Rodeo Life

Author: Lindsay Humphrey

  • On The Trail with JJ Hampton

    On The Trail with JJ Hampton

    [ The only thing faster than the words coming out of JJ Hampton’s mouth is her breakaway loop. She’s the no nonsense type of person who’s found a way to speak her mind while wearing her heart on her sleeve and the rodeo world is better for it. ]

    The first time JJ Hampton discovered she didn’t know what it meant to quit; she was only 4 years old. “The water was draining out of the bathtub and somehow I hit my head and there was enough water left that my head went under,” JJ explained of the almost fatal incident. “When they got to me, I was purple. The doctor didn’t know if I would even make it or have function when I woke up. I think that perfectly illustrates that there’s a purpose and a plan for my life.” That same resilience and tenacity now play out in the arena. And perhaps there’s a link between physically turning purple and JJ’s lifelong affinity for the color. Simply put, JJ likes purple because it’s the color of royalty and power, and it’s been her color for a long time.
    “There is no quit in me, and I think that’s carried me further than anything,” JJ said. “I don’t give up and I have a will like no other. No matter what happens, I figure out a way to deal with it and use it for good. I don’t have to be the best if I refuse to give up.” With more than $450,000 in career earnings to date, JJ holds 18 WPRA world titles as a breakaway roper, header, women’s tie-down roper and in the all-around. On top of that, she’s qualified for the National Finals Breakaway Roping every year since it began in 2020. Many would argue that resume alone sits her among the very best in the industry. But there’s quite a bit more to JJ’s story than titles and checks won.

    Catch Her if You Can
    “Thank goodness for my dad [Johnny Wayne Hampton] who taught me to love the sport,” JJ said about learning to rope when she was 6 years old. “It took me awhile to start catching. I was better at goat tying, but I loved to rope.” It took a few years for JJ to catch live cattle with a significant amount of consistency. But one thing has never changed about her roping, even from that very first loop. “I could always rope fast, but for a long time that meant I didn’t catch as many,” she said. “I always roped to win because that’s how my mom [Barbara] taught me to practice.”
    While JJ’s dad was the professional roper in the family, it was her mom who helped in the practice pen most often. JJ and her siblings – Angie and Row – all improved under her guidance, despite her lack of personal experience inside the arena. “I guess in those years, when I was figuring out how to catch, I wouldn’t throw my rope,” JJ said. “Mom taught me to nod, kick, swing and throw. My mom had everything to do with me learning how to practice to be fast.”
    Coming in alongside her mom, was JJ’s grandpa – Johnnie Hampton – who she called Papa. The two forged a special bond; the kind JJ still feels privileged to have experienced. “My Papa was special to me; it didn’t matter what I did, he believed in me and told me I could do it,” JJ said. “He made me feel special and loved me like a grandparent should. And I know that set me up to be successful.”
    More often than not, Papa was in the passenger seat while JJ was rodeoing for Tarleton State University. It’s a traveling partner very few can claim, but for JJ, he truly made all the difference in the world. “I’ve always had a lot of try and heart, it didn’t matter what I did, I was going to be good at it and put everything into it,” she said. “But my Papa built up my confidence. I think I would be where I’m at today, but it was a lot easier with him loving me.” When her Papa wasn’t in the passenger seat, her late brother-in-law Marty Yates (“Big Marty”), took his place. Hauling to amateur rodeos together took JJs roping to the next level, and he would eventually be the reason she became a world champion tie-down roper.

    A Champion to Boot
    It was the influences of Roy and Bill Duval and Betty Gayle Cooper that JJ’s affinity for calf roping grew. But Big Marty also played a significant role. “Marty Yates was a big influence in me becoming a better roper and I wouldn’t have got into tie down roping if it wasn’t for him,” JJ said. “I grew up roping with him because he married my sister. I would rope with Marty almost every day.” About the time Jayme was trying to get JJ to join her at WPRA events, Big Marty was pushing the same agenda.
    “When we discovered these all-girl rodeos, Marty told me: ‘You’re going to be the next girl’s world champion tie down roper,” JJ said. “He died in 1993 and I won it, the first time, in 1994.” The early 90s proved to be monumental in JJ’s life: she lost her Papa but found a friend; and she lost her roping partner in Big Marty but found success in a whole new association, which opened the flood gates.
    “That’s one thing about JJ, she’s always roping for first; she doesn’t settle for second place and she’s not about to take an extra swing,” Jayme said. “She was always going for first and you can come along for the ride and if you accidently beat her then that’s great too.” The type of competitive friendship between JJ and Jayme is often pursued but very rarely achieved. Even 30 years later, both women can spot where the other is struggling both in person and on video. It comes in handy now that they’re back roping on a regular basis.

    Double Bubble, Everywhere
    Long before JJ was wicked fast with a rope, she was quite literally buzzing around the rodeos her dad entered. That’s where Jayme first remembers encountering a girl who would not only become her best friend but also a traveling partner of almost 30 years. “I’m 7 years older than JJ, and the first time I saw her they had a bell on her so they could know where she was at because she was running around so fast,” Jayme said. Their paths continued to cross through the AJRA until fate wrote their names together in the rodeo book of life.
    “It was July of 92, when my Papa’s health was giving out, and he said, ‘Go win Amarillo for me, bird,’” JJ explained. “I won the rodeo, and that was definitely a God thing.” That rodeo inadvertently brought JJ and Jayme together. As the story goes, JJ asked Jayme what happened at Amarillo and her answer came off the wrong way. “She thought I was kind of grouchy after that, but it wasn’t even two weeks later that we became friends and started hauling together,” Jayme said with a laugh. “We started hauling anywhere the truck would go, and I mean anywhere.”
    Back when they were lucky to have nine entries in the breakaway at any given rodeo, both JJ and Jayme felt like they couldn’t miss one. Their drive to compete was perfectly in sync that way. “We did whatever it took to get to every rodeo that had breakaway,” Jayme said. “Lots of those rodeos only paid out first and second and we needed to win to go on to the next one.”
    Most of Jayme’s time on the road was behind the wheel, especially at night, but when JJ took the wheel, she always kept it interesting. On a drive through the night to El Paso, a large package of Double Bubble gum took to the sky. “She would open a piece and chew it for maybe two or three minutes, until the flavor ran out, and then throw it out the window,” Jayme explained. “The next day, I went to crawl up to the hay pod where I found all that gum stuck to the ladder. That’s probably one of our best stories.”
    Originally JJ had plans to attend law school after graduating with a degree in criminal justice from Tarleton State. Rodeo effectively took over her life until the early 2000s. “Life just kind of happened where I had a couple good horses die and it just wasn’t fun, so I didn’t go for a while,” JJ said. “I took a break and started working in real estate with my mom and eventually got my license and opened my own business [JJ Hampton Realty].”

    Rooted in Roping
    That break from chasing highway lines only lasted a year before JJ got back to it, but it took a bit to get literally and figuratively get back in the swing of things. The people standing behind her, both in business and at home, made it possible then and now for JJ to compete at an elite level. “I can remember when JJ first started back, we’d leave as late as possible on Friday so she could finish at work and then we’d come home that night so she could go show houses on Saturday,” Jayme said. Much like those early days, Jayme was behind the wheel with JJ riding shotgun. Only now, JJ was wheeling and dealing as the miles pass by.
    “Her success in business hasn’t changed her mentality for roping,” Jayme said. “She’s sold houses at 11 at night and even after she’s on her horse she’ll still answer her phone for clients. But her mind is still naturally programmed to be fast, to win.” Keeping things together at home is JJ’s husband, Ricky Prince, and her son, 13-year-old Kason. The pair keeps horses fed and the cogs turning at the business when JJ’s out of town.
    The balancing act of being a mom, wife, business owner and professional athlete is precarious at best. “It’s difficult, and there are no buts; my son needs me, and I need him,” JJ said. “When you’re 51 years old, you don’t give up this opportunity.” Much like JJ herself, Kason has grown up roping alongside Marty Yates (“Little Marty”). Kason’s passion for roping is only matched by his mom, who’s in the practice pen every chance she gets at their home in Stephenville, Texas.
    “I really don’t like to drive, so as long as Kason doesn’t have a rodeo or a game, they’ll both come with me and I love that more than anything,” JJ said. “Ricky is an amazing dad. He does anything and everything to help me, the business and Kason.” Dubbed jack of all trades and peacekeeper, Ricky’s sacrifices don’t go unnoticed. With only four years left of high school rodeo for Kason, some day it’ll be Ricky’s turn to pursue his own passions. For now, he’s happy and content making dreams for both JJ and Kason come true.

  • 5 Star Champion JJ Hampton

    5 Star Champion JJ Hampton

    A decorated career didn’t make JJ Hampton’s return to the toughest sport on dirt any easier after taking off a year from breakaway roping in the early 2000s. After losing a few good horses, JJ just needed some time at home to regroup. And that she did, because when she started chasing the rodeo trail again, she was as fast as she’d ever been. “Some people don’t understand how important a horse that fits you as a roper is to winning,” said the real estate agent from Stephenville, Texas. “I came back faster than I thought and I started winning in the UPRA and CPRA.” JJ wasn’t competing in the WPRA just yet, but when she came back it would be with a literal and metaphorical fire lit under her rope.
    “I had my son [now 13, Kason] in 2009 and I was still winning titles in those associations even while I was pregnant. It took me a few months to get back to feeling good after I had him. Getting back into the groove of going and winning is hard when you’re competing against girls who are going hard every weekend.” While JJ appreciates the increasing interest in her favorite event, it definitely makes her job harder than it’s ever been. “I just had to put in my time knowing I was going to get beat but I had to keep practicing and entering. You have to be willing to grind it out in this sport because it’s hard to beat these girls who are talented and have good horses.”
    Along the way, breakaway roping made it’s first appearance at the NFR in 2020. JJ was there alongside 14 other fierce ropers. “Other than barrels, we are the biggest event. We show up and participate. While I appreciate that we can rope at the NFR, I’m not sure how long we can do it for a small fraction of the prize money that the boys go for. We need and deserve to be roping for more.” JJ knows the answer is complex at best, but at the same time she believes that as a group, breakaway ropers have to stick together and stand up for each other in this endeavor. “I think it comes down to needing more sponsors who believe in us, but I don’t have the total answer for that either.” On that same token, it’s the sponsors who have helped keep JJ going when things get tough out on the road. And 5 Star Equine happens to be one of those for her.
    “Lari Dee Guy and Hope Thompson both use 5 Star and we rodeo together and so they thought it would be great if I used them too. They both liked how well the pads protected their horses, so I figured why not give them a try.” This was back in 2020 and Lari Dee even called 5 Star on JJ’s behalf about getting her a sponsorship. JJ started out using their fleece pad, but went back to the felt and it’s been a great switch for her horses. “I really love how the pads fit my horse; they do a good job protecting my horses’ back. I use some of their boots too, but they’re pads are my favorite.” Much like her peers, JJ’s never had any issues fitting a saddle to her horses thanks to the 5 Star pads. It doesn’t hurt that they come in favorite color: purple. “It’s the color of royalty and power and it’s been my color for a long time. I really appreciate that this is a family-owned company and they’re great to work with no matter the situation.”

  • Back When They Bucked with Bob Wiley

    Back When They Bucked with Bob Wiley

    Lots of kids grow up aspiring to be a cowboy or a police officer, but only some accomplish that feat. And even less manage to do both. Bob Wiley is the exception to that rule.

    Long before Bob Wiley was able to fulfill his childhood dreams, he was learning fundamental life lessons while running track and playing football for Kingsburg High School in central California. The Fresno County Swedish village is now home to just over 10,000 residents. It was and is a small, quiet town by California standards.
    Back in the 1950s, Wiley was a star athlete alongside his classmate Rafer Johnson who would go on to win Olympic gold as a decathlete in 1960. Standing an inch over 6-foot, Wiley was the right hand running back to Johnson’s left when the pair played for the Kingsburg Vikings.
    “We won our division in both football and track my senior year,” Wiley said who is now 85 years old and lives just 30 miles down the road from where he was born and raised. “Porterville College had a real strong football program. They recruited me to play for them out of high school. I played football for two years there and that’s where I met my wife, Sonja, because she’s from Porterville.”

    Cowboy Town
    When Porterville College was still trying to entice Wiley to play for them, they had an unknown advantage.
    “I went down to Porterville, and discovered it was a Western town,” Wiley said. “People around there had different roping events going on and lots of horse activity. I liked it, so I went to school there.”
    The grandson of Swedish immigrants, Wiley grew up on the family farm where he could often be found swamping grapes and peaches. Horses were always part of the landscape, but they certainly weren’t the talented athletes that Wiley would later come to own.
    “Some of my earliest memories as a little bitty kid were of my dad and his friends packing into the mountains on horses to go hunting,” he said. “They’d plan for months, and I could hardly wait to go.”
    Always interested in horses and roping, Wiley watched people rope any chance he got. At the impressionable age of 15, he was introduced to calf roping for the first time and decided that’s what he wanted to do.
    “A friend of mine taught me how to tie and that’s how it really started,” Wiley said. “I bought a horse for $85 and a calf for $15. I didn’t have an arena to rope in, so I just chased that calf around a little pen at home. I essentially taught myself how to rope by doing that.”
    High school athletics took a lot of Wiley’s time, but roping was always in the back of his mind. He found his groove in college and rodeo took center stage.

    A New Cowboy in Town
    “When I got out of college I started working right away and I’d practice roping until 9 at night, then go inside to eat, head to bed and do it all over again the next day,” Wiley explained. “Then I’d rope all day on Saturday and Sunday.”
    For most of Wiley’s roping career he was working part-time as a deputy in Porterville while traveling the countryside to rodeo.
    “I’d practice in the early hours of the morning until about 4 when I’d go home to put on my uniform and go to work,” Wiley said. “I’d come home around 3 and sleep for a few hours before doing it all again. That was usually my schedule Monday through Wednesday and then the rest of the week I was getting ready for a rodeo and traveling.”
    “I finally started getting good and winning a little,” Wiley said. “It wasn’t until 1961 that I was good enough to do it full time.”
    That same year Wiley qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo in Dallas. They moved to the L.A. Sports Arena the following year before heading to Oklahoma City in 1965. He’d compete in five NFRs in total, all in consecutive years and in all three locations.
    In 1963, Wiley was the reserve world champion behind one of the greatest calf ropers of all time, Dean Oliver, who was inducted into the PRCA Hall of Fame in 1979.
    There were plenty of times when Wiley was gone for a month or more at a time. Wiley’s wife and kids spent a lot of time on the rodeo trail right alongside him in the first few years.
    Their oldest daughter, Andrea, was born in 1959, followed closely by Acia in 1962 and later Robert in 1967. When the kids started school, their time on the road dwindled. Especially in 1963 when Wiley was making his strongest run at the NFR.

    A Gold Buckle Career
    “I got started early that year, probably in March, and I was roping pretty good,” Wiley said. “I had a good horse that year too. It all started in Springville, which was kind of a hometown rodeo for me. I won that and I just kept on winning.”
    Wiley headed east for the summer so he could hit some of the biggest venues in pro rodeo: Calgary, Cheyenne, Great Falls, Saint Paul, Burwell, Bozeman, and Billings before heading back west for Salt Lake, Ogden, Eureka and Klamath Falls.
    “If you’re going to rodeo and try to win something for the year, you have to go to all the big rodeos,” Wiley said. “When you went like I did in ‘63, it’s hard for little kids to be in the car all the time like I was.”
    Even though Wiley loved roping competitively for himself, teaching people the finer details of the event became one of his many passions in life. Throughout the 60s he put on multiple calf roping schools for both tie-down and breakaway roping.
    “I had quite a few students over the years, but I never charged more than enough to cover the cost of the calves,” Wiley said. “I was mostly doing it to pass my own time really. I liked teaching them how to do it and it kept me involved in the sport when I wasn’t roping myself.”
    In 1965, Wiley made his last run at the finals. He didn’t know it initially, but his life was destined for a career outside the arena.
    He started that year out strong and won enough to keep him in the top 15, but he was preoccupied to say the least.

    A Golden Badge Life
    “I got the idea that I wanted to be sheriff and after I announced my candidacy, I campaigned for 22 months,” Wiley said. “I was in full-bore campaign mode, so I wasn’t practicing or competing at all by the fall of ’65.”
    Early success in the spring kept Wiley in seventh heading into the finals. He shut the campaign down for a week to compete in Oklahoma City for the first and last time.
    “Before the finals my wife and I flew to Amarillo to see my friend Lee Cockrel to ride with him up to the finals,” Wiley said. “Lee took an extra horse for me because I hadn’t ridden my horse in a few months. I won just enough at the finals to pay for the trip there.”
    Even though this wouldn’t be Wiley’s last time in the arena, it was his final year as a full-time professional calf roper. As soon as he got back to California, Wiley picked up the campaign trail right where he left it.
    In November 1966, Wiley was elected Tulare County Sheriff where he would serve his community for 24 years and win a total of seven elections.
    “When I took office in January, I was only 30 years old,” Wiley said. “As a kid, I was always interested in policemen and my family had several law enforcement members that would come and visit us. It was always interesting to me.”
    Just like every endeavor before, Wiley put his full weight into being sheriff. He changed the face of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, which transcended into revolutionizing jail training programs.

    A Life of Discipline
    When Wiley first decided to throw his hat into the ring for sheriff, the department was doing the bare minimum. Most notably, it wasn’t taking care of its employees the way Wiley thought they should.
    “It was one of the lowest paid operations in the state that didn’t offer any overtime pay, no uniform allowances, and no retirement plans,” Wiley said. “It was tough at first, but I had a lot of good ideas. I knew I wanted to work in the schools with the young people to get a handle on the drug problems.”
    It all started when Wiley placed deputies in schools and created educational programs to teach kids about the dangers of drug use. They even introduced kids to ammo, grenades and dynamite so they would know what they are and that they shouldn’t mess with them.
    It was a novel approach to a rapidly growing problem. First illustrated by his roping schools, Wiley enjoyed teaching people new things and improving efficiency any chance he got.
    “Lots of people copied our school educational programs,” Wiley said. “I also developed a jailer training program that was recognized by the Department of Justice. I went to several jail training programs, and their trainers had never worked in jails. I didn’t like that, so my staff and I developed our own program.”
    It shouldn’t be surprising that Wiley made his way inside the jail houses and left his mark there as well. He helped remodel some and build a brand new one. In 1987, his work in the county was commemorated in Visalia when the jail was named the Bob Wiley Detention Facility.
    Wiley’s time as a sheriff is a testament to his upbringing. The order and efficiency he instilled in his department kept the cogs running smoothly for a long, effective career.
    “My mom was real particular about not abusing people; not making fun of anyone for any reason and not making snide remarks,” Wiley said. “There’s a lot of people that make a habit out of pushing people around and whenever I found out about that, I put a stop to it.”
    Over his career, Wiley implemented two narcotic units in his department, solved multiple homicide cases, found lost children and was one of the first to have a K-9 unit. By his retirement in 1991, Wiley was the senior officer of the 58 county sheriffs in California.

    A Cowboy at Heart
    Getting back to his cowboy boots and roots, Wiley and his wife traveled the country following the NSPRA schedule for a few years. Even competing in Canada at one point.
    “At the time, I didn’t have a great horse to rope on, they had gotten really scarce and thus very expensive,” Wiley said.
    Dabbling in roping schools for a few more years helped Wiley pass the time before the turn of the century. By then, roping and riding was becoming increasingly difficult.
    “The last time I roped was in 2003 and it hurt to come out of the box and to get off,” Wiley said. “I got crippled in the hips and it made it hard to move the way I needed to for calf roping.”
    Even though Wiley officially hung his hat up from roping and teaching almost 20 years ago, rodeo is never far from his mind.
    “I was lucky that I won quite a bit of money roping,” Wiley said. “I had a good life, and I was young and sound when I needed to be.”

  • On The Trail with Tru Most

    On The Trail with Tru Most

    Similar to Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, a pair of ruby red shoes were hard to remove from Tru Most’s feet. These, however, were glittering cowgirl boots that accompanied Tru everywhere from the time she was 2 years old until the shoes were no longer sold. They were part of the outfit that brought Tru’s favorite Toy Story character, Jessie, to life. “She was obsessed with those boots and wore them until all the glitter fell off,” said Tru’s mom, Nichole Most. “I probably replaced those boots three times before I couldn’t find them anymore. Tru wanted to be a cowgirl like Jessie, so she had a rope and would chase our English bulldog around the house trying to catch him.” Tru’s older sister, Alivia, took an interest in horses first. At the end of her sister’s riding lessons, Tru found her way into the saddle for a few minutes. It was enough to appease the brewing horse craze, but in a few years that passion would explode and take her family on a wild ride. “My brother [Michael Paulsen] got married and they lived on a ranch with horses,” Nichole explained. “Tru was probably 7 at the time and she’s been hooked [on horses] ever since.”

    The Tornado
    “We didn’t grow up with horses, but there was no stopping Tru,” said her dad, Josh Most. “When she has a goal in mind, she’s relentless and there’s no stopping her so you might as well get on board.” The Longview, Washington, cowgirl is a tornado, personified. She’s the only type of natural disaster that can be classified as good. Those first few years of lessons were on western pleasure horses. And while Tru loved horses of any discipline, she knew speed was in her future. “We found ourselves in my hometown at the 4-H fair horse show when Tru saw barrels for the first time and that’s all she wanted to do from then on out,” Nichole said.
    Diving in with both feet, Josh and Nichole bought Tru a barrel horse. The seller disclosed that the horse, Cash, was herd bound, but that didn’t resonate until they got him home. “We just didn’t know what that meant, so we eventually had to get a pony [Flo] to even get Cash on the trailer,” Nichole said. “For a long time it was Flo and I in the arena while Tru and Cash ran their barrels.” He was a strong, powerful horse that didn’t actually enjoy his job running around the barrels. He loved his little girl and would do anything for her, but their story didn’t begin that way.
    “I was scared of him at first and even hated him because of that. Probably because I was used to lesson ponies who listened to me,” Tru said. “We had some family stuff going on at the time and I found my comfort in Cash. He became my best friend, and we formed a bond on the ground. After that we worked a lot better together in the saddle.” That transformation took about six months. Even though Tru trusted Cash, every ride was a little more about survival than anything else according to her dad. He was a lot of horse for Tru, but he’s very likely one of the reasons Tru found success at the 2022 Junior World Finals.

    A Step Up Mount
    “Knowing what I know now, I would have never put my little girl on Cash, but we just had no idea at the time,” Nichole said. “We took him to a clinic put on by Ryan Lovendahl and KC Groves hoping they could fix him.” Ryan and KC fixed Cash’s problem, but not in the way Tru or her parents expected. “Ryan came up to me and said quietly: ‘I’ve seen thousands of horses and only said this to one other person, your daughter is not safe on that horse. He takes care of her, but he hates his job and he’s fighting everything,’” Josh explained of Cash’s immediate retirement. “Ryan and KC got us on the path we’re on now with Tru; from running barrels as a hobby to executing the plan Tru always had in her head.” Leo was one of Ryan and KC’s horses who became Tru’s next barrel mount. He was the type of horse who ran the same pattern every time. Where Cash made Tru fearless, Leo kept her honest and developed her horsemanship as a jockey.
    “She’s always been a great rider, but Leo helped Tru get comfortable so she could work on her skills,” Josh said. “He taught her how a barrel turn should feel but he was also the kind of horse who would hit the barrel if she gave him too much rein. It was such a great experience for her.” It only took a year before Tru was ready for her next step up in horsepower. Since Cash always had a home with the Most family, Leo had to move on down the road to make room for Tru’s next mount. “It was really hard for Tru to make that decision, but also for me,” Nichole said. “I looked that horse in the eyes and told him to take care of my little girl. And then we all bonded with him and loved him, and it was hard to let him go.” The Most’s were reunited with Leo in Vegas where he carried his new little girl through the pole pattern. He’s thriving with his new family, just like Tru is with his replacement.

    The Rocket
    Firewater Requests, Rockette for short, comes by her name honestly. The 9-year-old palomino is everything Tru needed in a barrel horse and much more. “We actually bought Rockette two months before I ever rode her,” Tru said. “There was a jackpot nearby when we came to pick her up in Utah. It was a KK qualifier. I had only run her once before we entered up. I was just test running her before we took her home, but we won the qualifier. I was shocked because I didn’t know what to expect from her.” Their honesty about Cash poured the foundation of trust that’s built a strong friendship between Ryan and KC and the Mosts. The fruit of that trust was picked in Vegas when Tru not only won the Junior World Finals in the senior barrels but also took home the youth championship at the All In Barrel Race as well as ninth in the open average.
    From the outside, Tru’s success looked easy. Even though Tru and Rockette clicked instantly, their climb to the top in less than a year as a team was anything but. “As Tru finished out junior high last spring, she just swept everything she entered,” Josh said. “By the time summer hit, Rockette started declining; and by that, I mean she wasn’t winning every race she entered anymore. We didn’t know that her hocks could get sore or that she might get ulcers being hauled a lot.” After getting Rockette back to peak condition, Tru had some work to do as a rider. But the pair also had to figure out how to get all 16 hands of Rockette around the NFR-sized pattern, something neither had much experience with at that point.
    “We had about four months to really train for Vegas, and all of our high school rodeos were in big outdoor pens,” Tru said. “We ended up going to a local jackpot – Rocky Top – almost every week this fall because the pattern was only 12 feet off what we’d do in Vegas. It was rough at first because I wasn’t sure how to set up such a big horse in a small pen.” Through the trials and tribulations that indoor pen presented, Tru never wanted to throw in the towel. It’s this relentless determination that her parents are most proud of, more than anything Tru’s ever won. “She could’ve walked out of there and said she never wanted to go back, but she didn’t,” Josh said. “She never gave up. By the end of that series, she finished third against some top riders who consistently put up times that were tough to beat. Tru needed to see that she wouldn’t win every time she got on that horse, that she had to work for it. That’s when I knew they were ready for Vegas.” As a push-style horse, Rockette was nothing like other horses Tru had ridden before, with the exception of Cash, who shared one similarity.

    Fearless Freshman
    “When Tru first ran Rockette, Ryan turned to me and said: ‘Because of Cash, she has no idea that she’s riding a literal rocket,’” Josh said. “At 10 years old, Tru learned how to handle a beast and then every other horse out there is nothing by comparison. Her only game plan is to ride well, and it never crosses her mind to be scared to go fast.” It’s this fearless approach that fuels Tru’s confidence. She gets nerves and even entertains occasional doubts much like her peers, but Tru doesn’t let it take hold of what she knows to be true: she’s a skilled horsewoman riding one of the fastest rockets out there.
    “Tru went to the world finals never thinking anything less than she could win it,” Josh said.
    Taking her turns a bit wide was a safe gamble in the first two rounds of Vegas. Tru knew Rockette had the speed to get them to the finals if they could stay clean. Once in the finals, Tru left it all out in the arena. She pushed Rockette harder simply because she was proud of the fact they even made the short round. Anything after that feat was just extra for Tru. “The whole experience in Vegas was better than I could have ever imagined it to be,” Tru said. “We’ve joked that we won’t be able to top it.”
    While outdoing 2022 will be tough, Tru has the determination, work ethic and the horsepower to accomplish anything she sets her mind to.
    Tru’s cheering section in Vegas is the perfect illustration of the community surrounding her in this endeavor. “We probably had 15 people fly in from Washington and California to watch her in the short round,” Nichole said. “We’ve all fallen in love with the sport and the people. We get to spend so much time together as a family because of rodeo and that’s been such a blessing.” At 18, Tru’s older sister didn’t pursue horses after hitting the dirt during a riding lesson. “Alivia was a beautiful dancer and later did voice lessons and theater in high school, she just didn’t have any interest in horses like Tru did,” Nichole said. “She’s literally the exact opposite of a cowgirl; like picks up a pitchfork with two fingers.”
    Regardless of their divided interests, Alivia is at every one of her sister’s events.
    For a family that knew nothing about rodeo only eight years ago, they’ve come a long way together. “Being so big, horses seem like they should be really dangerous but they’re so docile,” Nichole said. “It’s so therapeutic to go out and just brush a horse or clean their stall. I think riding horses makes Tru feel like she’s part of something bigger than herself. She’s a lot more spiritual than anyone else in our family and I think it’s cool that horses brought her closer to God.” Perhaps qualifying for the Junior World Finals was the happiest accident of Tru’s life so far. Or maybe it’s just the very beginning of her story as a barrel racer. “Anyone can be like Tru; yes, it will cost money and be a lot of work, but anyone can make it big,” Josh said. “There are so many kids out there who don’t have anyone propelling them to the next level, but they should all know that it’s within their reach if they work hard.”

  • 5 Star Featured Athlete Rylie Smith

    5 Star Featured Athlete Rylie Smith

    While Rylie Smith is the definition of self-made, she’s quick to credit her parents – Ricky and Misty Smith – and everyone else who’s had a hand in her roping career so far. Perhaps one of the most important people on that list is Hope Thompson. “I believe my best year of all is still ahead of me, but my biggest accomplishment so far was when Hope and I won the Inaugural Women’s Rodeo World Championship in 2020,” said the roper from Whitsett, Texas. “We’ve been roping together for the last 5 years. We may not always be the best team, but we certainly rope well together, and we’re blessed to win when we have the opportunity.” Typically, Rylie is throwing for two heels but she’s as versatile as the Quarter Horses she rides. The 21-year-old can throw a solid head loop for both a calf and steer.
    “Jane [Halleluiajah Wild Card] is my number one for heeling and sometimes when we enter backwards, Hope will ride Jane on the heel side.” When Rylie bought 7-year-old Jane, she came as a pair with her half-sister, Hail Mary Wild Card. When Hope heels off Jane, Rylie uses Mary on the head side. “The girls were born in the same pasture and every time they got moved around, they always went together. And then I bought them together, so they have some separation anxiety for sure.” Anyone would be hard pressed to find Jane without Mary any time Rylie’s out chasing white lines. Where Jane is eager and willing, Mary is hard-headed and full of sass. “No matter what, both of them will give anyone riding them 110%. I never have to worry about them trying to take something from me when I back in the box for a lot of money. I was very fortunate to get those girls.”
    With equine partners like Jane and Mary, Rylie’s always protected them with the best. She found that in 5 Star pads and sport boots back in 2018. She became a sponsored athlete in 2020 after cashing a $90,000 check with Hope. “My horses do everything they can for me, so I try to take care of them the best I can. I think 5 Star pads and boots are the best products I can give them to keep them comfortable and sound.” It was a little bit of trial and error for Rylie when it came to finding equipment she liked. “I had ridden quite a few different brands; some that I won and some that I bought. I rotated through them and found the best fit for my horses in 5 Star.” Comfort and protection are Rylie’s top priorities when it comes to her equipment and 5 Star delivers on both.
    As both a professional athlete in the WPRA and a rope horse trainer, it wasn’t all that long ago that Rylie and her parents were diving headfirst into the horse world. “Neither of my parents grew up in [rodeo], but when my dad was in his early 20s, he started team roping. When I was little, I always wanted a horse of my own so I could rodeo.” At 9 years old, Rylie got her first horse. And the rest, as they say, is history. “I started in the speed events which helped with my horsemanship. I think that’s the best thing to help with riding a horse. As I got older, I always wanted to rope. I hounded my dad and finally I got a rope in my hand.”
    As Rylie puts it, things just snowballed from there. “My parents took me anywhere and everywhere so I could get help and be the best possible, I’m very fortunate to have had that.” Even before Rylie got her first horse, she was always finding a reason to be outside. She’s the same way today, but now she has plenty of four-legged reasons to keep her busy. “I never want to be sitting at a desk somewhere all day long. I like to be hands on and outside. I have some outside horses and some younger ones of my own. I do horse teeth, braid custom halters and tie downs, and everything else relating to horses.

  • Back When They Bucked with Willard ‘Bill’ Phillips

    Back When They Bucked with Willard ‘Bill’ Phillips

    A cloud of dark, billowing dust is one of Willard “Bill” Phillips’ earliest memories. Towering several thousand feet, the cloud enveloped Bill and his three siblings while they were playing in the yard on the family ranch 7 miles north of Brownell, Kansas. That day went down in the history books as Black Sunday.
    “When that dust cloud came over, it was dark as night,” Bill said. “The dirt came in everywhere. When it was all over, we had to scoop dirt out of the house with a shovel.”
    The raging dust storms of the mid 1930s are only a small part of Bill’s unique story. Most of his life is built on a foundation of horses and horsepower.
    The Phillips family raised cattle, crops and horses in western Kansas. Bill witnessed firsthand the transition of horsepower from flesh and blood to the internal combustion engine.
    “We had about 20 head of horses and a team of mules,” he said. “At harvest they brought horses up from the big pasture and it got exciting sometimes. We had runaways and stuff like that. We used to do everything with horses: cut wheat, haul grain to town, everything.”
    Graduating from Trego County High School in WaKeeney in 1945, Bill turned 18 just in time to get drafted by the U.S. Army. He was trained at Fort Bliss as an anti-aircraft gunner.
    “I was part of the occupation troops in Japan; of course, we didn’t have any planes to shoot at by then. We walked guard through Tokyo and Yokahoma,” he recounted. “I remember walking along a ridge and looking down after the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. The people who evaporated were the lucky ones.”

    Roughie
    A year later – 1947 – Bill was back home to Kansas. He enrolled at Kansas State College just days before the fall semester started and pursued a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry.
    Even though Bill left the ranch when his parents divorced, he continued working on other operations. At what is now Kansas State University, Bill stumbled upon a newly formed club – The Chaparajos.
    “That club was for anyone interested in horses, it didn’t have to be for rodeo,” Bill said of the organization that would eventually become the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. “We did have a rodeo that first year though.”
    The club built an arena on the ball field with posts cut down along the river connected by woven wire. A single roughstock chute stood in the arena with a small backdrop of wooden bleachers.
    “That first rodeo I think we were $6.40 in the clear,” Bill said.
    As a kid, Bill had some bucket calves trained to ride. And he never passed up an opportunity to try and ride a cow when she gave him the opportunity. But his first official rodeo was inside the arena he helped build in Manhattan, Kansas.
    “I didn’t have a rope horse, so I guess that’s how I ended up in roughstock,” Bill said. “It doesn’t make much sense when it comes down to it. It’s a great feeling though when you get one ridden; when you get the job done.”
    The first time Bill was on a horse was in the saddle with his dad on the ranch. He eventually rode their stud – Ned. Of course, that was always bareback. Perhaps that’s why Bill was more skilled out of the saddle in the rodeo arena.
    “I tried saddle broncs about five times, and I got some of them ridden, but I couldn’t make it look pretty,” Bill explained. “That’s the ultimate rodeo event – it takes a lot of skill. To me, that’s a tough event.”

    On Tan Bark
    Even though college rodeo was still in its infancy, qualifying for the College National Finals was coveted. Bill managed to do it twice, first in 1949 and again in 1951. Both times he rode in the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
    “At the time, the Cow Palace was the last stop for the professionals before the finals,” Bill said. “That was big time rodeo to ride there. It was a totally different world from the arena in Kansas.”
    It was on the tan bark floor of the Cow Palace that Bill became fast friends with Slim Pickens who was a bull fighter at the time. Stuck in the vortex of his bull’s spin move, Bill finally came off.
    “This bull was right in my face and Slim Pickens just reached across and slapped that bull in the face,” Bill said with a chuckle. “I’ve considered him a friend ever since that day. He was one of the best bull fighters I’ve ever seen.”
    The tan bark of the Cow Palace was a far cry from the lumpy hog pen Bill was used to back in Kansas. A stock contractor by the name of Slim Pickering had an old chute he let the rodeo team use to practice.
    “The arena was an old hog pen that was rooted up and dried out, there were big old clods out there, so it wasn’t a nice place to land,” Bill said. “It’s completely different from what they have now with Weber Arena.”
    After college, Bill found himself in Ensign, Kansas, giving veterans hands-on training so they could learn how to farm. Four years later Bill earned his master’s degree from Fort Hays Kansas State College, which is now Fort Hays State University.

    Way Out West
    It was time for Bill to experience another part of the country. His degree in range management set him up well for a long career with the Bureau of Land Management.
    “I rode a lot in my work. One time we had to ride out 7 miles to find the horses and then run them back those 7 miles to the trap we set,” Bill said about his job as an area manager in Burns, Oregon.
    A good horse was an essential element for Bill to do his job well. One of his horses would hop up into the rack on the back of his pickup. Growing up in post-depression era Kansas made Bill efficient and resourceful, which led him to this unique hauling scenario.
    One very specific day of running horses into a trap sticks out as Bill’s very best day of his life. With a herd of 100 wild horses ahead of him, Bill knew the trap wasn’t big enough for them all.
    “I was on a horse called Roanie, and I tried to get down into the middle of them to split the herd into two,” Bill explained with a smile spreading wide across his face at the memory. “I was in the middle of those running horses for about a mile. It was one of the highlights of my life as far as adrenaline goes. That was my best day running horses.”
    When Bill first started with the BLM, fences were few and far between. He could ride for 60 miles before ever seeing one. It was very different country from what Kansas was and still is.
    Bill spent 20 years in the Burns District before transferring to Susanville, California, in 1980. He finally retired from the BLM in 1995 and eventually made his way back home to Kansas, but not before leaving his mark on both the land and animals.

    Mustang Man
    Always a student of good horsepower, Bill began noticing some horses with primitive colors and stripes. A herd management area was set aside for horses with dun and grulla coats accompanied by dorsal and leg stripes, which were all considered primitive markings.
    “There were very few left on the range when we started gathering them, maybe about 1 in every 400 horses was a dun or grulla,” Bill said. “People were really interested in them, and they brought a ton of money. Some sold for $10,000.”
    Bill and his coworkers – Ron Harding and Chris Vosler – didn’t know that they were rounding up some of the foundations of what would later become the Kiger mustang. They’re recognized by the International Alliance of Kiger Breeders as helping establish the Kiger mustang as it’s own breed.
    As a range management specialist, Bill also worked with the experimental stewardship program which had a special focus on improving grazing conditions. Their committee represented all stakeholders who had vested interest in public lands.
    “Prior to 1934, the land was so overgrazed that they thought ranching using public lands was going out of business,” he said. “Raising forage on the open range, that’s what ranching is at its core.”
    The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 was supposed to help stabilize grass production for ranches, but it took a while for the act to be enforced. Bill was part of rejuvenating the grazing land.
    “All the energy for life on earth comes from the sun,” Bill said of the fundamentals of ranching. “The sun hits the growing plant which takes in carbon dioxide from the air and water from the ground. That’s the way the plant grows. Ranching is capturing that energy from the sun to serve people. To me, that’s one of the biggest miracles of the world, the miracle of grass plants capturing solar energy to feed people.”
    Now at 95 years young, Bill’s time in the saddle is a distant, but fond memory. And even though his time in rodeo was more than 60 years ago, he’s still an avid follower of the sport.
    “I have tv now and I like to watch rodeo,” Bill said. “I like to watch those roping and dogging horses – they sit there on tippy toes before they come out of the chute. I enjoy watching them because they know what the game is.”
    For Bill, life has been focused on horses in some way or another. Just because he needs a walker to get around, doesn’t mean that’s changed, it’s just moved to a screen.
    “I’ve led an interesting life. I probably would’ve become a good bull rider if I had worked hard enough at it,” Bill said. “I didn’t win any gold buckles, but I was a competitor. I’m glad I participated in [rodeo], I think it’s a great sport.”

  • 5 Star Champion: Michelle Darling

    5 Star Champion: Michelle Darling

    Story by Lindsay Humphrey

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