together.” Paige hopes to continue roping in the future and looks up to Trevor Brazile as a competitor, although she doesn’t get much chance to keep up with his career. “We don’t have time to watch much television because we’re always outside. Friends will talk to me about something that was on television and I’ll tell them ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ we just live a different lifestyle than most people do.”

    Tanner, a sophomore at Adrian High School, likes math and playing guard for the school basketball team. He competes in calf roping, and as Paige’s partner in both ribbon roping and team roping. He spends time watching rodeo runs on YouTube and especially likes to watch his favorite calf roper, Cory Solomon. He agrees with his dad that he lives in a rodeo paradise and appreciates the opportunities he has to practice whenever he wants. “I can tie goats or rope when I need to, and if it’s raining, I can rope in the indoor arena. I’m pretty competitive, so It’s great being able to have the tools I need to get to the top of my game.” Tanner enjoys hanging out with his friends at the rodeos and has learned a lot seeing the backside of rodeo production through the family’s involvement. “Being involved in the Little Britches Association has been great, my family enjoys the time together and everyone in the association has been so good to us.” Tanner likes getting to drive within a 20-mile range of the farm with his newly acquired farm permit but looks forward to turning 16 in July, so he can have more freedom on the roads. “It’s not bad having all the chores on the farm; my dad says if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

    The youngest of the Hinrichs crew, Bubbles, may have been born with the name Kiana, but since her dad started the nickname after noticing she blew little bubbles laying in the hospital bassinet, Bubbles is what she’s gone by her whole life. As a second grader, her favorite school subject is reading, and she especially likes to read stories in the Biscuit series. She loves to compete in barrel racing and pole bending the most and likes practicing at home with her siblings. Bubbles likes riding Henny Penny, her 13-year-old black mare in all her events. “The Little Britches rodeos are giving Bubbles a great environment to grow as a competitor. She was a little hesitant to go too fast at first, but her confidence is growing, and she’s getting faster at each rodeo. She recently won the flag race and that used to be the event she dreaded the most.” Her favorite chore to help with in the afternoons is bottle-feeding the baby goats and calves.

     

    The family’s settling into their new home at Hinrichs’ Arena, on land where Steve grew up as the youngest of four children belonging to George and Leona Hinrichs. The farm is in the southwest corner of Minnesota, just one mile from Iowa and 30 miles from South Dakota. “My parents were very involved in showing horses and my mom was the secretary and treasurer of the Southwest Minnesota Trail Riders’ Club where we showed horses in halter, pleasure, and game events. When they passed away, I bought their 80-acre farm, and we’re raising our family here.” The farm has an outdoor and indoor arena that Steve used after he graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1989, to train outside horses while helping operate their dairy cow business. Bridget, graduated from Ellsworth High in 1997 and is grateful she’s just three miles from her childhood home, where her father, who remarried after her mom passed away, still farms and raises stock cows. Steve and Bridget have been married since 1998 and appreciate raising their family in their hometown with so much family history surrounding them.

    Currently, Steve works for a neighboring farm managing 4,000 head of swine. Besides that daily work, he spends three days each week riding horses at the sale barn, sorting and bringing livestock up for auction. “I work at the Sioux Falls sales barn on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the Sheldon, Iowa barn on Thursdays. I ride horses I have in for training while I work at the auctions and it gives me great opportunities to train horses for my clients.” Bridget who team roped, and barrel raced before family responsibilities took over, also works at the sale barn with Steve on Thursdays but spends much of her time managing the family and farm, where she takes charge of raising bottle calves and goats.
    The family keeps approximately 25 head of roping cattle, 30-40 goats, and 50 calves ranging from those still on milk, up to 350 pounds. “Right now, we’re bottle feeding 20 calves and get new calves in from the dairy twice each week. We use lots of Jerseys for the Little Britches rodeos; people thought they’d be too weak and wouldn’t run, but we feed them heavy and they work great for the kids. The cattle we use give each of the competitors a chance to win and we work hard to keep them as even as possible. If one of the cattle or goats don’t work well, we don’t bring them back again. We can’t always predict what they’ll do, but we want to bring the most user-friendly stock we can to the rodeos. I’d much rather see the kids beat each other on times rather than beat another contestant just because they drew better.”

    It’s said that a family that plays together, stays together; and for the Hinrichs that’s what their life is about. When they aren’t taking care of business, they like to take their dogs out for coon hunts and go bow-hunting for deer. They enjoy their time together on the road; Tanner shared, “On the way to rodeos, Paige and I put in the aux cord and get jamming with dad to get pumped up. We mostly play old country music that dad will recognize, and he gets crazy with all that stuff.” One of the family’s pre-game traditions is the kids all praying together before the rodeo competition gets started. Steve explained, “It’s not all about blood and guts, of course we all want to win, but it’s more about making good horses, learning from our mistakes, and helping each other get better. We’re glad that the Little Britches association gives us a great opportunity to watch our kids grow in rodeo and enjoy the members and the comradery we share. If we’re not having a good time while they’re competing, what’s the point in doing it?”

  • Brandy Schaack is letting God take the reins

    Brandy Schaack is letting God take the reins

    “God has a plan and I am just living it. That’s all I can do,” said Brandy Schaack, from Hyannis, Nebraska. The 23 year old was diagnosed in March with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. “He dealt me this hand and I just have to keep going because I know I will get through it.” She finds her strength in knowing that if God brought her to it, he can bring her through it. This is how Brandy has always been and perhaps accounts for her success in the arena and on the court.
    “Since I started competing, rodeo has been my niche. I have never not wanted to rodeo, said the 2015 Nebraska Class D2 top five three-point shooter for basketball. She was certainly never bored growing up. In addition to qualifying for the NHSFR, Brandy was an all-star athlete in both volleyball and basketball while being an active member in her FFA. “It was hectic for sure, but we managed. When I got home from practice, my mom would have the horses at least caught if not completely saddled for us. We roped until it was dark, did homework and then went to bed just to do it all over again the next day.”
    When the time came for Brandy to decide on a college (2015), volleyball and basketball almost won out. “It was a hard decision to make actually, but I knew that I loved rodeo so much more than anything else.” She made the 2016 CNFR in the breakaway roping while competing for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. This was nothing new for Brandy though, as she made the high school finals in breakaway three years in a row (2013-2015) and once in the barrels (2014). This past fall was shaping up to be just as monumental as the previous ones. This past January, Brandy was set to rope in the American semifinals. That’s also when she unknowingly strapped into the roller coaster ride that has become her life.
    She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) in late January. This University of Wyoming elementary education junior simply saddled up and dealt with it. Brandy went back to school competing on the rodeo team immediately. However, she was left with a compromised immune system that makes her very susceptible to catching any and all air-born sicknesses.
    “My mom and I got back on a Sunday night (March 24) to my apartment at school after Torrington’s college rodeo. My leg felt like it was constricted. I just thought I had pulled a muscle or something. It got bad enough that by Tuesday night I couldn’t walk, so I went to the ER.” Brandy was sent home with what the ER diagnosed as a strained muscle. Luckily, procedures for Brandy’s UC and a worrisome lump were scheduled for that Thursday in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
    “I’ve had a crazy life ever since then,” Brandy jokes about the last four months that eventually landed her in a Denver, Colorado, hospital in late April. “A blood infection traveled to my right leg and caused compartment syndrome.” This was why Brandy could not walk on it so suddenly at the end of March.
    If there was a good time for her leg to get infected, that was it. “The doctor said I needed surgery on my leg right away.” Doctors made two cuts from Brandy’s knee to her ankle on either side of her shin bone to release the pressure. “I am going to have some pretty sweet scars. They said I could have picked up the infection anywhere. It was basically like strangles in horses. The Scottsbluff doctor said I am only the second person he has ever seen with this.” They will never know where exactly it came from.
    “I had three procedures back-to-back that day in Scottsbluff while I was under anesthesia. When I woke up, they told me I have cancer.” Initially, the doctors in Nebraska were only worried about the cancer they found in the suspicious lump. When the staples came out of Brandy’s leg two weeks later, a PET scan revealed it had spread quickly to her liver and bones with small spores all over her body. “We were given a referral to Dr. Haverkos, a specialist in all types of lymphoma cancer. My family and I traveled to Denver on Sunday, April 14. That night, before my appointment with the cancer doctor, I couldn’t walk again. We had to do another surgery on it. And because of that, we had to wait to start chemo because it would prevent my leg from healing .”
    On April 26, Brandy started her first round of chemotherapy. She spends five days in treatment at a hospital and then goes home for 16 days before coming back for more. “My leg is in a splinted cast. We are just balancing my leg and chemo right now. I have a pic line sewn into my arm that I can give myself antibiotics for the infection in my leg.” During those 16 days at home, Brandy gets blood tests twice a week just to keep an eye on everything. Nothing about Brandy’s demeanor hints that she is afraid of the future, mostly because she isn’t scared of the unknown. At no point in this journey has Brandy felt alone; that comes from the support of her family, friends and community. “I don’t think I can name everyone that has reached out or been there for me. The rodeo community has been phenomenal. People I have not seen since high school are reaching out. I just want everyone to know how loved and supported I have felt through all of this.” On that same token, the University of Wyoming has shown Brandy their support as well. “I love the university; they have been really great to work with through all of this. Most of my professors have come up with academic plans so I can finish out the semester.”
    Brandy’s goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher to fulfill her love for children has not changed. Neither has her passion and drive for rodeo. However, her perspective has shifted. “This has kind of opened my eyes to the fact that there is more to life than just rodeo. We all want to be at the top and doing our best, but your overall health has to come first.” As Brandy heads into an estimated 18 weeks of chemotherapy, she is letting God take the reins. She knows He has a reason for His timing just the same as she only throws a loop at precisely the right second.

  • Keeping Your Kid’s Horses Working

    When kids like to rope and want to run a lot of steers, it’s often difficult to keep their horses working well. That’s one of the reasons we built the Speed Trainer. I wanted my kids to use their hands and feet better and improve their riding without the wear and tear on their horses.
    Sometimes my sons’ heel horses don’t stop correctly. When I watch him on video, he’s squeezing, not pulling, and leaning to throw his rope and his horses aren’t stopping. Usually when this happens people want to change bridles, but the problem is if your hands and feet aren’t working together correctly – you are sending mixed signals to your horse. If you don’t ride correctly it’s hard to create a heel shot.
    With Gabe, watching him on video really exposes the problems. He’ll ask what he didn’t wrong and my answer never changes, “watch the video.” There are many factors involved in missing and it’s important to determine the cause. Yes, you may hit the front legs, but why? Was it your horses’ fault, was it the angle of your swing, your delivery, or did your head let the steer drift? Heeling is hard because there’s so many equations involved in every run and you have to be processing each run as it happens. It’s a reaction to an action and you need to know all the equations to get your rope in front of the hind feet.
    It’s amazing how some heelers can look like a #7 or #8 one day and then can’t catch the next. It’s usually because you ran too many on your horse the day before and now he’s a little strong. You can’t get in position, you’re fighting him and unable to heel. One thing I do with Gabe is he is supposed to stop his horse at least once in every pen of steers. When the head rope goes on the cow and he turns, I want him to stop his horse. When his horse starts getting strong and wanting to cut to the cow I will ask him how many times he’s stopped him to remind him to stay in his hand. It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes in his horse if he does this just once each pen.
    When you’re pulling on your horse and fighting him in the corner, trying to get in position, then you’re leaned back and your tip comes up. It’s hard to swing your rope very fast when you’re fighting your horse. If you don’t get a good entry to the corner lots of bad things can happen.
    I’ve done a few schools teaching kids using the Speed Trainer now. It’s hard for most of them to kick, swing, have weight in their stirrups, and not pull on the reins which lights up the Speed Trainer. When you’re pulling on your horse while swinging your rope you’re teaching him to run through the bridle. It’s hard to improve your roping if you can’t guide your horse to the cow correctly. It’s been amazing how fast some of these kids improved their riding in just three days. To see the it in action visit speedroping.com or for availability information call Colter Buck at 903-434-8970.

  • ProFile: Josh Peek

    ProFile: Josh Peek

    Josh Peek jumped his last steer in January at a buddy’s house. Before that it was Houston, March 2018. “I slowed down and decided to quit in September of 2017 – I couldn’t be away from my wife and kids anymore and I knew there was more on the horizon as far as making a living for my family,” said the 39-year-old father of three. The 7x NFR qualifier ended his career on a high note, winning the All Around at the 2017 RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo.
    “If I penciled it out, rodeo opened up the doors to everything I’m doing now and the platform for how I do business, but at the end of the day, I can maximize my time better doing something other than rodeo.” He spent eight months a year on the road and missed his family. “My mom and dad raised me as a family man and I know my life has always been God, family, work; no matter what that work was.” Josh is married to Kori and they have nine year old twins, Emry Autumn and Keagan Cole (born June 18, 2009); and a son, Jagger Devlin (born Sept. 20, 2016).
    During his rodeo career, he took his family with him as often as possible. “There’s good and bad in raising kids on the road – the western industry is one of the best ways to raise kids and instill values. On the other hand, they can’t live your dream in a back seat of a pickup. You’ve got to juggle that.” Once Emry and Keagan started school, the traveling was minimized.

    “There’s so much ebb and flow in rodeo– you can have the best horse and the calf you draw is not good enough to win on. The day you’re up in slack it can rain while others have a dry run-there’s just a ton of variables,” he said. His son, Jagger, was born September 20, 2016, and due to some heart and stomach issues, stayed in the NICU for a month. “I didn’t go much – I stayed home for a week and flew to a few rodeos. With the many things going on I ended up missing the finals by $74. At the end of 2017 I was in a spot to reflect and I realized I didn’t want to be away from home anymore.”
    Josh had a very successful rodeo career, competing since he was nine. He started in the AQHA, National Little Britches, high school level; winning World Championships all along the way. “I was able to have an unbelievable career, I feel like I achieved everything that God had planned for me in rodeo. I needed to put more time into my relationship with the Lord, being a husband and a father, and when my kids started school, I needed to be there for my kids; homework, soccer games, birthdays. At the end of the day, God gave me the ability to be one of the best cowboys to ever ride and compete.”
    Thanks to his degree in Business with an emphasis in entrepreneurship, Josh bought a hoof trimming business early in his rodeo career, building his business to supplement his rodeo expenses. He found a couple great calf horses, Nitro and Cody, started traveling with Kyle Hughes, and his rodeo career started to take off. He found sponsors along the way that he created a partnership with.
    “I was still trimming dairy cattle feet and owned the business until 2014, but I started training people into that business in 2008.” Then he started a sponsorship partnership with Stallion Oil Field Services and Toyota. In 2014 Josh met and started working with Danny Ford, Owner of Boulder Energy. He sold the trimming business that winter and went on with Danny doing sales and operations. “Danny took me under his wing, mentoring me, allowing me to be involved in budget meetings, legal battles, and bidding million-dollar jobs. I learned and watched about everything in the sales, marketing, productions, and the whole nine yards,” said Josh, who stayed there for two years. “I always had my sponsorships set up as business partnerships. I would take a position in the company for a base salary with a structured sponsorship/bonus program. I worked that position on top of rodeo every year.”
    Josh always looked at life after rodeo – which he admits could have hindered his rodeo career. “It was always my goal to build my own company. I was striving for the Gold Buckle but building a platform for my future was my goal after rodeo. Now, looking back, my focus could’ve been on that instead of solely winning a Gold Buckle. Everything along my path had inspiration that made me the person I am today, doing what I’m doing so I have no regrets.”
    “God had me in the right place, good and bad, losing money to having money to now understanding what it takes to attain success and have something that I can leave for my kids. At the end of the day, I strive to instill work ethic and values in my kids so they can be successful in life because of their mindset.

    After taking the job as an insurance adjuster in 2017, and running more than 500 insurance claims last year, he decided to explore steel buildings with his old college roommate, Brandon Falk. “I went and built three or four Metal Buildings and started learning about them – I sell under Premo Steel Buildings Umbrella. I enjoy building and putting a structure up. It was so rewarding to see the faces of those people that had been dreaming of that building for years – and we are giving that to them.”
    He took a district sales position for Premo Steel and since then he started a construction company (J&B Construction) on the side to erect the buildings he was selling. “We specialize in construction projects from remodels to metal buildings and roofs on residential and commercial projects in the state of Colorado and abroad.”
    One thing that Josh learned through rodeo is the necessity of building a good team. “I’ve got guys that have been mentors of mine, from my dad to BASICS with Bill Roth. They have allowed me to have the ability to call and bounce things off in business and understand how to handle any situation and be prepared.” Scheduling 75 to 100 rodeos a year and running two rigs down the road helped Josh with organizing crews and scheduling on the construction sites.
    “We strive to provide a better customer service and exceed our competition. We are the only steel building company that offers onsite inventory of our product – we physically drive or fly, take inventory and we stay alongside that client until that project is done.”
    Josh has always been willing to learn. “To be successful you have to be willing to learn and work with people and provide a quality product with customer satisfaction. Then the client will be happier that they came to me and my partners rather than any other person or company.”
    Josh has not left the rodeo world behind, and still provides several roping clinics across the nation. “I offer a clinic for whatever somebody wants,” he said. “Strive to be the best you can be and let God guide your path.”

  • Back When They Bucked with Argene Clanton

    Back When They Bucked with Argene Clanton

    Argene Clanton laughs, and life laughs with him.
    The cowboy, an Okie, former calf roper, café and truck stop owner, veteran, rodeo committee member and daddy of three girls, loves a good joke.
    And at the age of 94 years young, he’s still laughing.
    He was born in 1924 to Cleve and Verda Clanton in Barnsdall, Okla., weighing in at two pounds, seven ounces and sleeping in a box in the closet. When he was born, he was a “blue baby,” and one of the midwives attending his mother asked if there was any whiskey in the house. There was; she took it, warmed a teaspoon of it, and gave it to him. He lived, and says with a twinkle in his eye, “I’ve had a few drinks since then.”
    As a child, the family lived on a farm near Chelsea, Okla. He loved to rope and would try to rope everything: chickens, pigs, anything that walked across his path. In high school FFA at Chelsea Public Schools, the FFA kids would be hired out to help farmers work their cattle, sheep and hogs. Argene would load his horse in the FFA trailer, and the crew would go to work. People didn’t have good corrals and chutes in those days. Animals often got out, and Argene and his buddies got to rope them. But the animals weren’t always getting out on their own. “I guarantee you, somebody’d let one out so we’d get to rope,” Argene chuckled.
    Argene calf roped with his good friend Roger Morris. Roger’s dad was a horse trader, and Argene would ride a lot of the horses he brought home. One time, he bought a cow horse and Argene couldn’t wait to get on him. Roger’s dad “wanted me to ride him, to see what kind of a horse he was. I was always a fool to get on,” he said.

    So Argene decided to skip school so he could ride this cow horse. The horse “was snorty when I got him in the corner,” Argene remembered. “I got up on him, and boy, he broke in two. He ducked his head, bucked, and threw me right into the saddle room.” Argene got up and this time opened the gate to the pasture. He was going to ride this horse. He got back on him, spurring and whipping, and “out the gate I went. He hit three licks and settled down.”
    It just happened that the Clanton barn and pasture was next to the school, and the principal had seen Argene riding. The next day, over the speaker, came the principal’s voice, asking him to report to the office. Argene lied about skipping school, telling the principal that his dad had asked him to get cattle in that day. The principal told him he was going to get three licks. Argene said, “no, sir.” The principal locked the door and Argene told him, “you’re going to have to give them to me.” The principal “got hot, and everything turned red.” But he unlocked the door, and “I felt better,” Argene said. The principal told him to ask his dad to come and talk to him the next time he was at school. “I said I sure will,” Argene laughed. “And then I forgot to tell him.”
    In 1943, the year before he would have graduated, Argene entered the Navy. Six Craig County boys all went at the same time, and Argene was sent to San Diego to machinist school. He was on a troop transport ship, the Admiral RE Coontz AP122, going through the Panama Canal seven times hauling Puerto Ricans back and forth from Europe, where they were serving in the U.S. military. After World War II ended, the ship was stationed in the New York Bay, and Argene stayed with the ship as it was decommissioned to the merchant marines. He was assigned the task of teaching them how to run the ship, and given the option to take his thirty day leave and then return for his final two months of service, or stay for three months and then be discharged. He chose to stay. “I said, if I get back to Oklahoma, I won’t want to leave.” He was on the ship longer than any other Navy personnel; he was on board when it was commissioned and when it was decommissioned.
    In 1946, Argene was honorably discharged from the Navy and came back to Oklahoma, never to leave again.
    He bought a farm on Route 66, halfway between Vinita and Chelsea. He had beef cattle and dairy cattle, married Martha Carter, and started a family, having three daughters: Connie Butler, Peggy McGehee and Pam Swift. A small arena was behind the dairy barn, and friends stopped by to rope. He served on the school board for the White Oak School as well.
    His paternal grandpa Grant Clanton, known as “Sweet Tater” started Clanton’s Café in 1927. Cleve and Verda took it over in the 1940s, and when they decided to retire, Argene bought it from them. He moved his family to the house behind the café and his parents moved to Argene’s farm. Then he bought the service station next to the café and ran it. After eleven years of running the café, he sold it to his sister and bought a truck stop at Big Cabin, running it for seventeen years.
    He and Roger Morris competed at area ropings and rodeos. They never went pro, but they loved to rope. They stayed in the area, never venturing more than 100 miles from home, to rodeos in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas. He also competed in the calf mugging and wild cow milking.

    Argene played a vital part in the Original Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo, held in Vinita every August. He has served as rodeo chairman and has been on the rodeo committee for years. When he was fifteen, he rode his horse eighteen miles, from his home to Vinita to watch the rodeo. He has gone to at least one performance of the rodeo every year of its 82 year existence, except for the three years he was in the Navy. He has carried the flag in the rodeo parade and posted colors at the rodeo for forty years. He attended the PRCA convention and the National Finals Rodeo many times, and one time, when there was no money to put on a rodeo, he and his good friend Bob McSpadden, brother to Clem McSpadden, took out a personal loan to finance it.
    When he returned from the Navy, World War I veteran George Franklin paid his dues to join the Chelsea American Legion. Two years later, he joined the Vinita American Legion Post 40, and has been an active member for 72 years, serving as commander of the Legion several years.
    Argene also was active in politics, volunteering as Craig County Republican Party chairman many years. He knew Clem McSpadden, a Democrat, from playing high school basketball against him and going to rodeos with him, and Clem knew Argene had influence in Craig County. When Clem ran for Oklahoma Senate in the 1950s, he asked Argene to go with him to be introduced to folks in the area. Argene knew the real reason Clem wanted him along: to open the gates. In the 1970s, when Clem ran for U.S. Congress, he asked for Argene’s help again. Argene told him, this time you’re opening the gates, and he did. “I drove, and he opened.”
    In 2002, he, along with the other Chelsea veterans who didn’t graduate from high school due to their service, were asked to walk across the stage for high school graduation. His graduation party was at the senior citizen center!
    Six years ago, he, his daughters, and other veterans were part of an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., where he saw the sights for the first time. The Clanton Café, which his dad started and he owned, is the oldest continuously owned family restaurant on Route 66 in Oklahoma (it’s now owned by Argene’s niece and her husband), and he still loves to dance, having taught all three of his girls by them standing on his boots.
    Argene’s wife Martha died in 1992 and he married Roberta Millarr two years later. Roberta has three boys and a girl; together, the couple has so many grandkids, Argene said, “we quit counting them.”
    Life is good for the old timer. He and Roger live two miles from each other and get together to tell old stories. Argene frequents the American Legion, where he likes to partake of the beverage that got his lungs working as a baby, and he counts his blessings. Life has “all been good, it really has,” he said. “Raising three girls and having two good wives, I don’t know how you could beat it.”
    It’s a life-well lived.

  • On The Trail with Nathan Hatchel

    On The Trail with Nathan Hatchel

    Nathan Hatchel just graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University with a degree in business management. The 22 year old from Hennessey, Oklahoma, is heading to Casper for his third appearance at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in the bull riding. “This year I’ll go first in the nation. It’s a clean slate going in, but sitting first through the season is bragging rights; but whenever you get to Casper it’s all even, so it’s about riding good and getting good bulls. That’s the fun part to me – everybody has a chance.”

    Nathan is getting prepared for the upcoming Finals (June 8-15). “Right now, whenever I’m climbing on the bulls I feel like I’m physically and mentally ready and trusting in God. I go to my Bible every day.” He credits his coach in college (Mike Visnieski) for the mental game, and his dedication to the gym every day for the physical preparation.

    “I’m doing a lot of stretching and I do cardio and free weights. Right now I’m trying to gain muscle, but I ride the best at a certain weight so I try to keep that going.” He is also very careful about what he eats, avoiding sweets, cutting down on carbs, and doing meal preparation before heading out to a weekend of rodeos. “I get people laughing at me like I don’t have enough money for food, but I’m just trying to keep it healthy.” One of his favorite road foods is chicken and rice. “I could take that every weekend.” He puts chicken in a crock pot with barbeque sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic salt. He adds onions, bell peppers, carrots, asparagus, and takes that with cooked rice. “I don’t even care if it’s hot.”

    “Wherever I go now, the preparation I’ve done through the week is done and I just have to react and trust myself that I’ve done the work in the week to be successful on the weekend.”

     

    Nathan grew up in a small 2A school, where everybody knew everybody, with his dad, Craig, and his older brother, Dylan. He came from bull riding stock, both his dad, Uncle Glenn, and grandpa, Corky Hatchel, rode bulls, but he wasn’t allowed to get on one until he was 13. Instead, he concentrated on sports – basketball, football, and baseball. He played on a traveling team in the summer and enjoyed basketball the most. “That’s what I played until my junior year of high school – then I put my focus into riding bulls.” His goal was to get a full ride scholarship, and that’s what he did at SWOSU. He competed for Oklahoma State High School Rodeo, making the National High School Finals both his junior and senior year. He was fourth in the nation his junior year, and was riding with a torn MCL his senior year, so he didn’t ride as well. “I got that fixed and went to college,” he said.

    His dad works in the oil field and was instrumental in teaching Nathan the basics. “He’s always there,” said Nathan. “He goes to every rodeo – he drives umpteen miles – Rock Springs to Casper – and everywhere in between.”

    Craig wasn’t crazy about Nathan riding bulls at all. “I know how dangerous it is – now I’m pleased that he is. He’s very gifted – Nathan is very athletic and has put a lot of time and effort into this.” Craig has supported him with practice bulls at home and helping him find the coaches he needed along the way. “He is very dedicated and when he sets his mind to something, he puts 110% in it. He finishes what he starts.”

    Nathan remembers watching his dad and uncle ride when he was young, but he wasn’t formally introduced until one day when Craig offered to let Nathan and his brother get on a steer. “We didn’t know what we were getting into. My brother was a football star, and I thought it was fun, but didn’t ride one steer for the entire year to date, not one.”

    The second year, he won the championship in the COJRA – Central Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association. After that, he kept riding in another little association in Edmond. He started going to a bull riding school put on by David Berry (Monster Bull Company) out of Locust Grove, Oklahoma, “He puts them on once a month and he had the perfect stock for me to get on,” said Nathan. “We went back month after month and I spent summers out there in high school and worked for him. We did drills and drills and that’s how I got started. He’s been a huge help to me. Still to this day, he welcomes me and is always there to help and comment on my riding.” The drills consist of a stationary drill on a barrel as well as walking on a pipe for balance plus other things. “Another good one is getting a medicine ball and sitting on them and squeezing it with your legs – then try standing on top of that ball and keep that ball underneath you. When I’m on the back of a bull, I can’t see, so that’s where the subconscious comes into play. And the balance comes in.”

    David Berry has put on bull riding schools for more than 20 years. “I wasn’t a world champion bull rider; my claim to fame was the PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year in 1988 alongside Ty Murray,” said the 51-year-old. The next year, in the short go of Cheyenne he broke his jaw. “That was the same year Lane Frost died – the bull after me. Growing up in Oklahoma all you heard about was Lane Frost. His school helped me a lot – he gave me the time of day.” David took his love of bucking bulls and started raising them and helping others learn how to ride. “I recognized the heart and try in Nathan – you can help coach to ride, but you can’t teach them to try. They have to bring that on their own.” David saw Nathan’s work ethic and dedication to learning. “Talking about riding a bull and getting on one are two different things. I can’t remember Nathan ever talking about riding a bull; he just gets on them. And he does everything with a grin on his face.”

    Once Nathan went to college, he turned to Chad Drury, with Nothin’ but Try Ranch. “They have accepted me into their family – I took a bunch of buddies over there and got on some of his young bulls and he ended up sponsoring me and we’re pretty much family – that’s the name on my chaps.”

    Both Chad and his brother, Shane, went to college at SWOSU. After college, Chad stayed around and Shane moved to Nebraska. Chad raised bucking bulls and would call the college to get his young bulls ridden. “Nathan is a good kid,” said Chad. “He’s talented and takes care of business- that’s the kind of person I wanted to sponsor. Anytime I need help, Nathan comes over and helps. It works out really great for both of us. He’s a really good kid and his fiancé is good as gold. He’s a winner, but he’s not arrogant and that’s the kind of guy I want to represent me and our ranch.”

     

    Nathan met his fiancé, Kodi Holloway, through friends at SWOSU, she’s on the soccer team, and will also graduate this spring with her nursing degree. The couple got engaged on August 6, 2018. They will get married on September 20.

    After the college finals, Nathan will move down to Castle Rock, Colorado, and start learning the tricks of the trade for his grandfather’s (Jim Lovell) construction business (Lovell Group), hoping to become a project manager and perhaps eventually taking over the company. He will also continue rodeoing, and plans to shoot for Resistol Rookie of the year next year once he buys his card. For now, he definitely is aiming for the Permit Challenge at the South Point this coming December. “I was leading the permit standings until April, and since college rodeo I’m sitting 7th and I’m focusing to make the permit standings challenge which happens during the Benny Binion Sale. This is my fourth year to fill my permit, but as long as you have a NIRA card, you can fill your permit more than twice.”

    “Graduating college is a big deal for me. There is a life after rodeo, especially riding bulls, and this degree will help me provide for my family,” said Nathan. “The biggest thing I learned from college is responsibility – showing up for class – nobody is there to get you going, you have to do it yourself and grow up and learn that responsibility.” He admits that college has gone by very fast, but he is looking forward to settling in Colorado with his wife and eventually starting a family and raising some bucking bulls of his own. “I want to take what I have and run with it and help others the same way others helped me.”

    He has been a believer his whole life, thanks to his grandmother, and the generosity of others that would get him to church since none of his immediate family went. “I bounced from home to home when I was young, and my brother and I finally ended up with my dad. We never had much money growing up, but I learned it’s not about your past; it’s about where you’re going. My past doesn’t define who I am now. I definitely didn’t have a very good childhood but I’m blessed it all worked out.”

    “Follow the Lord and your dreams will follow you. Everybody is chasing their dreams, but I’m chasing the Lord and my dreams have come to me. Don’t let anything set you back from that.”

  • Facing Fear

    Facing Fear

    Have you ever been scared to let go? Have you ever wondered what was going to happen next? Well if you have you are definitely human. If you haven’t you are special. Being scared is a human feeling. I’m pretty sure we have all been scared at least once in our lives. There is nothing wrong with being scared or even terrified for that matter. It’s what we do with our fear that matters. When fear starts to try to creep up on us we have two choices: give in to it or give it to God. Fear is the devil trying to tell us we can’t, we aren’t strong enough, or we won’t make it. Fear is the enemy lying to us. When we listen to his voice, it paralyzes us. When we hand it over to God it liberates us-sets us free from the enemies grip. When we hand our fears over it takes the pressure off of us and we can find strength and refuge in Jesus.

    Shelby and I recently moved back home to continue rehab at the house. We got a bunch of equipment set up in the garage and have it turned  into the rehab gym. We even took some climbing harness and a pulley system over the tread mill and have our own locomotor training walking machine set up. Needless to say my wife, brother in laws,  and I  have been vigorously training at the house. In the last month I haven’t had any huge new breakthroughs just the same leg movements as before but definitely getting stronger and stronger.

    One thing I had been waiting to do since the accident was get horseback again. It had been over six months since I had been on the back of  a horse, the longest in my entire life that I can remember. I had been trying to get to a place and ride while in Utah but kept having complications due to getting cleared by the surgeons. But, typical JR Vezain attitude, I was determined to make it happen regardless of what they said as soon as I got home.

    We got home Friday night and Saturday afternoon I was saddled up figuring out a way to get on. With a little ingenuity we transferred me over on to the flat bed of a pickup, stepped ol’ Rosie over, lifted one leg on the other side, and with a boost got swung up in the middle and set down. Instant freedom! I was ready to roll wherever I wanted to go around the ranch. Not confined to my wheelchair and where it could go anymore. I had a new set of legs ready to roam. I could go ride through the cows and look at the place that I had been away from for over six months. Then, I turned her to ride off and it didn’t feel the same. It wasn’t like it was before. I knew it was going to feel different but I didn’t know how different. I didn’t have any weight in my legs. I couldn’t really feel where I was in the saddle. My balance was off so I was death gripped on the saddle horn and bared down on my rope holding myself on.

    As I rode out of the yard I was already getting tired. My arm was tired from pulling on my rope. My legs felt like they were squeezing as hard as they could yet I couldn’t feel the weight in my feet. My whole body flexing to stay in the middle. Then, I got to thinking what if my horse spooks? I wasn’t seat belted in so I wondered if I would tip off the side. What if she began to trot could I control her enough to keep her the speed I wanted to go? Could I turn her around and go back to the house? What if I did fall off   how would I get anywhere? It seemed the harder I tried to stay on and keep her at a slow walk the more she wanted to go. She would speed up a little so I would pull on her mouth then she’d prance around and I would struggle to keep my balance. The more I squeezed the harder I worked the more wore out I got.

    I kept going though. The more I rode the more comfortable I got. The more I loosened up and gave her her head, the smoother the ride got. If I just let her go and just worried about staying in the middle the easier the ride got. The looser my grip got the more relaxed I felt.

    I gave her her head and rode out around the field about thirty minutes total. She knew her way around the pasture and led me back to the house safe and sound and it felt amazing! It was awesome to connect with a horse again. Great to be horse back even if it was only for a minute.

    Once I was back in my wheelchair I was sitting on the porch enjoying the evening reflecting on my ride when I came across the idea that life is just like that short little ride I went on. You can either go on your ride and let fear of the unknown, anxiety, or uncertainty take over. Grab hold of your rope and squeeze tight trying to control every step showing it where to go, unsure of what might spook her up; or you can swing up and give her her head. Trust in the Lord  and let her pick carefully the path she needs to take. She’ll lead you around the pasture and back home safe and sound with a smile on your face enjoying each step of the way no matter what uncertainties come your way.

    Proverbs 3:5-6 says  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

    You see we should not let fear or circumstances, outcomes or situations, grab ahold of our reins and take control of our lives. We should hand them over to the Lord, trust in him, and let him guide us where we need to go.

     

  • Top personnel shine in Gunnison

    Top personnel shine in Gunnison

    GUNNISON, Colo. – Every year since its inception, many of the greatest cowboys in the country make their way to this picturesque town for the annual Cattlemen’s Days celebration and PRCA rodeo.

    Two of the greatest cowboys to have ever been here are repeat visitors, working the annual rodeo as pickup men for Stace Smith Pro Rodeo, one of the most decorated livestock firms in the sport. Jason Bottoms and Shawn Calhoun are two of the premier pickup men in the land, and they are regulars in the Gunnison Valley.

    “We’re just tickled to have guys of that caliber here in Gunnison,” said Kevin Coblentz, chairman of the volunteer committee that produces the rodeo. “They are great cowboys, and I know the bareback riders and bronc riders love knowing they have guys like that to help them at Cattlemen’s Days.”

    Each man has been selected to work the National Finals Rodeo, an honor bestowed on them by the top cowboys who play the game. Once they’ve earned the right to compete at the NFR by finishing the regular season as the leaders, the top 15 bareback riders and saddle bronc riders vote on who will rescue them for 10 straight December nights in Las Vegas.

    Calhoun was named to the NFR in 2012, while Bottoms’ three ventures to the Nevada desert came in 2005, ’07 and ’11. While the world has seen their talents on the biggest stage of the sport, the folks in Gunnison have seen them up close for many years.

    They are just two of the faces that come with the Smith Pro Rodeo, an Athens, Texas-based firm that has been named PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year 11 times. They are just a few of the biggest names in the game that are expected to be part of Cattlemen’s Days this year, with three performances set for Thursday, July 11-Saturday, July 13, at Fred Field Western Center in Gunnison.

    This year marks the return of entertainer John Harrison, who has been named the PRCA Comedy Act of the Year three times and Coors Man in the Can twice. His brand of comedy and his award-winning acts were a big hit for fans in Gunnison last July.

    “A lot of people don’t know this, but John is the grandson of Freckles Brown,” Coblentz said, pointing out that Brown is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee who won the bull riding world title in 1962 at the age of 41. “When you have that kind of legacy, it says something.

    “But what I think is even bigger is that he’s an outstanding horseman, and a lot of people around here can appreciate that. When he adds that to the comedy, it really makes something cool happen.”

    Announcer Andy Stewart returns to call the action, providing his baritone voice and distinct flavor to every ride and run that takes place during each performance. From Colliston, La., Stewart has been nominated as PRCA Announcer of the Year each of the past nine seasons, and there’s a good reason for it.

    Gunnison-raised Linda Alsbaugh serves as the rodeo secretary and has for many years. She offers a great understanding of Cattlemen’s Days to her tasks of the behind-the-scenes work that goes on throughout rodeo week. She, too, is well decorated.

    Alsbaugh and her late husband, Art, were recipients of the 2012 Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015, she was named the PRCA Secretary of the Year.

    “Hands down, I think we bring the best rodeo personnel to our event every year,” Coblentz said. “The cowboys know that when they get here, and it shows in every level of our rodeo.”

  • Tennessee Two-Step

    Tennessee Two-Step

    Williamson Co. native wins bareback riding; champions crowned at 70th annual Franklin Rodeo

    Franklin, Tenn. (May 18, 2019) – A Williamson County native took home a win at the seventieth annual Franklin Rodeo.

    Logan Corbett, who grew up in Thompson’s Station, won the bareback riding with an 83 point ride.

    During his high school days, he competed in the Tennessee High School Rodeo Association, in the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding, crediting Tim and Diane McPeake with helping him throughout high school rodeo. After graduation from Page High School in 2007, Corbett attended Murray State  University in Kentucky and competed collegiately, graduating with an animal science degree.

    Three years ago, he and his wife, Lacey, moved to New Mexico, where Corbett is the rodeo coach for New Mexico State University. He has sixty students on the New Mexico State University rodeo team, with twelve of them having qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo, held in Casper, Wyo., in June. “It’s a full time job,” he said, with that number of students on the team, and he’s pleased with the twelve who are going on to College Finals. “We’re excited about that.”

    Corbett is working on his master’s degree in agricultural education at New Mexico State, hoping to be able to teach introductory college courses.

    Corbett and his wife came back home a few days before he rode, to visit his mom, who lives in Bellevue, so grandma could see her grandkids: a daughter, who is two years old, and a son, who is three weeks old. While he is in the area, he visited the high school rodeo in Scottsville, Kentucky. “I ran up there to do some recruiting, talk to some kids, and see if I can’t get them to come to New Mexico State,” for the rodeo team. He has already recruited a saddle bronc rider from east Tennessee to compete for him.

    He remembers coming to the Franklin Rodeo as a kid. The Franklin Rodeo “has always been one of my favorites,” he said. “In high school, I wasn’t old enough to have a PRCA card, so I’d come watch and hang out with my friends. I’ve been coming to this rodeo for years and years. It’s really a blessing to be able to get to come here and do well. It’s awesome.”

    The thirty-year-old cowboy rode the J Bar J Rodeo bronc Freckled Doll for his win.

    The Franklin Rodeo was the first pro rodeo that Blake Ash competed at, ten years ago, when he was a PRCA permit member. He filled his permit, winning the required $1,000, in Franklin.

    Ten years later, he won the tie-down roping at the same rodeo with a time of 8.5 seconds.

    The Aurora, Mo. man credited his horse with the good run. Sancho, a thirteen year old bay gelding, “worked really good,” Ash said. “He keeps getting better and better.”

    The horse is owned by Mike Reade of Arkansas, and Ash has been riding him for the last two years. He makes sure the horse is in top health. “I don’t win anything if he doesn’t feel good.” In late June, Ash will hit the rodeo trail hard, and he’s had Sancho checked out by a veterinarian and equine chiropractor. “We did all the regular maintenance. We do it twice a year, at the beginning of the summer, and right before circuit finals. If I want to win anything, I want him to feel good.”

    Ash has competed close to home the past ten years but this spring, went to the California rodeos and won the Clovis, Calif. rodeo, which has given him a good start to the rodeo year. He plans on competing farther from home this summer. A run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the pinnacle of the pro rodeo world, where world champions are crowned, might be in the plans. “I think I’m going to try the best I can,” he said.

    Ash has competed at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo eight times, winning the year-end title once and the average title once. His dad, Greg Ash, was a perennial circuit finals qualifier, first in the Prairie Circuit and later in the Great Lakes Circuit.

    He is currently ranked twenty-first in the PRCA world standings.

    Other champions from the Franklin Rodeo are steer wrestler Justin Raburn, Lafayette, Ga.(4.3 seconds); saddle bronc rider Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D. (83 points); team ropers Nelson Wyatt, Llano, Texas/Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D., and Marcus Theriot, Poplarville, Miss./Chase Graves Bogalusa, La. (4.2 seconds for each team); barrel racer Nicole Love, Morton, Miss. (16.39 seconds); and bull rider Coleton Greninger, Rose Bud, Ark. (85.5 points).

    Next year’s rodeo will be held May 14-16, 2020. This is the seventieth anniversary of the rodeo, which is a service project for the Franklin Noon Rotary Club. Since the rodeo began, it has raised over $3 million for local and international charities.

     

     

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    Results, Franklin Rodeo, May 16-18, 2019

     

    Bareback riding

    1. Logan Corbett, Las Cruces, N.M. 83 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Freckled Doll; 2. Bryce Sifford, Martin, Tenn. 82.5; 3. (tie) Trey Moore, III Chatchee, Ala., Houston Herbert, College Grove, Tenn., and Jesse Pope, Marshall, Mo. 81 each; 6. Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La. 80.5.

     

    Steer wrestling

    1. Justin Raburn, Lafayette, Ga. 4.3 seconds; 2. Will Lummus, Byhalia, Miss. 4.4; 3. Zack Varner, Livingston, Ala. 4.7; 4. Jordan Thrasher, Culleoka, Tenn. 4.8; 5. Justin Thigpen, Waycross, Ga. 4.9; 6. Juan Alcazar Jr., Okeechobee, Fla. 5.0.

     

    Team roping

    1. (tie) Nelson Wyatt, Llano, Texas/Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D. and Marcus Theriot, Poplarville, Miss./Chase Graves, Bogalusa, La. 4.2 seconds each; 3. Coy Rahlmann, Ellsinore, Mo./Ryan Von Ahn, Palmyra,Mo. 4.5; 4. Cory Kidd V, Statesville, N.C./Clay Futrell, Union Grove, N.C. 4.7; 5. (tie) Mason Boettcher, East Bernard, Texas/Trace Porter, Leesville, La. and Kaston Peavy, Bay Minnette, Ala./Brad Culpepper, Poulan, Ga. 4.9 each; 7. Will Clark, Erin, Tenn./Tanner Ward, Wister, Okla. 5.3; 8. Kyle Letzelter, Canyon, Texas/Casey Cox, Ballston Spa, N.Y. 5.6.

     

    Saddle bronc riding

    1. Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D. 83 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Dirty Bugger; 2. Justin Browning, Lake Charles, La. 79; 3. Riggin Smith, Winterset, Iowa 78; 4. Briar Dittmer, Runnells, Iowa 77; 5. (tie) Roper Kiesner, Riley, Okla. and Ryder Sanford, Beaumont, Texas 76 each.

     

    Tie-down roping

    1. Blake Ash, Auora, Mo. 8.5 seconds; 2. Tim Pharr, Resaca, Ga. 8.9; 3. Hadley DeShazo, Ash Flat, Ark. 9.1; 4. Alex Caudle, Livingston, Ala. 9.2; 5. (tie) Justin Smith, Leesville, La. and Blake Chauvin, Raceland, La. 9.6 each.

     

    Barrel racing

    1. Nicole Love, Morton, Miss. 16.39 seconds; 2. Sadie Wolaver, Fayetteville, Tenn. 16.55; 3. Caroline Kelly, Auburn, Ala. 16.64; 4. Alishea Broussard, Estherville, La. 16.79; 5. Taylor Carver, Broxton, Ga. 16.81; 6. Laura Kennedy, Quitman, Ark. 16.87; 7. Ashley Parks, Dania Beach, Fla. 16.90; 8. Beth Ann Thomas, Hoboken, Ga. 16.91; 9. Nicole Helm, Tulsa, Okla. 16.95; 10. Sondra Conklin, Fayette, Mo. 16.96.

     

    Bull riding

    1. Coleton Greninger, Rose Bud, Ark. 85.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Two High; 2. (tie) John Young, Orient, Iowa and Trevor Reiste, Linden, Iowa 85 each; 4. (tie) Corey Atwell, Moravian Falls, N.C. and Denton Fugate, Niangua, Mo. 83 each; 6. Creek Young, Fordland, Mo. 81.