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  • Back When They Bucked with Joe McBride

    Back When They Bucked with Joe McBride

    Although Joe McBride spends many hours behind the camera lens now, he started out in front of them as a rodeo clown and bullfighter during a rodeo career that spanned nearly 30 years. Joe has been capturing the essence of rodeo through photography at International Professional Rodeos, not missing a single IFR in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma since he snapped his first shot there in 1992. The Brooklyn born 79-year-old also takes photos at multiple rodeo events as he travels across the northeast on his off-time from his full-time position with the New York State Department of Corrections. Joe just passed his 35-year-mark of service to the job and has no plans to retire anytime soon. He watches inmates from his tower perch 50 feet above them at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, New York. “When people ask when I’ll retire I tell them on the first…the first chance I get! But really, I have no intentions to retire, I’m like a worker bee, what would I do if I wasn’t working, sit on the couch and watch tv?”
    It was a very different line of work that filled Joe’s life before beginning his career with the corrections department. Joe had a fondness for horses, and an intrigue for the cowboy lifestyle. His mom, Eva Catherine McBride, an executive for IBM at their corporate headquarters in New York, fed her son’s passion by taking him on annual trips to the rodeo at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and even gifted him with a white gelding named Silver when he was 15-years-old. When Joe was 16, working at Camp Molloy in Mattituck, Long Island as a horse wrangler and trail guide, he went to the Islip Speedway Rodeo in Islip, Long Island and approached the owner, Gerry Partlow, for a job. Gerry let the teen exhibition ride on a bareback horse that night in 1956, and although he landed upside down into the fence after being bucked off in just a matter of seconds, Joe was drawn in to a life he wanted more of. “As I stepped out of the arena, my buddy asked me ‘How was it?’ and I said I loved it! I want to do it again!” Joe worked at a couple other rodeos for the Black Diamond Wild West Show that season, and at one of them, after sleeping on a bale of hay with a pair of clown baggies as his bedding, he remembers pulling them on just to see what they looked like, not knowing what a big part of his future he had just stepped into.

    Gerry agreed to let the aspiring cowboy have a job the next year if he came to Milan, Illinois the following spring. So, against his mother’s better wishes, in March of 1957, Joe dropped out of his studies at the School of Aviation Trades in Manhattan, and he and his friend Paul Dobin drove out of town in his Neptune green 1952 Ford pickup truck, headed for his future. “I thought spring started in March, and from watching television, I thought we were headed for a life that all cowboys lived, herding cattle on a ranch, sleeping in bunkhouses and then putting on rodeo shows as a sideline.” But, when Joe and Paul arrived in Milan to start their cowboy careers, they were taken aback when they found out the lifestyle of the wild west rodeo shows was not quite what they envisioned. “I was looking for the Black Diamond Ranch, but when we found Gerry Partlow, it ended up that he didn’t have a ranch; he rented a pasture to keep the horses turned out, and sold all the cattle but one bull after the season so he didn’t have to keep them through the winter, and he lived at home with his parents.” Even after attempting to sleep a few nights in Joe’s truck in the cold and snow, the two cowboy hopefuls were determined to make it work and finally decided to get a motel room and call their moms, who began sending them money to get them by. The friends worked several odd jobs and found a more permanent housing solution until May came along and the rodeo shows started up. Joe hauled a trailer that served as a stripping chute at the rodeos and was filled with the stakes and wire used to set up the rodeo arenas, and they left for the first rodeo of the season in Dexter, Missouri. “My job was to help set up and tear down the arena at each rodeo, and ride one bareback horse and one bull every performance.” There was another cowboy that hauled the bucking chutes trailer, and part of setting up the arena entailed taking the tires and wheels off the trailer, setting it on its axles at ground-level for the rodeo, covering the hubs with burlap sacks in case a cowboy was to land on them. They would then put the tires and wheels back on as they tore down the arena, readying it for travel to the next town. Joe spent several years working these traveling rodeo show seasons, riding and entertaining the crowds as a rodeo clown. In 1958, he added bullfighter to his list of job titles and often rode bulls while wearing his rodeo clown costume.
    Although rodeo is known to be big in the west, Joe made quite a career working as a rodeo clown and bullfighter in the northeast. Besides working for the Black Diamond, Joe worked for many other rodeo companies, such as Lou LaFalce and The Lazy L Rodeo Company based in Highlands, New York, Dick Quintoni who put on rodeos across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Crazy Horse Rodeo Company, Dodge City in Patchogue, Long Island, and for long-time IPRA rodeo contractor, Andy Compantero who owns Double R Rodeo Company. By 1965, Joe had given up bull riding, and was mainly perfecting his rodeo clown act. “In 1965 I bought a 1962 Ford F100 for $15 and turned it into my clown car. I moved the rear axle forward 3-or-4-feet so that it put the truck off balance. In my act, as soon as the other clowns got in the back of the truck it would buck and seesaw as I drove around the arena. The last part of the act a ‘bomb’ would go off, and then I’d pull a pin inside the truck that would flip the bed of the truck up and I’d drive out as the other clowns were dumped out onto the ground. As far as I know, it was one of the first clown trucks like it.”
    Joe Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1939 to his parents, Eva and Joseph F. McBride, who divorced when he was just 3-years old. Joe Sr. was a was a welder in the Brooklyn Navy yard and joined the Navy, becoming a Seabee and working as an underwater welder to repair damaged ships during World War II. He was also a golden gloves middleweight boxer.

    In February 1960, Joe met Carolyn Mirsky as he worked at Carroll’s Riding Academy in Brooklyn, by December of 1960 they married, and they ended up settling in the Middletown, New York area. In addition to rodeos, Joe worked many jobs ranging from installing chain link fencing to delivering produce and working as a driver for Sears for nearly 15 years. The couple had three children, Lisa, Joey, and Dennis, before divorcing in 1967.
    Photography was once just one of the many acts in Joe’s clown act arsenal, as he made the crowds laugh with delight as he wiggled and joked under a photographer’s cape with an exploding camera; but truly his passion for photography began with his mother. “My mom loved photography and bought me my first camera when I was about 13. Once I was clowning and fighting bulls, she gave me one of her old cameras and encouraged me to take photos at the rodeos; but I was so busy working I didn’t have time to take many. I finally upgraded to a Sears Camera, and then bought a Nikon and over the years I began taking photos at more and more rodeos. I really do it mostly for enjoyment, and now it’s my way of getting in to the rodeos without paying!”
    Although Joe didn’t finish his aviation studies in high school, planes were destined to become a big part of his life, and he still owns a 1962 Cessna 172 plane that he flew for many years, logging over 1000 hours of flight time. He is instrument rated and has a commercial rating on his pilot’s license. Joe also enjoyed traveling the roads on his 1993 Harley Davidson up until just 3-years-ago. His daughter Lisa May McBride currently lives in California, but recently passed the test to begin her own career with the same department of corrections as her father, so she will soon be relocating to New York. She has a son, Shawn that is married and living in California. Joe’s son Dennis also resides in California with his wife, Angela, where he manages a water treatment plant, and they have two children; daughter Lauren lives near Redding with her husband, and their son Chandler recently finished four years of service with the Air Force. Joe’s oldest son, Joey, lives on a 182-acre farm in New York, where he farms hay and he also drives double-trailer trucks for UPS, staying in town with Joe 5 nights each week. Joey and his wife Lisa Marie have 2 sons, Hunter and Logan that are 10 and 9-years old respectively, and 2 married daughters, Rachel who lives in Tennessee with her husband, and Heather who lives in upstate New York with her husband and just recently started in the training academy for the New York Department of Corrections.
    Joe McBride followed his passions in life and found happiness comes when you work for it, especially when what you do for work is a passion. He has literally spent a good portion of his life ‘clowning around’ and he wouldn’t have done it any other way.

  • On The Trail with Nellie Miller

    On The Trail with Nellie Miller

    Annelle (Nellie) Miller gets home as often as she can. “This year I didn’t have to travel near as much,” said the mother of two. “We had a pretty good start in the winter so we could pick and choose where we wanted to go.” Nellie has fit motherhood into her NFR run perfectly. “They travel with me most of the time.” That family includes James Miller, General Manager of Red Bluff Roundup, and their two daughters; Payton is 6 and Hadley is 3. “Since they aren’t in school yet, they can go with me. My parents are a huge factor in this too – her dad, Sam Williams, trains her horses, and her mom, Roxy often goes down the road to help with the girls. She has two brothers, Clint and Wyatt.

    She competes on her horse, Sister, a 10-year-old blue roan mare, Sire: KS Cash N Fame/Dam: Espuela Roan. “I have so much confidence in her,” said the 30-year-old who is making her third appearance to the Thomas and Mack arena this December, with career earnings of $533,276. The duo won Cheyenne Frontier Days in spite of a run around the barrels in the hail. “I knew she was going to work no matter what. My main plan was to push her through that hail – my cowboy hat helped block it a little bit and luckily it wasn’t too big. We definitely felt it – honestly I don’t remember much about it, I was just trying to get through it.” Back home in California now, Nellie is doing mom stuff. “I’m riding a few horses and I’ll go to the Circuit Finals, but until December, I’m home. “ The road to her third WNFR qualification started when she was a little girl.
    Nellie started riding about the age of ten. Roxy took it upon herself to take her daughter to some gymkhanas and once she started, the whole family pitched in. Sam is a self-taught horse trainer. “I’ve had a few mentors along the way; Tom Johnson, Bob Nelson and his wife, and I picked up a little bit from everybody, learning where I could from anybody.” Sam breaks all the horses they use on the ranch and roping trail. “I rope and my boy ropes too. Nellie started out roping and the barrels just happened,” he said. “You have great hopes for all of the horses you ride, but until you put them on the clock, you never know. Sister was a real good mare to break and ride – real confident. I was tying cattle out in the field when she was four – very willing and not afraid. To run at the PRCA level, you have to have a horse that can do anything. She tries hard every time. So does Nellie – she doesn’t weaken an ounce.”

    Nellie rodeoed through high school, competing in team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping, pole bending and goat tying, although goat tying was her least favorite event. She made the high school finals in barrel racing all four years, but only traveled to it three times. “My last year it was in Springfield, way far away, and the horse I was on was a real good horse at state level, but not at a national level, so we decided not to go. Her parents, Parents are Sam and Roxy Williams and brothers are Clint and Wyatt…Father Sam trained her horse Blue Duck which was a homegrown horse and started out as Sam’s roping horse.”
    Nellie went on to college rodeo at UNLV in Las Vegas, winning the region and second at the CNFR. “I never made it in the roping, just barrels.” She had a great horse in Blue Duck AKA Rebas Smokey Joe (Registered name), half brother to Sister, and made the decision to start rodeing professionally on him. She filled her permit on 2008, but Blue Duck got hurt midyear and they went home. “He came back the following year and did OK and in 2010 we made the NFR.” Nellie has no words to describe her first trip to Vegas. “You never know until you experience it for yourself. It was a real learning experience. We struggled that week. We didn’t know what to expect.” The duo won second in the first round, and after that they were one out of the money every night for five or six nights, and then it went downhill.

    The bright spot in that year is she met James Miller, who worked for one of her sponsors. They got married one year later in Las Vegas. Payton was born in 2012 and they moved to California in 2013 for the position that James accepted as GM for Red Bluff RoundUp. Hadley was born and Blue Duck was getting older and Nellie was starting to work with Sister, but she wasn’t quite ready for life on the road. “She had a lot of potential and had what it took to be a rodeo horse, so when she came on, we hit the trail.”
    The family lives in Cottonwood, California, two hours from the Oregon border. The small town has a lot of team ropers and barrel racers, but it’s not the California that people generally think of. “It’s rural and ranching.” Nellie was raised there, but James made the trip across the country from his home state of Florida. “I kind of joke about James – he hit California and had more friends than I did – and I lived here my whole life. He’s got a lot to do with the community and the town and it’s fun to be a part of all that.”
    Both girls have ponies and they are already talking about barrel racing. For now, Nellie and Sister are at home making sure they are legged up for Vegas. “We raised Sister and have a whole family of horses related to her – I’ve been running her since she was six, and she’s consistent and always fires. She’s special!” Nellie’s secret to being on the road is simple. “I just try to do my own thing and if it works out that I win great and if not, that’s the way it goes. I don’t get wrapped up in beating anyone.”

    Rounding the barrel at the 2017 WNFR – Steven Gray
  • Pendleton Round-Up Results

    Pendleton Round-Up Results

    Sept. 12-15

    All-around cowboy: Trevor Brazile, $13,705, tie-down roping, team roping and steer roping.

    Bareback riding: First round: 1. Blaine Kaufman, 85 points on Four Star Rodeo’s Cc Valley, $6,335; 2. Steven Peebles, 83.5, $4,857; 3. (tie) Ty Breuer and Tim O’Connell, 82, $2,956 each; 5. (tie) Jake Stemo and Blake Smith, 81.5, $1,267 each; 7. (tie) Nate McFadden and Wyatt Denny, 81, $739 each. Finals: 1. Orin Larsen, 88.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Yipee Kibitz, $1,650; 2. Caleb Bennett, 86.5, $1,250; 3. (tie) Wyatt Denny and Kenny Haworth, 85.5, $750 each; 5. Ty Breuer, 85, $350; 6. Ty Taypotat, 84, $250. Average: 1. Orin Larsen , 168 points on two head, $6,335; 2. (tie) Ty Breuer and Caleb Bennett, 167, $4,223 each; 4. Wyatt Denny, 166.5, $2,323; 5. Kenny Haworth, 165, $1,478; 6. Ty Taypotat, 164.5, $1,056; 7. Blake Smith, 163, $845; 8. Trenten Montero, 161.5, $634.

    Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Nick Guy, 4.4 seconds, $3,728; 2. Sterling Lambert, 5.6, $3,242; 3. (tie) Dirk Tavenner and Josh Garner, 6.0, $2,512 each; 5. Mike McGinn, 6.1, $1,783; 6. Rudy Switzer, 6.3, $1,297; 7. Blake Mindemann, 6.5, $810; 8. Tristan Martin, 6.7, $324. Second round: 1. Bear Pascoe, 4.1 seconds, $3,728; 2. Sterling Lambert, 5.1, $3,242; 3. Tom Lewis, 5.7, $2,756; 4. Jesse Brown, 5.8, $2,269; 5. Clayton Hass, 5.9, $1,783; 6. Rudy Switzer, 6.1, $1,297; 7. Taylor Gregg, 6.4, $810; 8. Kyle Whitaker, 6.7, $324. Finals: 1. Andy Weldon, 4.9 seconds, $1,117; 2. (tie) Jesse Brown and Nick Guy, 5.5, $828 each; 4. Sterling Lambert, 5.6, $539; 5. Blake Mindemann, 6.3, $347; 6. Clayton Morrison, 6.9, $193. Average: 1. Sterling Lambert , 16.3 seconds on three head, $5,592; 2. Jesse Brown, 18.1, $4,863; 3. Nick Guy, 19.7, $4,133; 4. Andy Weldon, 21.3, $3,404; 5. Rudy Switzer, 21.5, $2,675; 6. Blake Mindemann, 22.4, $1,945; 7. Clayton Morrison, 24.0, $1,216; 8. Levi Rudd, 24.6, $486.

    Team roping: First round: 1. Shawn Bessette/Sid Sporer, 5.5 seconds, $4,566 each; 2. Blake Teixeira/Ross Ashford, 5.6, $3,970; 3. (tie) Jeff Flenniken/Jake Minor, Ty Blasingame/J.W. Borrego and Dex Maddock/Kurtis Barry, 5.8, $2,779 each; 6. (tie) Dustin Bird/Kyle Lockett and Lane Ivy/Buddy Hawkins II, 6.0, $1,290 each; 8. Dale Benevides/Buck McCay, 6.2, $397. Second round: 1. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 4.9 seconds, $4,566 each; 2. Cody Snow/Wesley Thorp, 5.1, $3,970; 3. Rhen Richard/Quinn Kesler, 5.6, $3,375; 4. Dillon Holyfield/Robert Murphy, 6.0, $2,779; 5. (tie) Chaz Kananen/Tyler Whitlow, Dustin Bird/Kyle Lockett, Colton Campbell/Jordan Ketscher and Cody Barney/Daniel Holland, 6.3, $1,290 each. Finals: 1. Chad Masters/Tyler Worley, 5.0 seconds, $1,523 each; 2. (tie) Colton Campbell/Jordan Ketscher and Garrett Rogers/Cesar de la Cruz, 6.1, $1,129 each; 4. Lane Ivy/Buddy Hawkins II, 6.7, $735; 5. Coleman Proctor/Ryan Motes, 7.2, $473; 6. Shane Erickson/Brent Falon, 8.2, $263. Average: 1. Chad Masters/Tyler Worley, 18.1 seconds on three head, $6,849 each; 2. Lane Ivy/Buddy Hawkins II, 19.6, $5,955; 3. Garrett Rogers/Cesar de la Cruz, 19.9, $5,062; 4. Colton Campbell/Jordan Ketscher, 20.1, $4,169; 5. Shane Erickson/Brent Falon, 22.4, $3,275; 6. Coleman Proctor/Ryan Motes, 22.5, $2,382; 7. Jeff Flenniken/Jake Minor, 23.4, $1,489; 8. Ty Blasingame/J.W. Borrego, 24.6, $596.

    Saddle bronc riding: First round: 1. Colt Gordon, 86.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Y u R Friskey, $5,341; 2. Clay Elliott, 86, $4,095; 3. Jake Wright, 85, $3,027; 4. (tie) Wade Sundell and Isaac Diaz, 83.5, $1,602 each; 6. Jesse Wright, 83, $890; 7. (tie) Allen Boore and Zeke Thurston, 82, $623 each. Finals: 1. (tie) Ryder Wright, on Calgary Stampede’s Zaka Kibitz, and Jesse Wright, on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Robinson Bulls’ Marquee, 85 points, $1,450 each; 3. Allen Boore, 84.5, $900; 4. Isaac Diaz, 83.5, $600; 5. Wade Sundell, 81, $350; 6. Bradley Harter, 80, $250. Average: 1. Jesse Wright, 168 points on two head, $5,341; 2. Isaac Diaz, 167, $4,095; 3. (tie) Ryder Wright and Allen Boore, 166.5, $2,493 each; 5. Colt Gordon, 166, $1,246; 6. Wade Sundell, 164.5, $890; 7. Bradley Harter, 161, $712; 8. Zeke Thurston, 160.5, $534.Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Riley Pruitt, 8.8 seconds, $3,880; 2. Tuf Cooper, 8.9, $3,374; 3. Cyle Denison, 9.0, $2,868; 4. J.C. Malone, 9.2, $2,362; 5. Cooper Martin, 9.4, $1,856; 6. Dane Kissack, 9.5, $1,350; 7. Bo Pickett, 10.0, $844; 8. Tyler Prcin, 10.1, $337. Second round: 1. Jake Hannum, 8.7 seconds, $3,880; 2. (tie) Shane Hanchey and Ty Harris, 9.5, $3,121 each; 4. Ty Holly, 10.4, $2,362; 5. Tyler Prcin, 10.7, $1,856; 6. Bo Pickett, 10.9, $1,350; 7. Brad Goodrich, 11.1, $844; 8. Blane Cox, 11.3, $337. Finals: 1. J.C. Malone, 8.6 seconds, $1,059; 2. Dane Kissack, 10.2, $876; 3. Ty Harris, 10.4, $694; 4. Cooper Martin, 11.3, $511; 5. Shane Hanchey, 11.4, $329; 6. Cyle Denison, 12.0, $183. Average: 1. J.C. Malone, 31.3 seconds on three head, $5,820; 2. Shane Hanchey, 31.6, $5,061; 3. Ty Harris, 32.9, $4,302; 4. Tyler Prcin, 33.1, $3,543; 5. Cooper Martin, 34.0, $2,784; 6. Bo Pickett, 34.6, $2,025; 7. Dane Kissack, 34.7, $1,265; 8. Cyle Denison, 36.9, $506.

    Korkow Rodeos bronc “Bad Onion” won the rank horse award in the short round at The famous Pendleton Round-Up today!! Clay Elliott didn’t ride him to the 8, but Troy said he would have been 9000 points if he did!! Below is Jim and TJ Korkow

    Barrel racing: First round: 1. Jolene Douglas-Hoburg, 28.73 seconds, $5,007; 2. Cheyenne Allan, 28.76, $4,292; 3. Kacey Gartner, 28.93, $3,576; 4. Italy Sheehan, 29.05, $3,100; 5. Jessie Telford, 29.06, $2,384; 6. Mindy Goemmer, 29.09, $1,907; 7. Teri Bangart, 29.11, $1,431; 8. Katelyn Scott, 29.25, $954; 9. Cindy Woods, 29.29, $715; 10. Brenda Mays, 29.30, $477. Finals: 1. Kacey Gartner, 28.47 seconds, $2,119; 2. Cheyenne Allan, 28.62, $1,589; 3. Jolene Douglas-Hoburg, 28.76, $1,060; 4. Lexi Burgess, 28.82, $530. Average: 1. Cheyenne Allan, 57.38 seconds on two head, $5,007; 2. Kacey Gartner, 57.40, $4,292; 3. Jolene Douglas-Hoburg, 57.49, $3,576; 4. Teri Bangart, 57.99, $3,100; 5. Italy Sheehan, 58.15, $2,384; 6. Lexi Burgess, 58.32, $1,907; 7. Jessie Telford, 58.36, $1,431; 8. Katelyn Scott, 58.39, $954; 9. Mindy Goemmer, 58.43, $715; 10. Hayle Gibson, 58.64, $477.

    Steer roping: First round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 11.2 seconds, $3,966; 2. Tom Sorey, 11.3, $3,449; 3. Jim Locke, 11.9, $2,931; 4. Shorty Garten, 13.0, $2,414; 5. (tie) Roger Branch and J. Tom Fisher, 14.6, $1,638 each; 7. Will McBride, 14.9, $862; 8. Dave Sedar, 16.3, $345. Second round: 1. Chet Herren, 11.4 seconds, $3,966; 2. Chris Glover, 12.4, $3,449; 3. Vin Fisher Jr., 13.0, $2,931; 4. (tie) Ryan Rochlitz and Howdy McGinn, 13.2, $2,155 each; 6. Scott Snedecor, 13.6, $1,379; 7. Tuf Cooper, 13.7, $862; 8. Bryce Davis, 13.9, $345. Finals: 1. Chet Herren, 14.9 seconds, $1,117; 2. Cody Lee, 16.7, $924; 3. Jarrett Blessing, 17.5, $732; 4. (tie) Will Gasperson and Chris Glover, 17.9, $443 each; 6. Tygh Campbell, 20.4, $193. Average: 1. Chris Glover, 47.5 seconds on three head, $5,949; 2. Trevor Brazile, 48.2, $5,173; 3. Jarrett Blessing, 50.8, $4,397; 4. Will Gasperson, 51.4, $3,621; 5. Cody Lee, 62.0, $2,845; 6. Tygh Campbell, 65.0, $2,069; 7. Kim Ziegelgruber, 72.9, $1,293; 8. Chet Herren, 26.3 on two head, $517.

    Bull riding: First round: 1. (tie) Roscoe Jarboe, on Korkow Rodeos’ Teepee Creeper, and Koby Radley, on Korkow Rodeos’ Jambalaya, 85.5 points, $4,693 each; 3. (tie) Sage Kimzey and Gumby Wren, 83.5, $2,479 each; 5. Jordan Hansen, 82.5, $1,240; 6. Corey Maier, 82, $886; 7. Tyler Bingham, 81.5, $708; 8. Shane Proctor, 81, $531. * Finals: 1. Jordan Spears, 86 points on Brookman Rodeo’s Little Chubby, $5,000; no other qualified rides. Average: 1. Jordan Spears, 166 points on two head, $5,313; 2. (tie) Roscoe Jarboe and Koby Radley, 85.5 on one head, $3,542 each; 4. (tie) Gumby Wren and Sage Kimzey, 83.5, $1,594 each; 6. Jordan Hansen, 82.5, $886; 7. Corey Maier, 82, $708; 8. Tyler Bingham, 81.5, $531. *(all totals include ground money).

    Total payoff: $523,688. Stock contractor: Calgary Stampede. Sub-contractors: Korkow Rodeos, Sankey Pro Rodeo & Robinson Bulls, Wayne Vold Rodeo, Outlawbuckers Rodeo, Four Star Rodeo, New West Rodeo Productions and Brookman Rodeo. Rodeo secretary: Haley J Bridwell. Officials: Bobby Davis, Terry Carlon, Allan Jordan Jr and Joe Bob Locke. Timers: Marlo Ward, Debra Northcott and Scott Tullis. Announcer: Wayne Brooks. Specialty acts: Haley Ganzel and Lindy Nealey. Bullfighters: Tim O’Connor and Dusty Tuckness. Clown/barrelman: Justin Rumford. Flankmen: Curtis Sawyer, Jonathan Kmita, Craig Wentz and Ken Rehill. Chute boss: Billy Ward. Pickup men: Matt Twitchell, Bobby Marriott, Dalton Ward, James Brown and Gary Rempel. Photographers: Kirt Steinke, Molly Morrow, Roseanna Sales, Jackie Jensen, Dan Hubbell, Roberta Barkley, Bob Click and Billie-Jean Duff. Music director: Chuck Lopeman.

  • Back When They Bucked with Don Huddleston

    Back When They Bucked with Don Huddleston

    story by Shiley Blackwell

    Don Huddleston’s name rings across the steer wrestling world as one of the greats. The Talihina, Oklahoma cowboy was an eight time NFR qualifier and has spent his days contributing to his community and the rodeo realm. “I’ve had some good guys beat me at bull dogging, and I’ve beat some good ones,” Don says of his 37-year career. “It was a lot of fun either way.”
    The 84-year-old Oklahoma native began his rodeo career during his teenage years in what was then-known as “FFA Rodeo.” “We didn’t have high school rodeo. The agriculture departments in different schools around here put on the rodeo,” Don says. “There was one in Clayton and one in Tuskahoma, and I’d make them every year and I got to where I could win.”
    During this time, a few boys from Kansas moved to Tuskahoma where Don went to school. A friendship formed and the group began rodeoing together. “We started branching out and going to stronger rodeos. I got to winning bulldoggings and bull ridings. That’s kind of what got me started.”
    Enthralled with his new-found love of rodeo, Don took every opportunity to improve his steer wrestling. “When I was going to school in Tuskahoma, we had one movie house and that was in Clayton. I went up there and I met Tater Decker and his wife, Jo, and they had bought a place down there in Clayton. We got to talking that night and he said he was going to build a practice arena. I said, ‘Well, if you want to, I’ll come help you then we can both practice down there.’ He said, ‘That’s a deal.’”

    That was the start of a building the arena that took four years and a friendship that lasted a lifetime. Tater and Don built an arena, then talked a stock contractor into letting them use a set of steers one winter in exchange for feeding and caring for them. “The bad steers we made better, and the good steers we didn’t use too much. He (the stock contractor) came out with a good set of cattle that year, so we started getting a set from a contractor nearly every year to straighten up.”
    After a few years of straightening steers out and practicing at Tater’s place, Don went to a rodeo in Ada in 1955 where he took third in the average and third in the go-round. “That showed me that I could rodeo with the rest of them since most of the professionals were there,” Don says. “I just went from there and got my RCA card.”
    This eventually led to him buying his Pro Rodeo card in 1958, leading to NFR qualifications in 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969-71. At Don’s first NFR, he set the record in the Dallas, Texas arena with a time of 4.0. Then, at the 1963 NFR he set the arena record in the Los Angeles, California arena with a 3.9. He also set the arena record in Oklahoma City with a 4.1.
    “In those days, they had the beefy, buffalo-type cattle, and at the first of the National Finals they let Lynn Butler have the steer contract. He’d buy a set of cattle in the spring, turn them out on the blue-stem grass in western Oklahoma in the summer, and then feed them 90 days before the rodeo… That made it a hustle to just be able to throw one down. When we started the National Finals, we had to bulldog steers weighing from 800 to 1000 pounds. You can imagine the hustle that that was,” Don comments.
    Between 1968 and 1982, he would fly his private plane to rodeos where a fellow cowboy would meet him with a steer wrestling horse. Don, who served as Latimer’s County Commissioner, was talked into running for office in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which he won and he was a state representative for District 17 for two terms – 1971-74. Fellow politicians would join him on these “rodeo flights.” His other passengers included cowboys that were up at the same rodeos.
    “Most times, there in the house, there would be enough country boys there that would want to go to a rodeo with me. I had a six seat airplane so I’d load five up in there. One year, I loaded all of us up and we went to Helldorado Days in Las Vegas, and I won it. I couldn’t have had a better fan club there,” Don chuckles, “That’s the way it worked. There would always be people who wanted to come, so they’d jump in and come with me. I made sure that everyone who wanted to go could go.”
    During these years of flying to rodeos, Don had horses scattered throughout North America that he bulldogged off of. “I had several horses that went to California, a few in Canada, one in Idaho, another in Colorado. I sold them like that – all scattered out – then I rode them when I flew to rodeos.”
    Don’s arena on his ranch in Talihina became a gathering place for steer wrestlers looking to improve their skill and find the right horse. When Don retired from rodeoing full-time in the 80s, the arena they built in the 1970s continued to be a place for all the bulldoggers to gather. He and his twin brother, Dale, made many horses and competitors in this arena.
    Over the years, his “matchmaking” skills have helped dozens of cowboys find horses that have carried them to big wins. “I bought one horse from a guy over here in the county seat. He roped on him but he was just too charge-y. He told me he was going to sell him so I bought him and made a bulldogging horse out of him. I sold him to a kid in Arkansas and the first few months he had him he won $6,400 on him.”
    Don’s repertoire, as well as his ability to help cowboys find the right horse, brought in steer wrestlers from all over the country. “I had many bulldoggers here nearly every day,” he comments. “I trained a lot of bulldoggers, and many went to the finals.” Along with Don, there were many unmentioned cowboys that helped with the practices – opening a gate and pushing cattle.

    In his years of coaching steer wrestlers to success, Don emphasized the importance of attitude. “To win any rodeo contest, you need to have a good attitude. You can’t get mad at yourself, the steer, or your horse, then go to the next one and win anything… If someone has a good attitude, they’re worth working with and if they don’t have a good attitude, you might as well forget them.”
    He also served as the second vice president for the PRCA, from 1975-1980. Dale Smith was president, and Jack Roddy was 1st Vice President. After that he assisted Frank Shepperson as the steer wrestling director. His name was on the building at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs as being on the board when it was decided to build the building.
    In addition to steer wrestling schools, the Huddlestons’ arena also quickly became a place for rodeo competitors of all ages. “We filled that arena with bulldoggings and rodeos for junior cowboys and cowgirls. I had the first cancer society rodeo right here. We donated all the proceeds to the American Cancer Society in 1981.”
    They also started the now-famous Huddleston Ranch Bulldogging, which hit 46 consecutive years in May. The event, held over Memorial Day each year, brings top talent to Oklahoma for two days of competition. “Last year, we had several guys at the bull dogging who went to finals this year,” Don says. “There’s lots of gold buckles at this event.”
    And during these decades of bull dogging schools, ropings, and rodoes on the ranch, family has been at the center of it. “Our kids were raised right up here on the ranch, and they all rode horses,” Don says. “Lacee started hazing down here.”
    Don and Joye married in 1960 and traveled 17,000 miles on their honeymoon. They each had a child (Joni Grammar and Greg Vanderwagen) before they married and then they had two of their own (Gala Dawn Huddleston and Kevan Don Huddleston). They bought a ranch from Joye’s family in 1960, and still call it their home 58 years later. “We’ve been married a long time,” Don says. “And we’ve had a good life-the best life.”
    The ranch is now being run by Gala and her family and the tradition is being carried on under the careful direction of Don.
    Don has done a lot for rural Oklahoma, continuing the tradition of letting any child that had an interest in a horse to help them find their passion.

  • On The Trail with Lacee Curnutt

    On The Trail with Lacee Curnutt

    Lacee Curnutt from Talihina, Oklahoma, grew up riding on a ranch. Her grandfather, Don Huddleston (Back When They Bucked, page 18)raised her riding with him on the southeast Oklahoma ranch. “My grandpa went to the NFR 8 times and even though he had retired by the time I started hazing, I used to haze for everyone he helped,” said the oldest of five sisters. “On Sundays, Grandmomma took me to church and we always practiced after the meal.” Lacee competed in barrel racing and hazed with her two bulldogging teams through college. “Those two teams helped me stay on the rodeo team,” she said. Lacee went to college for elementary education, but left to go pro rodeo before completing the student teaching.

    She hazed for her ex-husband and several bulldoggers and came home when she became pregnant. “Then along came Walker Don Woodall,” she said. “I couldn’t be luckier –he’s friendly, loving and kind. And a good boy.” She came home and waitressed and eventually worked in the oil fields. “I was still hazing at the amateur rodeos and raising Walker; trying to be a good mom.” Although Walker rides horses, his first priority is playing football. He also likes fishing and playing baseball.

     

    Lacee met steer wrestler Tom Lewis through a mutual friend and they literally met on the road – at a Wendy’s at Hayes, Kansas. He went his way and she went hers. “I told him if he made the short round at Dodge City, Kansas, I’d come watch him.” He did and she went and he won the rodeo. “It was a good first date.” That was more than a year ago and the couple will be married November 10.

    She has been able to stay home, quitting her job of hauling horse trailers, to take care of the horses at home and keep up with 10-year-old Walker and Tom. Whenever she can, she hazes for Tom as well as several others. “I can remember the first time in 2003 when I bought my card. I hazed in Ft. Worth and they were fresh cattle; that will always weed out who deserves to be there. It was a man’s sport, and I had to prove myself before they were ever really nice. Once I did, they were good.”

    She says that one of the secrets to being a good hazer is having a good horse. “That hazing horse has to help everyone,” explained the 35 year old. “When I was young, I had a horse that we got off the track. He bucked everyone off and finally I got him and he took care of me until the day he died. He was 22 – it’s been hard to find another one. I’ve trained a bunch, and Chad Richard out of Utah had one that has been super awesome – Superman.”

    “Throwing your leg across enough of them you know the difference. When to say enough is enough and when to keep messing with them. With age, you recognize what a good horse has to have. You’ve got to have some heart in them – I like finding that peace in a horse.” They have the perfect team now between Superman and Maverick. It’s the same way they feel about working as a team with each other.

     

    “I never thought I would ever have a lady haze for me,” said Tom, who made the NFR in 2012. “She’s not just a cowgirl; she’s special. She’s the love of my life, we’re good friends and we can talk. It’s been good. At the end of the day, it’s just a rodeo.” He has been dogging steers since he was a junior in high school, joining the PRCA in 2001. In 2012, after winning the circuit 4 times, he made a run at the NFR. His good horse got hurt after he made the NFR in 2012 and it’s taken him four years to find Maverick. Four guys rode him at the Finals last year and the duo, along with the hazing horse, Superman, have had a great year.

    Lacee’s goal in life is to be happy and have a peaceful life. “I want to give back, I love helping young ones! Always give God the Glory; we would be nothing without Him! Her other goal is to be the first female hazer at the NFR, a goal she has held dear for many years. “I’d love to make history. To me it would be a payoff of years and years of hard work.”

  • Being ‘Pink’

    Being ‘Pink’

    Hastings rodeo raises funds for cancer patients at Morrison Cancer Center

    Hastings, Neb. – The Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings in August isn’t just  a place to have a good time.

    It’s also a way to help a neighbor.

    When “pink” night descended on the rodeo on Sat., August 25, it was time to help out.

    The rodeo has partnered with the Morrison Cancer Center to raise funds for the Center’s From the Heart program. From the Heart is a program the Morrison Center uses to give money to those going through cancer treatment at the Center. The campaign is called “Tough Enough to Wear Pink,” and the rodeo donated one dollar for every rodeo fan in pink during the August 25 rodeo, and passed a pink bucket, asking for voluntary donations, during the performance.

    That money can be used for fuel, or, in the form of Chamber bucks, for other necessities like medicine.

    For a Kearney woman, From the Heart funds have been very helpful.

    Kim Vos, who is 52 years old, was diagnosed with stage 4 invasive ductal carcinoma, an incurable cancer, on Valentine’s Day of this year.

    She is going through chemotherapy and chose to doctor in Hastings instead of Kearney, because of her mom’s experience at the Morrison Cancer Center. Her mom “doctored in Hastings,” she said, “and that’s why I chose Hastings. The Cancer Center is an incredible place.”

    Vos first had cancer several years ago, and a bilateral mastectomy to treat it. Doctors told her no other treatment was necessary, so it was shocking when cancer came back for a second time.

    Monies from the From the Heart have helped pay bills at the Vos household. She isn’t able to work full time at the restaurant she runs in Grand Island, so she’s gone from a salary to hourly income. “I’m having to cut my hours back,” she said. “I don’t have the energy.” As with most cancer patients, she’s working through emotional and physical pain as well as financial struggles. “As soon as you hear that you have stage 4 cancer, and that it’s incurable, you have all that on your brain. Then you’re thinking, how am I going to work? How will I pay my bills? I’m not one who doesn’t pay my bills.” The From the Heart gas cards and Chamber bucks helped. “Even that helped take the edge off” the worry.

    Vos is married, with two daughters and two grandbabies, ages six years and 21 months, and they are incentive to keep going. “It’s been terrifying,” she said of her cancer journey. “But I have a Creator who loves me more than anyone else.” Her grandchildren “are my motivation to stick around, with my husband, to watch them grow up. I have to fight the fight so I can stick around as long as the Lord is willing to let me.”

    Guillermo and Sasha Aguirre pose for their wedding photo. The couple was married on August 5; four days later, Sasha was told she would need to have chemotherapy. The couple benefitted from funds raised at the Oregon Trail Rodeo for Sasha’s fight against cancer – Complete Weddings and Events

    Another local cancer patient benefits from the From the Heart funds.

    Four days after her wedding on August 5, 2017, Sasha Aguirre was told she would need to have chemotherapy to fight a rare form of ovarian cancer.

    She had a cyst removed from her ovary in June, and the doctor had said she would probably not need chemo, so she and her husband, Guillermo, weren’t concerned.

    For Aguirre, receiving funds from Morrison Cancer Center’s From the Heart was needed. A student at Central Community College, she was also working part time. But during chemotherapy, her work hours (and her schooling) decreased. “My husband paid bills by himself,” she said. “We weren’t used to that.” From the Heart gave Aguirre chamber bucks to be used for fuel and other necessities.

    Neither Vos nor Aguirre have attended the Hastings rodeo, but there’s a good chance they’ll be in the stands this year on Tough Enough to Wear Pink night.

    The Oregon Trail Rodeo has raised more than $30,000 for the Morrison Cancer Center through its pink night.

    Tough Enough to Wear Pink night is August 25; the rodeo will also be held on August 24 and August 26. Performances on the 24th and 25th begin at 7 pm. The August 26 rodeo starts at 5 pm. Tickets range in price from $10 to $20 for adults and $5 to $20 for children, and can be purchased at the Adams County Fairgrounds or at the gate. For more information,  visit www.AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com  or call 402.462.3247.

  • Bull Riding in His Blood

    Bull Riding in His Blood

    Elk City Man Follows in Dad’s Footsteps as Bull Rider

    Elk City, Okla. (August 27, 2018) – With a world champion for a dad, it’s no surprise that Brett Custer is following in his father’s footsteps.

    Custer, the twenty-year-old son of 1992 World Champion Bull Rider Cody Custer, will ride a bull at the Elk City Rodeo of Champions this weekend.

    The younger Custer is in his rookie year of competition in the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He and his family, including his mom, Stacey, moved from Arizona to Elk City ten years ago; Brett grew up riding sheep, then graduated to calves, steers, then bulls, as he progressed through Little Britches Rodeo, then junior high and high school competition.

    He was having a great rookie season till a bull at Cheyenne Frontier Days in July broke his jaw and sidelined him.  He planned that his first ride back would be at his hometown rodeo, the Rodeo of Champions, but his buddies had other plans for him. They “entered me in (a rodeo) in California,” he said, so he’ll be headed to the west coast prior to riding in Elk City.

    The jaw is doing well, Custer said. The first two weeks after the break were miserable; his jaws were wired shut and he lived on protein and milkshakes. But it is good now, he said. “I don’t have full mobility of it yet but it’s healing up pretty well.”

    At the time of the injury, Brett was ranked in the top thirty of the world, within striking distance of the top fifteen, which qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR), pro rodeo’s pinnacle. Sitting out of rodeo for a month set him back; he’s ranked fortieth in the world standings now. But he knows it’s how the sport goes. “That’s bull riding; it’s a part of it.”

    His dad, who in addition to being a world champion bull rider, was a 2017 Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, a PBR co-founder, and a seven-time WNFR qualifier, has helped him out “a bunch,” Brett said. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without him, honestly, because of how much he’s helped me. He taught me how to enter rodeos, setting up my schedule, being able to get from point A to point B, and he’s pretty much built the foundation for my riding. We talk every day, even if I’m not home, about my rides. It’s just a blessing to have him be my dad, honestly.”

    Brett is ranked twelfth in the Prairie Circuit standings, pro rodeo’s regional designation of rodeos in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. If he is in the top fifteen in the circuit as of Sept. 30, he will qualify to compete at the Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo in Duncan, Okla. October 19-21.

    Brett is the youngest of three children of Cody and Stacey: Aaron, who passed away in 2011, and Lacey, who is 23 and a student at Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla.

    Nearly 250 cowboys and cowgirls will compete at the Beutler Bros. Arena in Elk City, August 31-September 1-2. Performances begin at 8 pm nightly; tickets range in price from $9 to $18 and can be purchased at Circle A Western Wear, at Doug Gray Dodge in Elk City, and at the gate. For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at www.ElkCityRodeo.com or call Doug Gray Dodge at 580.225.3005.

  • Family Passion

    Family Passion

    Elk City, Okla. (August 13, 2018) – The Elk City rodeo is so important to the Johnson family that they had to reschedule a wedding because of it.

    Little did Emily Johnson realize, when she and Jeff set the date for their wedding on Labor Day weekend, 1976, that it was the same day as the Saturday night of the rodeo.

    Jeff and his dad, Russell Johnson, were part of the Rodeo of Champions committee, and his mom, Velma, volunteered at the rodeo, too. There was no way he and Emily could marry when the rodeo was going on.

    So they moved it, to the weekend after the rodeo. And Emily, a native of Amarillo, Texas, began her own rodeo tradition with the Johnsons.

    Russell Johnson was on the rodeo committee for more than ten years, serving as president for a term. He worked the contestant parking gate, on the northeast side of the rodeo grounds, with son Jeff joining him “when I was a snot-nosed kid,” he remembers. When Russell became a board director, Jeff, at age fifteen, took over working the gate, helping park specialty acts with trailers, rodeo cowboys and cowgirls, the Sanders longhorns, and more.

    When Jeff and Emily’s kids were old enough, they, too, came out to the rodeo grounds to help alongside their parents. Steven, the eldest, helped his dad at the parking gate. Jill served food to the chute seat ticket holders and Tommy, the youngest, pitched in wherever he was needed.

    Of the three, Steven still lives in Elk City and has worked the back gate since he was thirteen. Like his dad, he loves it. He makes friends with the people who return year after year, helping them out as he can. He helps saddle horses for the flag-carrying Kerosene Cowgirls. He’s met eleven-time world champion barrel racer Charmayne James when she competed in Elk City, and he’s shaken the hands of the gold-card carrying PRCA members.

    If cowboys are late getting to the rodeo, Steven’s been known to park their vehicles for them. “I have cowboys come in, running late, and ask, ‘where do I go?’ I say, grab your stuff, I’ll park your vehicle for you, and I’ll have your keys in my pocket when you’re done.”

    The back gate is a “combat zone,” Jeff says. The horses got out once, running several miles. Storms with hailstones have come up, and he’s been clipped by side mirrors as pickups with trailers have pulled in. He’s grabbed excited kids out of the way of eighteen-wheelers, and helped direct traffic. “People don’t pay attention. That’s part of it.” But he loves it. “We just hammer down and stay with it.”

    Emily has a role to play as well. After retiring as a registered nurse and supervisor at a hospital, she was asked to help serve the meal to the chute seat fans. She loves the people. “I like meeting everybody,” she said. “Some of the people you see only that time of year. It’s nice to catch up with the regulars.”

    Jeff and Steven have never missed a year of the rodeo since they were kids; since 1976, when Emily married Jeff, she hasn’t missed a year. They love what they do. “It’s something I’ve always been a part of, and something I truly look forward to,” Steven said. He hopes his son, 21-month-old Russell Thomas Johnson, is part of the rodeo, too. “It’s almost a heritage between my grandfather, dad and me, and hopefully my son follows in my footsteps.”

    The Elk City rodeo is August 31-September 1-2 at Beutler Bros. Arena at Ackley Park. Performances begin at 8 pm each night. Tickets range in price from $9-$18 and can be purchased at Circle A Western Wear, at Doug Gray Dodge in Elk City, and at the gate. For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at www.ElkCityRodeo.com or call Doug Gray Dodge at 580.225.3005.

     

  • MPCC Rodeo Team Coach Selected for Athletic Hall of Fame

    MPCC Rodeo Team Coach Selected for Athletic Hall of Fame

    Mid-Plains Community College rodeo team coach Dustin Elliott will be inducted into the Chadron State College Athletic Hall of Fame.

    Elliott is one of eight former CSC athletes chosen for the prestigious honor. The ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 27 in the CSC Student Center.

    “It’s just kind of humbling,” Elliott said of the recognition. “It’s a real honor to know my name is going to be enshrined in a place I truly enjoyed.”

    Alex Helmbrecht, co-chair of the Hall of Fame committee, said Elliott’s selection was a unanimous decision among committee members.

    “Dustin excelled as a bull rider for CSC, and he brought notoriety to the college and its rodeo program while he was a student,” said Helmbrecht. “Dustin has continued to honor Chadron State College as a professional, and the committee is eager to formally recognize him during the ceremony.”

    Dustin Elliott rides a bull for Chadron State College. Elliott, currently a rough stock coach for Mid-Plains Community College, will be inducted into the CSC Athletic Hall of Fame in October. – CSC photos

    Elliott and fellow inductee Will Farrell won three out of four national bull riding titles for CSC during the time they were in college. Farrell was the champion in 1999 and 2002, and Elliott took home top honors in 2001.

    Elliott’s history with rodeo, however, began long before he entered the collegiate arena.

    His father was a formidable competitor in both rough stock and timed events at amateur rodeos. When Elliott stumbled across his dad’s gear bag at age 10, it fueled a passion that would eventually make him a household name.

    Elliott began riding calves when he was in fifth grade, advanced to steers and then to bulls upon entering high school rodeos.

    He earned a scholarship to CSC after becoming the Oregon High School Rodeo Finals bull riding champion in 1999.

    While at Chadron, Elliott qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo three times. He won as a sophomore after riding all four of the bulls he drew.

    Elliott turned pro while still in college then went on to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo four times and the Professional Bull Riders World Finals five times. He made it to both finals in 2010 – a rare accomplishment in the sport of professional rodeo.

    His greatest achievement came in 2004 when he won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Championship. He finished fourth in the national standings each of the next two years and spent four years on the PBR’s Top 15 list.

    Dustin Elliott – CSC photos

    Today, Elliott tries to give back to the industry that did so much for him. He currently resides at North Platte with his wife Cynthia and their twins Ethan and Emma.

    When not working on the family ranch or conducting bull riding clinics across the country, he can be found coaching up-and-coming athletes on the Mid-Plains Community College Rodeo Team.

    His list of protégés includes former Great Plains Region bull riding champs Tyler Viers, Trey Engel and Garrett Wickett as well as regional bareback champion Rowdy Moon.

  • Hastings Rodeo Wraps Up

    Hastings Rodeo Wraps Up

    Minnesota bareback rider one step closer to National Finals; Australian one of eight event winners

    HASTINGS, NEB. – (August 26, 2018) – Tanner Aus is trying to make up for lost time.

    The Granite Falls, Minn. man scored 84 points in the bareback riding during the Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings, Neb., this weekend to win the rodeo and inch a bit closer to the top fifteen bareback riders in the world.

    He was aboard a Korkow Rodeos’ horse named Ol’ One Eye, a horse that was ridden for the 2017 bareback riding title, and the ride was good. The bronc was “real snappy,” Aus said. “He stepped out pretty smooth, had a pretty snappy jump, then went right around to the right. It was a fight to stay ahead of him.”

    Much of Aus’ season has been a fight. The twenty-eight year old cowboy tore ligaments in his knee on June 2, which kept him out of competition for a month and a half, during part of the busy rodeo season. His world rankings slipped as he was home, rehabbing.

    But there was a silver lining to his injury. While at home recovering, he was able to spend time with he and his wife Lonissa’s newborn daughter, born in May.

    Aus has competed at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR), pro rodeo’s “super bowl” four times (2011-12, 2015-16) and hopes to make it a fifth time. The rodeo season ends on Sept. 30; by that date, cowboys must be in the top fifteen in their event, in the world standings, to make it to the WNFR. Aus will ride at five more rodeos this week, hoping to move from twenty-first place to the top fifteen. He knows it’ll be a fight. “It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of luck.”

    There is a gap of more than $18,000 in earnings between Aus’ spot at 21 and the number fifteen man, and he is realistic that he may not win that much in the next five weeks. “After Labor Day weekend, I’ll have a little clearer picture,” he said. If he continues to win, he will chase another WNFR qualification. If not, he’ll rodeo closer to home and focus on next year.

    In the saddle bronc riding, an Australian took home the title of 2018 Oregon Trail Rodeo champion.

    Jake Finlay scored 83.5 points on Korkow Rodeos’ Anger Management, a horse he’d been wanting to ride for a while. “My buddy (Kash Deal) won some money on him at Dickinson (N.D.),” he said. “I called Kash and got the run down (on how the horse bucked) and it all worked out.”

    Finlay, a native of Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia, came to the U.S. four years ago after being recruited by Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla., for their rodeo team. His mother was happy he moved to the U.S., not because she wasn’t going to miss him, but because he was going to college. “I probably wouldn’t have gone to school if it wasn’t for rodeo.” He graduated this past May with a degree in animal science nutrition and production.

    Finlay was the 2018 National Intercollegiate Rodeo saddle bronc riding champion and helped his college rodeo team win the men’s title for the second consecutive year.

     

    This was Finlay’s fourth trip to the Hastings rodeo. He is rodeoing full time, with the goal of making the WNFR, beginning next year.

    Other champions at the 27th annual rodeo include tie-down roper Cody McCartney, Ottawa Lake, Mich. (9.9 seconds); steer wrestler Bridger Anderson, Carrington, N.D. (3.4 seconds); team ropers Dylan Gordon, Comanche, Okla. (header) and Gage Williams, Foster, Okla. (heeler) (5.3 seconds); barrel racer Tiany Schuster, Krum, Texas (15.82) and bull riders Laramie Mosley, Satanta, Kan. and Trey Kimzey, Strong City, Kan. (81 points each).

    The 2018 Miss Oregon Trail Rodeo queen was crowned during the Sunday performance.

    Halee Kometscher, Lawrence, Neb., won the title. She is the eighteen-year-old daughter of Duane and the late Laurie Kohmetscher, and is a freshman at Northeast Community College in Norfolk. Her older sister, Kristin Kohmetscher, was the 2010 Miss Oregon Trail Rodeo Queen and is the reigning Miss Rodeo Nebraska.

    Next year’s Oregon Trail Rodeo will take place August 23-25, 2019. For more information, visit the fairgrounds website at AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com.  For complete results, visit ProRodeo.com.

     

    Results, 2018 Oregon Trail Rodeo, Hastings, Nebraska

    Bareback riding

    1. Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn. 84 points on Korkow Rodeo’s Ol One Eye; 2. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D. 80; 3. Garrett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb. 79; 4. Jesse Pope, Marshall, Mo. 78; 5. (tie) Blake Smith, Zap, N.D. and Logan Patterson, Kim, Colo. 77.5 each.

     

    Tie-down roping

    1. Cody McCartney, Ottawa Lake, Mich. 9.9 seconds; 2. Bryson Sechrist, Apache, Okla. 10.0; 3. (tie) Kyle Dickens, Loveland, Colo. and Caddo Lewallen, Morrison, Okla. 10.1 each; 5. Cody Rieker, Lexington, Neb. 10.4; 6. Austin Hurlburt, Cheyenne, Wyo. 11.2.

     

    Saddle bronc riding

    1. Jake Finlay, Goondiwindi, Australia 83.5 points on Korkow Rodeo’s Anger Management; 2. Steven Dent, Mullen, Neb. 82; 3. Tyrel Larsen, Weatherford, Okla. 80; 4. Taygen Schuelke, Newell, S.D. 79.5; 5. Preston Kafka, Wagner, S.D. 78; 6. Roper Kiesner, Ripley, Okla. 76.5.

     

    Steer wrestling

    1. Bridger Anderson, Carrington, N.D. 3.4 seconds; 2. Jacob Edler, Dacoma, Okla. 3.7; 3. Kyle Whitaker, Chambers, Neb. 3.8; 4. (tie) Tom Littell, Elm Creek, Neb. and Jake Kraupie, Gering, Neb. 4.2 each; 6. Jace Melvin, Ft Pierre, S.D.4.4; 7. Chason Floyd, Buffalo, S.D. 4.5; 8. Cody Devers, Alva, Okla. 4.6.

     

    Team roping

    1. Dylan Gordon, Comanche, Okla./Gage Williams, Foster, Okla. 5.3 seconds; 2. Brett Christensen, Alva, Okla./Chase Boekhaus, Rolla, Kan. 5.5; 3. Adam Rose, Willard, Mo./JW Beck, Moville, Iowa 7.1; 4. Jeff Johnston, Thedford, Neb./Dustin Harris, O’Neill, Neb. 7.8; 5. Nick Becker, Garden City, Kan./Toby Mentzer, Ensign, Kan. 10.6; 6. Curry Kirchner, Ames, Okla./Daniel Reed, Guthrie, Okla. 11.7.

     

    Barrel racing

    1. Tiany Schuster, Krum, Texas 15.82 seconds; 2. Jacie Etbauer, Edmond, Okla. 15.97; 3. Callie Gray, Stillwater, Okla. 15.98; 4. Hollie Etbauer, Edmond, Okla. 16.13; 5. Jamie Molesworth, Burwell, Neb. 16.24; 6. Robin Beck, Moville, Iowa 16.26; 7. Fallon Taylor, Collinsville, Texas 16.28; 8. Sandi Brandli, Mauston, Wisc. 16.29; 9. Kara Posch, Holdingford, Minn. 16.30; 10. Deb Cox, Mullen, Neb.16.38.

     

    Bull riding

    1. (tie) Laramie Mosley, Satanta, Kan. 81 points on Korkow Rodeos’ Channel Cat, and Trey Kimzey, Strong City, Kan. 81 points on Korkow Rodeos’ The Iceman; 3. Ardie Maier, Timber Lake, S.D. 78.5; 4. (tie) Dillon Adolph, Manhattan, Kan. and Clayton Appelhans, Colby, Kan. 77 each; 6. Wyatt Edwards, Sulphur, Okla. 76.5.

     

    All-around champion:

    Steven Dent, Mullen, Neb. – bareback riding and saddle bronc riding

  • PRCA News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail

    PRCA News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail

    PRCA team roping heeler Joe Beers, 29, was critically injured in an ATV accident Aug. 17 in Prineville, Ore. Brandon Beers, Joe’s older brother and four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo team roping header, said Joe had a second surgery Aug. 20, and he continues to improve and regain more strength. Joe and Brandon are the sons of ProRodeo Hall of Famer Mike Beers. A fundraiser was set up by a family friend at http://bit.ly/JoeBeersFundraiser.

    Joe Beers

     

    The family also has set up a donation account at or through U.S. Bank. Anyone wishing to donate may go to any U.S. Bank location and deposit into the Joe Beers Medical Fund Account … Bull riders PRCA world champion Dustin Elliott (2004) and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Will Farrell (2003) will be among the eight individuals inducted into the Chadron (Neb.) State College Athletic Hall of Fame, Oct. 27, in the CSC Student Center following Chadron State’s football game with New Mexico Highlands that afternoon. At Chadron State, Farrell and Elliott combined to win three national college bull riding titles in four years. Farrell was the champion in 1999 and 2002 and Elliott won the crown in 2001. Elliott qualified for the Wrangler NFR four times – 2004-2006 and 2010. Farrell finished 15th in the world standings in his lone appearance at the NFR … The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma, City, Okla., recently announced its 2018 Hall of Fame class. The list consists of ProRodeo Hall of Fame saddle bronc rider/bull rider Bobby Berger; Derek Clark, a 15-time Wrangler NFR qualifier in saddle bronc riding; three-time PRCA world champion steer wrestler Steve Duhon; PRCA steer wrestler/hazer Bill Duvall; rodeo clown Jim Bob Feller; ProRodeo Hall of Fame steer wrestler John W. Jones Jr.; renowned rodeo photographer James Cathey, posthumously; NFR bareback riding qualifier Les Gore; Elaine Agather, Tad Lucas Memorial Award; Clyde Frost, Ben Johnson Memorial Award and Dr. Don Mitchell, Directors’ Choice Award. The induction weekend takes place Nov. 9-10 … Mickey Dee Bagnell, a PRCA competitor and bullfighter/rodeo clown, passed away Aug. 14. He was 70. Bagnell started out riding in junior rodeos. He enlisted in the Army after graduation in 1966 and spent a year in Vietnam as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service. His rodeo career spanned the next 21 years, competing and performing in amateur, intercollegiate, Indian and PRCA rodeos throughout the Northwest and Canada. There will be a graveside service at 11 a.m., Sept 22 at the Chattaroy (Wash.) Cemetery, followed by a Military Celebration Service and potluck meal at the Deer Park VFW at 1 p.m. … The next PRCA Rodeo Camp will be Sept. 1 in Palestine, Ill. The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (CT). Registration is required at www.prorodeo.com/prorodeo/rodeo/youth-rodeo.

     

  • Roper Review: Kevin Staples

    Roper Review: Kevin Staples

    Kevin Staples grew up in Stephens City, Virginia, where his dad, Billy Staples, trained horses and owned one of the largest sale barns on the east coast. Their monthly horse sale, held the first Saturday of each month averaged 300 to 400 horses, and during the spring months they would sell anywhere from 500 to 700 horses in one day. The sale included every kind of horse imaginable: roping, buggy, jumpers… they sold them all.
    “Growing up I was blessed to have access to an indoor arena with 30 stalls,” says Kevin. “We basically lived in that arena.”
    Kevin started roping when he was four or five, but his father started him trick roping at an early age. His first trick roping show was booked at just nine years old. Kevin’s trick roping act became an opener for country and western singers like Tammy Wynette. In 1983 he opened for B.J. Thomas on the White House lawn where they performed for President Reagan. He also appeared on the television show, That’s Incredible.
    By the age of fifteen, Kevin’s interest in team roping surpassed his desire to be a trick roper.
    “Like many kids, my dream was to make it to the NFR,” explains Kevin. “At the time I was breaking a lot of thoroughbreds, getting them ready for the track and then team roping on the weekends.”
    Obsessed with the dream of becoming a professional roper, Kevin realized he needed to spend time with people who would help improve his ability. In 1988, while living in Florida, Kevin was diagnosed with a grapefruit size tumor on top of his bronchial tubes.
    Kevin credits his doctors at Duke University, and the grace of God, for his complete recovery. Treatment consisted of chemo every other week for six months, followed by daily radiation for another month. Now, at age 50, he’s been cancer free since, or as he likes to joke, “I’ve been clean for thirty years.”
    Enduring and surviving a life threatening illness changed Kevin’s perspective on his life and goals. No longer did he feel a pull to be at the NFR, but realized the desire to hone his craft as a horse trainer.
    “I always knew my dad was a pretty good trainer,” explains Staples. “But it wasn’t until I matured that I realized just how good he was.”
    In addition to his father, Staples also credits a six-month stint he spent with cutting horse trainer, Tracy Bales, for the passion he now has for riding young horses.
    Kevin still loves to compete and regularly places at World Series ropings, but admits what really excites him is riding colts and watching their progress.
    During his early 30’s and living in Virginia, Kevin entered a horse in the San Antonio Ranch Gelding competition. There he reconnected with family friend, Tom Nelson, owner of the HK Ranch in Victoria, Texas. Having lived in Pennsylvania, Mr. Nelson knew first hand the challenges of riding and training in winter conditions. He offered Kevin a job riding horses in Texas during the winter. Staples would return to Virginia for spring and summer, and head back to south Texas in the fall. It was in the third year Kevin realized that Texas offered the lifestyle he craved and stayed full time, only returning to Virginia to visit family.
    Since then, other than a few years training at JB Quarter Horses, Kevin has been with Tom Nelson at the HK Ranch where he’s the General Manager and horse trainer.
    The HK Ranch operates a breeding program for foundation Quarter Horses. They are currently standing a Les Glow Colonel stallion and a Red Baron stallion. With a dozen broodmares Staples has his hands full with yearlings, two-year olds, three-year olds, plus a herd of 300 cows.
    Staples has trained some very successful jackpot and rodeo horses ridden by cowboys such as Trevor Brazile, Shay Carroll, Logan Medlin, and Charlie Crawford. One of the most famous horses to come from the HK was the well-known heel horse, Switchblade, ridden and owned by NFR heelers Kory Koontz, Allen Bach, and Jade Corkill.
    At HK Ranch, Kevin strictly trains team roping horses. Their philosophy is two and three-year olds are used for ranch and cowboy work only. Colts never see the inside of an arena before the age of four. By that time they are broke and mature.
    “The policy at the HK is ‘old school’. If we check fences or water troughs, it’s done horseback,” explains Kevin. “Rather than worry about saving time, there’s so much more value for a horse to be ridden and used. The only four-wheeler on the ranch is in the arena and used to pull a dummy.”
    The HK Ranch always has a nice variety of colts for sale in various stages of training. For information Kevin can be reach by email at: kevinstaples1@gmail.com.

    COWBOY Q&A
    How much do you practice?
    Every day.
    Do you make your own horses?
    Yes.
    Who were your roping or rodeo heroes?
    H.P. Evetts and Clay O’Brien Cooper.
    Who do you respect most in the world?
    Jesus Christ.
    Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
    My parents.
    If you had a day off what would you like to do?
    Go to New Mexico and hunt mule deer.
    Favorite movie?
    Lonesome Dove.
    What’s the last thing you read?
    The Gorilla Mindset.
    How would you describe yourself in three words?
    Genuine, fun-loving, honest.
    What makes you happy?
    Visiting and drinking a beer with old friends.
    What makes you angry?
    People that whip horses.
    If you were given 1 million dollars, how would you spend it?
    Buy land and cattle.
    What is your best quality – your worst?
    My best quality is honesty. My worst quality is being too easy going at times.