Author: Siri Stevens

Justene Hirsig from Cheyenne, Wyoming, turned 21 a year ago, and it’s been a great year for her. She won The Wrangler Team Roping Championships All Girl roping with Jimmi Jo Montera as well as second with Lee Sherwood. “I was first, second, and third high call,” she said. She also took third place in the Central Rocky Mountain Region with her partner, Denton Shaw, and is currently sitting ninth in the nation in the college standings and the only woman in the top ten.

She started roping when she was in eighth grade. “My dad (Tom) let us start chasing calves around the arena when he was still tripping steers. My sister (Jordan) and I started when I was about 8 – that lasted for a summer, but I didn’t get into it until later. I didn’t like it too much – I played basketball.” Justene played point guard and several other positions during her time on the court. “That was my first love.” She did both rodeo and basketball, and was leaning more towards rodeo when she received an offer to play basketball for Casper College. “I wanted to see if I could make it in the basketball world. I knew rodeo would be there forever.” She hurt her knee during practice and had to sit out for the year. After knee surgery in January of her freshman year, she called it quits. “I had another surgery last November.” Basketball played a huge role in what she’s accomplished. “I’ve had some tough coaches and they taught me how to put aside everyone else’s thinking about you and perform well. I took that from playing college basketball to rodeo – it’s the same thing –if you don’t perform well, you don’t get paid. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. I’ve played in a lot of close games and you have to perform when things are tight and you only have a few minutes to pull it off. That’s helped in short rounds. I can talk myself into it’s just another steer.”

The rodeo world is a very familiar place for Justene; she grew up going to Cheyenne Frontier Days. “My dad’s great great uncle (Charles Hirsig) was one of the cofounders of CFD. My family has been in the arena ever since. I’m carrying on the family tradition, picking up flank straps, or shagging cattle. I help where I can; I’m there every day.” Her dad is the CEO and President of Cheyenne Frontier Days. He is also the one Justene attributes her success in rodeo to. “He taught me how to rope and he knows so many people that have helped me – Tyler Magnus, Bobby Harris, JD Yates, Rod and Stephanie Lyman, and Rick and Jimmi Jo Montera – and he puts me on amazing horses.”

“The thing that always amazes me about Justene is how well she rides. She sits a horse picture perfect. That has always been her best attribute when it comes to improving her skills. Denton Shaw doesnt get the credit he deserves sometimes because he is amazing in his consistency and dedication. They have been partners almost their entire careers and is one of the biggest parts of her success. A great young man,” said Tom Hirsig. She works on her mindset by reading books – one of her favorite authors is Joel Osteen – and one of his that she reads often is ‘You Can, You Will.’ “My mom (Debbie) always gets me set up with books.” Her mom also helps with lots of other things. “Mom hasn’t missed church in more than ten years. Whenever I’m struggling, she encourages me to go to church and pray about it. She’s always praying for me as a person – my mother is the backbone of everything.” She also pulls the machine around, turns out calves for breakaway roping, and does whatever needs doing to help Justene succeed. “Without my mom, none of this would be possible. I’ll ask her to turn calves or steers and anytime of the day she says yes. If a horse needs reshod or hauled to the vet, she does it. Without her, we wouldn’t be able to do this. She sends me books to read and finds churches for me to go to on the weekends.”

“My dad gets me well mounted and I have that – and I’m blessed.” During the six-week long break at the University of Wyoming, after a short vacation, she and her dad headed to Arizona to rope for a few weeks. “My dad and I kept a horse for each of us in Arizona, and they were put on the walker every day and we’d fly back to rope. I think that’s a big part of my improving my roping.”

She transferred to UW two years ago, pursuing a degree in business financing. “My plan is to get a pretty good degree here so I can have the lifestyle that affords me to go to Arizona in the winters. I wouldn’t want to live there year round.” She has two years left on her rodeo eligibility and plans to make the most of it. “I sold horses when I was heading to basketball, and after two knee surgeries, the last year didn’t go so well. Now I’m roping with Denton Shaw – it’s been great. We roped together in high school for three years and qualified for Nationals, and we decided to rope together this year. We figured we did well in high school and tried it in college and we’ll rope at the CNFR.”

She sent her horses home so she could finish her finals. When she finished, she headed home to practice. “We have 22 to rope on. I have five head horses to practice on so I should be good.” She is excited to back into the box in Casper for the CNFR. “Making it is an end result of roping well in the college rodeos, and I’m looking at it as another rodeo. It’s going to be cool to make it there, but I’m going to rope like I always do – four more steers. I rope 50 a day if not more so that will be easy.”

Long term she plans to continue roping. “I want to be one of the best girl headers that’s on the road. I’d like to start getting into horse training and horsemanship – that’s something I want to work on. I don’t know what I want my job to be when I grow up – but I want to be one of the wellknown ropers.”

“Choose to dwell on thoughts that empower you, inspire you, and encourage you to have faith, hope and joy.”
“I’m around a lot of the people trying to make it to the NFR and it’s not something I’d be opposed to. If I wanted to try after college, I think it would be cool to do,” she concluded. “I have tons more to improve –and I just got moved to a #6, and I’ve worked hard to get there.”

Red Top Ranch Trick Riding school celebrated its 30th years at the Vold Ranch in Avondale, Colorado, this past March. Taught by Karen Vold and Linda Scholtz, a total of 28 students attended one of the four schools. Students traveled from Alaska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New York and several other states to attend the three day school.

Karen learned how to trick ride when she was young, “I learned from a lady that worked for us at the riding stables. I trick rode for a living from 14 to 27, when I went to work for Harry,” said Karen. “When I started going on the road, I didn’t have time to do it, so I started teaching.”
Linda came to work for Karen when Karen and Harry’s daughter, Kirsten, was 5. She and her husband, Paul, did the church services and Linda taught Sunday school. She learned to trick ride from Karen in 1978. “I was watching Karen teach Kirsten and I’d never seen it before. I wondered what it was.” Karen told her that she would teach them both. That went on for a year before Linda decided to ride professionally and she got her card in 1980. She and Paul took off for 27 years, part of the All American Trick Riders (Vickie Tyer and Lori Orman). “I fell in love with it,” said Linda. She and Paul continued their ministry at rodeos all over the country.

Linda rode with the All American Trick Riders for 14 years, and during that time someone wanted a lesson. “We started with one lesson in 1987. After that it started rolling along. It started with one weekend,” said Linda. “When we became an official school, we did them for a week. We coordinated it with the local spring break. We advertised a little and it snowballed from there.”

Many of the staff were former students; one from Scotland, who came as a student, is still coming over once a year to rekindle friendships and teach the next generation. Lorna Campbell, from Trinty Gask in Scotland, came ten years ago. “I used to do vaulting and I was too old, and I’d seen it and it looked fun. I ended up getting a couple horses at home and continued.” She shows her talents at Agricultrual shows and Highland games. Unfortunately rodeo is illegal in Scotland, so she isn’t able to trick ride at those events.” Now the clinical trial monitor takes almost a month off to come over and visit and help train the next generation of trick riders. One of her trick riding friends, Mellissa Pfaff, from Broomfield, Colorado, started coming to the class when she was 15.

Mellissa has a BA, four Masters degrees and is midway through her PhD in Education. She teaches high school science and takes time out of her schedule to come every weekend and help. After learning the art, Mellissa went and trick rode all over the country and ended up working for Cavalia for a year and a half. “We worked all over the Us and Canada. “I keep coming back because I love teaching and Linda and Karen changed my life – I’m a better person – trick riding has led me to everywhere I’ve been in my life. It’s a part of my identity.”

The school is open to anyone seven years old and up and any level of experience. “We’ve had students as old 0as 48,” said Linda. “In the past, we’ve had several mothers who gave it a try.”

“It’s harder than it looks,” said Karen. “But by the end of every school, everyone has mastered at least one trick. “We have people from Wisconsin who say this is the best vacation we had as a family.”

Bob Brenner, from Pikes Peak Saddlery, comes one day during the school to help with straps and whatever the students need for the saddles, which belong to Karen and Linda. Linda brought all the horses.

The staff consists of Aaron and Isaac Johnson – brothers. Mellissa and her sister, Mimi, and Lorna, Cory Young, Aaron and Isaac’s mother, Debbie, is one of the cooks, along with Karen’s lifelong friends, Bobbie Fritz. Gail Shivelry also helps in the kitchen along with Cindy Robinson.
“We started this in the first place so the art wouldn’t die, and we’re still doing it,” said Karen. “We have really and truly a fabulous staff and they come back every year. I don’t know why they keep coming. Cory finds ways to share the Word through the avenue of trick riding. “We always have a church service at the last day of the school – It’s shocking when you see students that you had and they introduce you to their kids. It’s hard to imagine it’s been that many years.”

Tuker Carricato has spent his whole life in Saratoga, Wyoming; until last year. This sixth grader’s quest for a championship in the mini bareback riding at the Junior National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas led his family all over the country – he got on 32 horses last year and won 22 of the events he entered. He and his parents (Trisha and Tony) traveled to eight states to get the job done.

His career as a mini bareback rider began by watching a video. His dad, Tony, was a bareback rider from Gunnison, Colorado, who competed in high school, National Little Britches, and college rodeoed in Cheyenne, Wyoming. “I didn’t mind it because of the size of the horses, and the difference between me and Tuker is he’s in shape and I learned the hard way.” Tony bought Tuker his first riggin’ and he started riding with his dad’s advice. He got on his first mini bareback in Rock Springs, Wyoming, riding in the Winter Series put on by Casey Riggs, R and R Rodeo. His first ride was spent trying to think of everything his dad taught him. “I taught him how to hold his feet and how to lift – if they can’t get that down, they will go over the front end. We started with the spur board and Tuker is a natural athlete and picked it up. He’s very strong. Athletics and conditioning is a major part of this.”

Tuker is used to athletics – he plays football, basketball, and wrestles. He also is very active in 4-H, showing sheep, goats, and cattle. He has five goats (boars) and still shows them. He ropes on the ranch all the time. “I don’t have the horses to rope or the equipment to practice, but I would compete if I could.” He also co-owner 20 Suffolk/Hampshire cross sheep with his older brother, Chaze, that they breed for show lambs to show and sell.

His riding career took a huge leap forward when he met Kelly Timberman, World Champion Bareback Rider and 7x NFR qualifier, who now sponsors Tuker. “We pick who we sponsor based on criteria that includes a strong community involvement, grades, personality, and incentive to achieve goals,” said the 2017 Mountain States Circuit Finals Bareback Champion. “When it comes to rodeo, they need to have the incentive to work to purchase their own equipment, travel expenses, etc. Tuker works that off himself – any kid that’s willing to work to get his own equipment shows ambition.” Kelly and his fiancé, Shannon Pearman, have started a program called Champions Go9-oh at their home in Casper, Wyoming. “We are teaching these kids how to be good men – never seeking mediocracy and going for their dreams. We help them go after them, setting up yearly goals and the building blocks of success.” Tuker followed that to a tee – he took time on Sundays to travel to Casper – two and a half hours from his home – to practice. He sent videos to Kelly and asked for advice. “He’s a young man that is very dedicated to his purpose and what he wants.”

Tuker has learned a lot from Kelly. “He teaches me rodeo and stuff like that. He taught me how to respect people – being yourself and not being rude.” Tuker’s family owns Battle Pass Outfitting and Tuker helps spot and retrieve game with his mother. They hunt deer and elk in the mountain range by the ranch where Tuker will spend time in the mornings and evenings looking through a spotting scope and will call his dad if he sees any. Tuker helps pack the archery elk hunters to the wilderness camp by horse back where he helps load pack horses and takes his own string of horses in and out of camp. He can’t wait until he is 18 so he can get a guides license and guide with his dad and oldest brother Chaze. Chaze graduated college from Western Dakota Tech in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Wyatt is a senior at Saratoga high school.

After his first ride in Wyoming, where he missed covering by .25 seconds, he kept getting better and progressing. “My mom researched where the rodeos were and we’d drive there.” He bases his decision on where to go on payouts and entry fees and how far away they. “I have to pay for it – by my winnings.” Tuker has his own checking account and he balances monthly his earnings to his expenses. “I save for entry fees and rodeos. I have two different accounts – one for rodeo and one for fair.” There were lots of long nights and when the family headed to a rodeo and they relied on family to do the chores at home. “My cousin or brother would stay home and take care of my animals.” Tuker shows Maine Angus cross cattle. “They are popular and grow good.” He keeps them in barns where it’s cool and dark.

As the year progressed, his riding continued to improve. “I had a goal to get there (Junior NFR); when I kept winning them all and doing good I kept going. I just practice – my mind and muscle memory.” When Tuker found out the end of August he had made his way back to Vegas for the JR NFR, he checked his books and did some research where to get the best riding chaps, he had his dad call and make an appointment with Tim Bath to go pick out his colors so he would have brand new ones for Vegas. They match his new riggin that he had bought in June. He enjoyed his trip to Vegas for the Junior NFR. “It’s warmer than here. There were lots of people and crowds and big.” He would do it again and he plans to.

This year he is old enough to join the National Junior High Rodeo Association, competing in the bareback steer riding. He plans to continue all his sports, but admits that he would give them up for rodeo. “Rodeo makes me money and I like it better than the other sports,” he said. “I want to be a cowboy when I grow up – not much else. Rodeo and be a world champion bareback rider.”

Tyson Durfey is making his tenth appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, defending his world champion title from last year in the tie down roping. Tyson grew up in Savannah, Missouri, training horses and ranching with his dad, Roy, and older brothers, Travis and Wes. “It was a miniature boot camp for guys. It was always me, my brothers, dad and at least one or two people there roping with us.,” said the 34 year old, who makes his home in Weatherford Texas with his wife, Shea Fisher, and 14 month old daughter Praise Royal. “We lived in a single wide trailer house – 10 feet wide by 75 feet long, with 75 spare tires holding the tin on the roof.” He remembers waking up to ice in his water glass. “Keeping the fire going was a huge part of life. Dad would wake us up and we would feed, then eat breakfast, then doctor cattle – ropers and feeders. We always said yes ma’am and no ma’am, but it was a bachelor pad. We’d rope from 9am until midnight every day, riding about 25 head of horses. Most Sundays were jackpot days at the Durfey Ranch and everyone would come by – we were the calf roping hub of the Midwest.”

Tyson’s parents divorced when he was 2 and he spent the first five years with his mom. “I was pretty rotten – I would skip school. By the time fourth grade rolled around, I was hanging around with rough kids, riding skate boards. It wasn’t looking so good for me in school, and my dad told mom that we needed to come with him and he would straighten us out. My dad ruled with an iron fist – what he said was the way it was.” Tyson was in every learning disability class, and was getting Ds and Fs. His dad told him he was going to get straight As, and was expected to work as well. “I didn’t believe him, and one night I’d fallen asleep studying, and he gave me a whooping and it put the fire in me. I graduated with honors and it was because I had the motivation to apply myself.” Roy roped in the PRCA and passed that to his boys. At nine, Tyson competed at his first rodeo. “I wasn’t a stand out, but by the time I was 12, I would match people roping for money. I would sell horn knots, and sell pop cans.”

That also gave Tyson a taste of money. “We grew up poor; we would light the hot water heater once a week and all share the same bath water,” he explained. “I wanted the fancy truck and Capri camper.” By the time he was 16, he was making $30,000 a year shoeing horses plus what he was winning. “Dad gave me the resources; cattle, horses, and ability, but never gave me a dime. I kept track of it all through FFA in a notebook.” His life was pretty routine – he’d get up around 4:30, flank and tie calves, go to school, get out and go shoe horses, then go home and rope.

Tyson competed in Missouri High School rodeo, winning state his junior and senior year. “There was no prom or sports or extracurricular activities.” He went to Missouri Valley College in 2003 on a full ride rodeo scholarship. “I stayed in college for two months. I’ve always had a sense of urgency to be the best I can be, and I didn’t like the college atmosphere, so I left and cracked out rodeoing.” At nineteen years old, Tyson hit the rodeo trail, living in the back of his truck, and crisscrossing the country. “That first year was tough for me. My very first pro rodeo was Indianapolis, Indiana. I drove 14 hours to get there and the barrier rope wrapped around the stirrup, ripping it off and I fell off my horse.” He remembers the crowd laughing at him. He drove 45 hours to get to the next rodeo in Portland, Oregon, and broke the barrier. He won second in Spokane, and then drove straight through to Brent Lewis’s house in Arizona where he stayed for a few months working for him and learning from him. “From there it was history, I was off.” His achievements include three Canadian World Championships (the first ever non-Canadian resident to achieve this feat), winning “The American” in 2014, Winning Houston Rodeo in 2015, qualifying ten times for the WNFR, and 2016 world champion with well over one million dollars in PRCA earnings.

His dad played another major role in Tyson’s career. “In 2007, before the Reno rodeo, I had a family friend call wanting to sponsor me,” he said. “It was my first sponsorship, and that $10,000 helped propel me to win Reno and another $25,000 over the week. I found out later that my dad had given this guy the $10,000 because he knew I wouldn’t take it from him.”

Tyson met his wife, Australian country music singer, Shea Fisher, at Rodeo Houston in 2010. “I saw her in the hospitality room. For me, I knew I was going to marry her right then, but she didn’t know for a few years. I had gone to a movie after the rodeo, and I saw her in the horse area after the rodeo. I walked up and visited with her again. We sent Facebook messages back and forth for six months. She kindly rejected my request for her phone number nor would she agree to go to dinner with me. I was persistent – she never told me to get lost. I finally got her phone number and we visited for another 9 months on the phone before she went out on a date with me.” He flew to Nashville with roses in a shoe box in his suitcase to spend one day with her. “She told me if we are going to be official, you have to ask my parents. That couldn’t happen for four more months, when I met her parents at the WNFR.” They dated for one year, were engaged for 10 month and were married October 6, 2013 at Vista West Ranch, in Dripping Springs, Texas.
The couple have launched several businesses together including Shea Michelle Buckle Designs which was launched by Shea in 2010. Designs by Shea and Designs by Durfey were launched in 2015. Shea’s dad had started a buckle company in Australia and Shea brought that knowledge to the company.

Shea Baby is the latest launch. “It’s a baby boot line that we designed,” explained Tyson. “We had planned it out a couple years from having kids. My wife is very talented with design and how things come together. I had seen a pair at a store in Brazil, and knew we could make them really cute and neat. As fate would happen, we put a lot of time into it, but we stumbled onto really good manufacturers and sourced a really good leather, so they are all natural.” Praise Royal is a great model for the company.

Tyson has also designed and launched his own line of boots TD Performance through Corral Boots that are available now at Boot Barn. “I like to credit myself as a pretty smart guy because I named all the businesses after my wife! The businesses fit my wife’s personality she is the workforce behind getting things done.”

They travel as a family to all the rodeos. Shea has started entering as well, pocketing just over $20,000 this past year. “Now that I have a family, rodeo is not my main priority anymore,” he said. “At the end of the day I compete because I love to and I love the fans.” They travel in a pickup and Cimarron trailer. Most of the summer, they were traveling with Shea’s parents, who helped with Praise. “I get tired of the road sometimes, but when I get to come back to the trailer and see Praise smiling at me, it makes it all worthwhile.”

The family has recently purchased some land in Texas, and Tyson is excited to get back into hunting, something he used to do a lot. “My family has a pheasant and deer hunting property in South Dakota, and deer season opens next week in Texas. I’m looking forward to setting up some feeders on that property in Texas and disappearing after the WNFR for a few weeks.”

Tyson has his sights on one more world title. He is preparing for the NFR by training a lot, working out, spending time in the Bible. “We all go out there expecting to win. The way I train and prepare is to prepare for everything. It’s easy to win when you’re on a hot streak, but after you’ve been cold, it is hard. I’ll envision my emotions and body language if the calf kicks and how do I prepare for the next round. A lot of people will think they have to push … I like to go back to the basics and not push. If you have a bad day and push harder, then you could have a worse day.” He falls asleep listening to audio Bible readings. “It just downloads information in my mind and allows me to handle situations in my flesh. My overall favorite book is Proverbs – there is so much wisdom in there, second is James – I’m Irish, pale skin and have a temper. I’ve known that for a long time, and I have been able to train myself how to act.” James 1:19 is one of his favorite verses. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

“I want to be a motivator for people – I want them to look at me and say that if you can do it, I can do it too. I’ve read or listened to a couple hundred self-help books – Tony Robbins is my all-time favorite, I’m obsessed with processes that can make people better human beings and understanding why people do certain things. “A wise man learns from other people’s mistakes and avoids his own.” Tyson continues to help people wherever he can. “I will always share what I learn and continue to learn about how to become the best reflection of myself. The greatest failure of all is to reach the pinnacle of your career and still be unhappy. I can use my title to motivate and help other people. We are put here to inspire, encourage, and help others.”