Rodeo Life

Author: Siri Stevens

  • Miss Rodeo USA 2014 – Elisa Swenson

    Miss Rodeo USA 2014 – Elisa Swenson

    Miss Rodeo USA 2014, Elisa Swenson is a native of California. Serving as Miss Rodeo Lakeside, she is leaves a full time job with West America Corp. to take on her reign as Miss Rodeo USA. “I was working in estimating and assisting the financial controller,” said the 25-year-old from Lakeside, Calif. She is also researching nursing school after her reign as Miss Rodeo USA. “I know that different opportunities might arise, but my passion for helping others through nursing is where my heart is right now. My main goal in life is to grow in my relationship with God and the nursing school at Point Loma Nazarene a prestigious nursing program.”

    Elisa wasn’t allowed to ride horses as a young girl. “My mother asked me to quit riding because of her fear that I would get hurt. Her greatest fear became my biggest asset,” she said. Viola passed away in 1998, when Elisa was 10, after a six year battle with breast cancer. “My father sent me to a riding camp and my love of horses returned.” She began her queening career on a trail ride in January of 2011. “Nikki Tremblay and I were riding in the riverbed in Lakeside, Calif., and she asked me and another girl which one of us was going to try out for Miss Rodeo Lakeside and I had no idea what she was talking about.” The quick learning curve, less than two years, has taught her about respect, perseverance, and not to give up. “I was very passionate about it (queening), and this helped me overcome the passing of my mother. Queening helped lift me up in a different way – it was about chasing my goals and setting my mind to those goals.”

    Her title as Miss Rodeo Lakeside introduced her to the International Pro Rodeo Association. “The Bulls Only rodeo is the only rodeo I knew of for IPRA in California. I know that California has a history of IPRA,” she said. She has been to Oklahoma only once before the competition. “I love Oklahoma. It’s a reflection of our Western heritage. The open land, horses, and fields, is much different than California.”

    Her life is going to forever change with her new title. “I think about what Lisa Lance (Executive Director for the Miss Rodeo USA Pageant) wrote about being and becoming – it’s something you grow into – it’s all about taking it as it comes.”Elisa’s platform is Brand your Attitude. “My goal is to encourage others to think more positively in all aspects of their lives. I want to do that by encouraging people to choose words to live by. For example, I have a lot of quotes and images that inspire me – I look at rodeo and the athletes that compete. They face challenges and they push on and don’t let anything stand in their way. That image helps me whenever I’m in a tough situation.” She has no idea what to expect throughout the year. “I have a brief idea of what I’ll be doing, but it’s really about all the things I’m not going to be expecting that is exciting for me.”

  • Cheryl Cole

    Cheryl Cole

    Cheryl Cole is the newly appointed event director for the ribbon roping and has been in the association for the last 15 years. She likes the association for camaraderie found at each rodeo. “I really enjoy the people that I have gotten to know. I never got to rodeo much when I was younger and now I am able to go and that has really worked out well.” She is still in the process of finding out what her duties as event director will entail but says, “I have visited with some of the other event directors and I know I’ll need to have ribbons ready and make sure the right calf is in the chute for the competitors and the judges are ready. I’m a little bit nervous about being the director, but we’ll make it work.”

    Cheryl and her ribbon roping partner and husband, Dan are tough competitors in the arena and claimed the 2013 Reserve World Champion Ribbon Roping titles for both roper and runner in the 50’s division. Cheryl says that her preparation for making a quick run starts with visualization of what she wants to do. “I try to be pretty close to the chute on the left and help push the calf to the right for Danny. We do a lot of practice at home and that helps so we know what each other is going to do.” She also says that she has a competitive spirit and puts that to work when she walks into the arena.

    Besides ribbon roping, Cheryl competes in team roping on the heading side. “I rope a lot at home just to turn steers for Danny, but I do compete in jackpots. Danny competes in the team roping and calf roping in the Senior Pro. He’s been in the Senior Pro Association for about 17 years.”

    Starting into rodeo for Cheryl was just a part of growing up in Central Wyoming. “I grew up on a ranch and I ran barrels in high school rodeo. I didn’t start roping until I met Dan. I was a sophomore in high school when we started going together and he got me started roping.” Cheryl says that her biggest influence has been her husband, Dan. “He always been there for me and I doubt that I would rodeo at all if it were not for him. He keeps me going.”

    Currently, Cheryl and Dan are spending a couple of months in Arizona and will be competing in the Senior Pro rodeos there before returning to their home near Douglas. The couple has two grown children; a son Shane and a daughter, Haley. “They were both in high school rodeo. Shane rode saddle broncs and Haley goat tied. Haley has a daughter, Alana and Shane has a son, Hunter, 13. Hunter has started team roping.”

    During the normal workweek in Wyoming, Cheryl is involved in helping Dan with the oil field reclamation business that they have. “I do all the books for our business and help out Dan in the field when he needs helps. During the winter, the ground is frozen up there, so it’s a great time for us to come to Arizona for a couple of months. We’ll be here for the February rodeos then we’ll head back to Wyoming about the first of March.”

    Goals for the future are to, “…do exactly what I’m doing right now. We’re happy doing what we’er doing and really don’t look for any changes.”

  • Cole Bass

    Cole Bass

    Kansas Professional Rodeo Association (KPRA) bull rider, Cole Bass, is looking forward to his third year within the organization and has his sights set on qualifying for the finals and ultimately winning the year-end title…that is, after he regains full health. Competing in the extreme event of bull riding often sees injury and Cole has been dealing with his since 2012. While traveling to the National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) in Rock Springs, Wyo., Cole dropped in for one more eight-second ride at the 26th annual KPRA rodeo in McCracken, Kans., but ended up tearing a ligament in his riding hand. He went on to compete at the NHSFR and finished his 2012 season out as the KPRA rough stock Rookie of the Year and fifth in the year-end standings.

    Finally deciding to get things fixed, Cole has undergone two surgeries to repair the ligament, but the set back cost him a year in the KPRA, where he was only able to hit a small number of rodeos in 2013. “I would like to get healed up and go at it hard. The KPRA has good people and good money in the bull riding,” he said, but included that the two things that sets the organization apart from any other association he has competed in is, “Better bulls and more wind.”

    The 19-year old southpaw has been climbing on the beast since he was nine years old. Following in his dad’s (Butch) footsteps, Cole says that it runs in the family. While his mom (Linda) was not fond of the idea of her only child riding bulls, she has overcome her fears and is now supportive of his decisions. “Both of my parents have been supportive through it all and I could not have done it without them,” he said.

    Competing in “Young Gun” events allowed Cole to gain the experience needed to compete in the NHSRA, where he was crowned the Missouri reserve state champion his junior year, followed by a 12th place finish at the NHSFR the same year. He then went on to winning the state championship his senior year. Alongside of the KPRA, Cole continues his progression in the National Federation of Professional Bull Riders, where he finished 15th in the nation his rookie year and is currently sitting ninth in the 2013 season. “After I get healed up, I would like to go pro as well. Doing a little of both of the PBR and PRCA,” he said of a 2014 goal.

    Growing up on a ranch in Jonesburg, Mo., Cole has decided to continue in the business through a major in farm and ranch management. He started his collegiate career through a rodeo scholarship in Miami, Okla., but transferred to Moberly Area Community College to be closer to doctors through his recovery period. The student-athlete has also been found on the baseball field, where he played the pitcher and first-base positions, but declares that rodeo is where his future lies. “It is something that I’ve done for quite awhile and the only thing I’m really good at,“ he said of why he likes the sport. He plans on returning to Oklahoma in the fall, where he will continue rodeoing.

  • Debbie Colyer

    Debbie Colyer

    Recently stepping down from the Junior Southern Rodeo Association (Jr. SRA) association secretary position after 11 years of dedicated service, Debbie Colyer, will now devote her time as a newly elected member of the Board of Directors. “I just feel that we needed new blood in there and Glennis [Ussery] will do a great job,” said Debbie.

    Debbie’s roots are ground deep within the Jr. SRA and its parent division: the Southern Rodeo Association (SRA), as her father (Jack Laws) was one of whom responsible for starting each organization in the 1950s. Although, never a competitor, Jack represented the associations as the president for many years. “He just loved the sport,” said Debbie.

    Just imagine…North Carolina cotton farming in the 1930s. A young man (Jack) was out picking, but when he got to the end of the row he was working on, he just kept walking. Headed out to find, whatever it was that he was looking for, Jack made it as far as Big Spring, Tex., when his car broke down. Instead of giving up, Jack hopped a freight train to Arizona and found himself apart of the construction of the Hoover and Parker Dams. “Through his journeys out west, he found out about rodeo,” reminisced Debbie.

    Upon returning to North Carolina from military service in World War II, Jack started his a business (Laws Stained Glass Studios in Statesville, N.C. – a business that Debbie and her brother continue to run today). But holding onto a love for rodeo, he started his first rodeo company (Carolina Livestock and Rodeo Company) on the side. By the time Debbie was around 12 years old, Jack had sold the rodeo company and bought a new string of stock for junior competitors. “We would travel to different local arenas holding junior rodeos, when dad and a few other guys started the Jr. SRA in approximately 1958,” Debbie explained.

    Obviously, Debbie and her brother (Mike Laws) took up a membership within the newly formed organization. While Mike competed in the bareback and bull riding and later went on to compete in the SRA, Debbie was crowned the 1966 Jr. SRA junior barrel racing champion. She, too, went on to compete within the SRA and grabbed onto three barrel racing titles (1970, 1985, 1986).

    After competing, Debbie and her husband (Mike Colyer) did their part in keeping her father’s work alive. In the early 1980s, Mike served four years as the president of the SRA and Debbie as the secretary. The pair returned to the Jr. SRA in 2001, where Mike served another four years as the president, but Debbie continued her work as the secretary for another seven years. “The responsibility came back to me and my husband and we did our share to keep the association going,” she said. Holding strong to 42 years of marriage, Mike and Debbie currently reside in Olin, N.C., where Mike raises bucking bulls from a direct line of Bodacious and is the chief flight director for Dale Earnhardt Incorp. “Mike was a paratrooper in the military and later became a pilot. While he was stationed in the east, and was already a bull rider, originally from Colorado, he entered a rodeo out here, where he had to borrow all of his gear and that is how we met,” explained Debbie. “He then went on to being Dale Earnhardt’s personal pilot up until his death.”

    The family heritage of the two associations has continued to move throughout the Laws/Colyer family. Mike and Debbie’s two daughters (Jeani Almond and Kaycee Brown) both competed in the Jr. SRA and continue to compete within the SRA. Jeani’s husband (Eddie Almond) has just completed serving two years as the President of the Jr. SRA and was re-elected for another two years. Her oldest granddaughter (Hayley Knox, 20) is a past Jr. SRA five-time all-around champion and went on to obtaining her first of two SRA all-around titles at the age of 15. “Hayley is currently in college, but continues to compete in the SRA whenever she is home,” said Debbie. Going on through the line, Debbie still has two granddaughters that are contenders in the Jr. SRA. Mikayla Almond, 13, is a four-time all-around champion and has broadened her horizons to the 2013 National Junior High School Rodeo Associations reserve pole bending champion (Gallup, N.M.). Finally, her youngest granddaughter (Jolie Brown, 12) competes in the barrel racing, pole bending and goat tying in the Jr. SRA. “We are a generation after generation Jr. SRA and SRA people,” said Debbie.

    Having seen the Jr. SRA’s membership double in the 11 years as the secretary, Debbie says that she would like to see the association branch out and get even bigger. “The Jr. SRA produces cowboys and cowgirls with the knowledge to continue on with their careers. Even if they don’t decide to rodeo as adults, the association gives the opportunity for kids to be a cowboy once in their lifetime,” said Debbie. JB Mauney and Jerome Davis are among some of the greats that got their start in the Jr. SRA. “It prepares kids for higher ranks and enables them to compete in larger associations such as the SRA, IPRA, PBR and the PRCA,” she continued.

    While hoping to see the Jr. SRA expand and planning to be apart of it for a long time to come, Debbie says that it’s the love of rodeo that drives her forward. “While I was competing, it was the urge to be the best, but now that I’m older, it’s the people and family that makes me love it. The most unique thing about the sport is the people you meet and the memories that are made,” she concluded.

  • Kristin Mulkey

    Kristin Mulkey

    At only 18 years old, Southern Rodeo Association (SRA) member, Kristin Mulkey has made a career inside of the arena. Owning a résumé containing the Georgia Junior High School Rodeo Association (GJHSRA) state champion titles in the barrel racing, pole bending, all-around and back-to-back titles in the goat tying, Kristin recently topped her list as the 2013 SRA year-end and finals breakaway champion. “The finals are great. The rodeos are laid back, family oriented and the board and committee members are wonderful. They really seem to care about the contestants and make sure that there is good stock to compete with,” she said of the high points of the association. As a third year member leading up to the SFR-40, Kristin already had one finals qualification under her belt. She had gone in the previous year with a ninth place ranking and was rewarded for her hard work in the breakaway and barrel racing through an acceptance of the Cathy Cudd Memorial buckle.

    Kristin’s talents are not handed down through family lines, instead, are the work of a decision made by a 10-year old little girl. Her start as a rodeo contestant stems back to the high peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where her dad (Tim) worked as a hunting guide. “Because of dad’s work, I was raised on horses and always loved them,” said Kristin. Tim soon took Kristin to a rodeo and during the event asked her if it was something that she would like to do. “I already loved riding horses and thought it would be something great to try,” she included. Quick progression led to the expansion of events and even the work as the GJHSRA princess her eighth grade year. Upon reaching high school, Tim offered up the option to either continue on with the Georgia High School Rodeo Association or to advance to the amateur level. “I chose to go amateur and I love it. I love the people and the competition,” said Kristin.

    The Calhoun, Ga., resident can now be found competing within the International Professional Rodeo Association, where she qualified for the IFR held in Oklahoma City her rookie year (2012).   She has also added the Professional Cowboy Association to her agenda and will enter into the 2013 finals seated first in, both, the rookie all-around and rookie breakaway roping standings.

    The Sonoraville High School senior has chosen to dedicate her extracurricular time to the sport of rodeo. “Rodeo is all I do. I have done school sports in the past, but found that rodeo is where my heart lies,” she declared. “My horses take up all of my time anyway.” Still considered a high quality student-athlete, Kristin spends her “student” time preparing for a future in nursing and is graded through her help at AGC Pediatrics for a class. But her
    continuation in the sport of rodeo also weighs in on her collegiate selections, where she is hoping to get into nursing school at Dalton State College in Dalton, Ga. – only 20 miles north of her home town. “I want to stay close to my family. I really enjoy traveling with them and want to still rodeo with the SRA,” she said. Aside from all of her hard work, Kristin credits her parents. “My dad always helps me ride my horses after school and my mom [Patricia] is there for support and helps me, in other ways, every inch of the way,” she said. Of course, Kristin’s past and future rests in her 18-year old paint gelding (Auction the Farm), who she simply calls “Ranch”. “He has been an awesome horse for her and has truly helped her,” said Patricia of the horse they have owned since 2010. “He has become one of the family.”

    For the upcoming season, Kristin has decided to hit the SRA trail hard and has set the SFR as her target. “I want to get the breakaway and all-around titles,” she determined.

  • Tim Palmer

    Tim Palmer

    Climbing on with a motto of: “Ride for God’s glory,” American Professional Rodeo Association’s (APRA) bareback riding Rookie of the Year – Tim Palmer – has already found success in his three years of bearing down on buckin’ horses. “I don’t want the crowd to see me, I want them to see the grace of God, because without Him, I am nothing,” said Tim.

    As a third generation cowboy, Tim was handed the reins early on in life. His granddad (Jack) started a string of ropers competing in the calf roping, which led to Tim’s dad (Tom) and uncle, who both left the box as team ropers. The passion followed with Tim and his older brother (Andrew) and he began competing in the team roping at the age of 12. “We were roping dummies since we were in diapers, because it was just something that we loved to do,” he explained. Both his mom (Patty) and his older sister (Julie) have never competed, but he says that they are super supportive and are his number one fans. It wasn’t until Tim had left the nest and was living in Arkansas, when a friend and retired multiple association bareback rider (Nathan Chuckfield) revealed that Jim was built to be a bareback rider. “I gave it a try and covered my first six out of ten horses. It was then that I realized that it was the event for me,” Tim said.

    By the summer of 2012, Tim had purchased a membership with the APRA and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), where he made an impressive start. He was able to fill his permit and finish second at both the First Frontier Circuit Finals and the year-end standings, which earned him a qualification to his first Ram National Circuit Finals, following a fourth place finish in the 2013 APRA year-end rankings. “I love the tight knit group in the APRA. It has the feel of a pro association, but you know everyone and are good buddies with those you are competing with, along with the stock contractors,” he said of the organization. Already hitting the trail, Tim is currently sitting fourth in the standings with approximately $800 won in the 2014 season. “I would love to win both the finals and the year-end,” he said of his goals for the APRA.

    The 21-year old cowboy was born in Lewistown, Pa., but says that he never spent more than four months in one particular location up until the age of 17. “My family moved around a lot, because my dad was a traveling preacher,” he explained. But he claims that it is his upbringing that urges him to rodeo. “I was raised on the road and we went to a lot of rodeos. It may be because it is a part of my blood, but it’s the competition that I crave,” he said. “It is a dream that you can chase, and sure, there are bumps and bruises along the way, but it’s not like anything else out there – it’s just you and the world.”

    While Tim will head to his second First Frontier Circuit Finals seated fifth with almost $2,000 won in the season, he will get on his first horse in over five months. Having suffered a compound fracture to his left tibia and enduring two surgeries, he says that he is ready to get back on and has future targets set. “You can never be happy where you are and I would like to keep pushing to get better. I feel that I can compete with the best cowboys in the world and want to expand myself by hitting some bigger shows and traveling a lot more in the PRCA,” he said.

  • Adam Wrenn

    Adam Wrenn

    Adam Wrenn is all about riding bulls. The fourteen year old cowboy, who lives on the outskirts of Belle Plaine, Kan., started riding sheep when he was five, and liked it right away. He graduated to calves, steers, and last year made the jump to bulls.

    He is in his first year of competition in the Kansas Junior High Rodeo Association, but it’s not his first association. Last year, he was an Oklahoma Junior High School Rodeo member, and has also been a member of the Northwest Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association, Out West Junior Bull Riders, the National Junior Bull Riding Association, the Heartland Youth Rodeo Association, the Kansas Junior Bull Riding Association, and the Oklahoma Kansas Youth Rodeo Association.

    He is an eighth grade student at Belle Plaine Middle School, where he enjoys math class, which is his best subject. Social studies isn’t his favorite, however. His favorite teacher was his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kinsley in Mooreland, Oklahoma. Adam started school in Mooreland and moved to Belle Plaine in second grade.

    He plays football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and runs track, and enjoys them all, but football is his favorite. He plays any position, wherever his coach needs him, and looks forward to playing for the Belle Plaine Dragons next year. He loves following the Oklahoma State football team and the Baltimore Ravens.

    Adam’s favorite bull riding role models are Lane Frost and J.B. Mauney. When he grows up, he hopes to pay for his college education with a bull riding scholarship, and possibly get a job involved with college sports.

    In his rodeo career, he has sprained his thumb, his right ankle, broken his nose, and got his head stepped on. The head injury was the worst one: he was riding a calf in 2007 in Shawnee, Okla., wearing a cowboy hat, when he got bucked off and the bull stepped on his head. He laid in the arena motionless, and after that, his parents insisted that he wear a helmet.

    Adam’s dad rode bulls in the pasture, but never competed, and neither did his mom. His older brothers, Chris and Jonathan, became interested
    in it when they overheard their dad visiting with a friend about riding. It spurred the older brothers to ride, and Adam became interested. “It made me want to do it, and I liked it from there.” The brothers don’t ride anymore, but Adam does.

    In addition to Chris, age 21 and Jonathan, age nineteen, he has another brother, Scott, who is seventeen. He also has a younger sister, Lorraine, who is four.

  • Charlie Romero

    Charlie Romero

    Charlie Romero is always looking for his next adrenaline rush. Whether it’s riding bulls, dirt bikes, mixed martial arts or four-wheelers, he loves living on the edge. The Kansas High School Rodeo Association member is in his first year with the organization, but has been riding bulls since he was twelve. Fellow contestant Dalton LaFalier encouraged him to join high school rodeo, and he loves it.

    He lives in Edna, Kan., twelve miles east of Coffeyville, and is a senior at Labette County High School in Altamont. School is easier this year, since most of his required classes are out of the way. He wrestles and is a member of FFA.

    When Charlie began riding bulls, it was in the National Junior Bull Riding Association, but after he got injured during a hang-up, his mom made him quit. He quit riding for two years, then began again at age sixteen. He got injured a second time, and then began wrestling.

    He credits Zach Strunk, a family friend who lives in Coffeyville, with getting him started. He rode the bucking barrel at Zach’s house, and Zach takes him to his high school rodeos. “He’s helped me so much, he’s been a brother to me,” Charlie said.

    Between riding bulls and doing crazy things, Charlie has had his share of broken bones. He’s broken his arm, collarbone, wrist and ankles, and his doctor teases him, telling him that his parents have helped build the new wing on the hospital with the doctor’s fees Charlie has incurred.

    This fall, he will compete at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami on a bull riding scholarship. He hopes to get a business and marketing degree. He also plans on going to farrier school and completing an equine dentistry degree, so he has some options for jobs. He hopes to get his Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association permit this March, fill it, make money and gain experience, and move on to the PBR ranks.

    The best bull he’s ever gotten on was one of Matt Williams’ bulls at the Emporia high school rodeo last year. The bull was a “nice, stocky red bull, that was really rank, really awesome,” Charlie remembers. “He was leaping and blowing up in the air like crazy.” Charlie went 7.8 seconds on him.

    But even though his thrills extend to dirt bike riding, MMA, and other dangerous things, he’s careful to not go too far. “Nothing too dangerous,” he says. “I have to keep my bull riding career.”

    “Bull riding is the main thing that keeps me going. It keeps me happy. I can’t get enough of it. It’s great.”

    Charlie has an older sister, Sarah Day, who lives in Coffeyville. He is the son of Carlos and Stephanie Romero.

  • Shy-Anne Jarrett

    Shy-Anne Jarrett

    Horses run through Shy-Anne Jarrett’s life. She gets up every morning thinking about them, and goes to bed with them on her mind. The Oklahoma cowgirl was born and raised in Comanche, and grew up with parents who rodeoed and a mom who trained futurity horses. As a youngster, Shy-Anne had an exceptionally good barrel horse, Rambling Rally, who carried her to the Texas Cowboys Rodeo Association Finals four times, when she was a young teenager. “It was pretty neat  at that age to have a horse like that,” she recalls. “I wish I had a barn-full of them right now.”

    In addition to the TCRA, she also competed in the Midwest Cowboys Rodeo Association. In high school, she did all the girls events and qualified for the National High School Finals three times: twice in the barrels (riding Rambling Rally) and once in the breakaway roping. She was also an International Pro Rodeo Association member.

    After high school, she got a full scholarship to rodeo at Vernon (Texas) College, and made the College National Finals twice, both times in the barrel racing. In 2003, she helped the Vernon College Women’s team win the CNFR, the same year that the men from Vernon also won it.

    During college, Shy-Anne began riding and training outside horses, “something I swore I’d never do,” she laughs. She had always started her own horses, and eventually, she was riding for the public. “I’ve always rode green horses, and got to riding for the public a little more and a little more, and it turned into full-time.” She enjoys it and is successful at it. “It’s been good to me,” she says. “I’ve sold some really nice horses.” She focuses on horses for young people. “When I was junior and high school rodeoing, I had two really good horses, so I know how important it is for that age group” to find success. “I try to train horses that those kids can grow up on.”

    Shy-Anne trains her horses for all events. “I rope on everything I have, run barrels, start them on poles. If I think it’s going to be more of a roping horse, I’ll take a goat out and get off a few times. I think it makes a better horse if he can do it all.”

    Shy-Anne is married to the 2005 All-Around World Champion Ryan Jarrett. They met through a mutual friend, who insisted that Shy-Anne needed to meet “this guy.” “I kept thinking, ‘Oh, boy, all I need is a boyfriend.’” But finally Ryan got her number. “He called me out of the blue one day. I didn’t have a clue who he was. We struck up a conversation, and actually talked for about a month before we ever met.” That was in the fall of 2005, and they were married in 2010.

    The couple runs cattle on wheat pasture and pre-conditions calves. When Ryan is on the road, Shy-Anne is home to help with cattle and chores, although she hits the road hard herself. “Somebody’s got to stay home and keep things going.” She has been a TCRA member for about eight years.

  • Mason Lowe

    Mason Lowe

    Mason Lowe is a bull rider in the Arkansas Cowboys Association. The twenty year old cowboy began rodeoing when his dad “throwed me on (a calf) when I was three and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

    He lives in Exeter, Mo., in the southwest part of the state, and graduated from Exeter High School in 2012. He is a student at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he also bull dogs and team ropes for the all-around points. Bull riding is his strength, however.

    In high school, Mason played baseball and was an FFA member. In college, he’s taking care of his required courses and isn’t sure what his major will be, although it will involve agriculture in some way. He loves to hunt whitetail deer and fish for trout, white bass and crappie. Mason’s grandpa, Larry Reed, cooks what he brings home, whether it’s frying the fish or processing the deer. Larry used to own a butcher shop and turns the deer into steaks, tenderloins, jerky, and summer sausage.

    Mason is in his second year of membership in the ACA. He’s been a member of the National Federation of Pro Bull Riders for six years and has been to their finals five times, winning the average and reserve year-end title last year. For his years of riding bulls, Mason hasn’t seen many injuries. He’s had stitches above his eye and in his fingers. The stitches in the fingers came when a bull reared up in the chute, his feet caught the bars, and when he came back down, his spur went through his hand.

    If he had to choose a bull that was his favorite, he’d choose 14 of Cline Hall’s. He got on 14 at the ACA Finals last year in the first go-round and was 82 points on him. He also favors a black bull of Hall’s, who he rode in the second go-round at the Finals.

    Mason has an older sister, Kayla, who is 24, and a younger step-sister, Alyssa, who is eight. He is the son of Jerry and Melissa Whisenhunt and Stacy Lowe.

  • Pete Walnofer

    Pete Walnofer

    For the last two years, Pete Walnofer has been a member of the Mid-States Rodeo Association. Besides Mid-States, he’s working on filling his PRCA card and competes in college rodeo. He likes the Mid-States Association for the location of the rodeos. “I live in Northeast Nebraska and I can get to a rodeo just about every weekend in the summer. Last summer I went to about 10 of the Mid-States rodeos. That’s what is perfect about Mid-States, the rodeos are on weekends and you don’t have to be gone during the week. You can get your work done and rodeo on the weekend.”

    In college, he competes in both the steer wrestling and the team roping. He says that his college rodeo coach, David Browder has given him an adage that Pete likes to keep in front of him, it says, “Practice like you have never won, and compete like you have never lost.” Pete explains, “To me that is something that I can use in rodeo as well as in day-to-day life.” He attends Laramie Community College in Cheyenne where he studies ag production technology. After college, he plans to go back to his family’s ranch and work there. “We’ve got a cow-calf operation and I’ll probably make that my career.”

    Pete got his start in rodeo with the help of his friend, Kyle Whitaker. “We’re from the same town and one day he asked if I wanted to go with him to watch him bulldog. He just started teaching me how to do it and I went on from there.” Kyle became Pete’s mentor and inspiration in rodeo and in his personal life. Pete talks about Kyle, “He’s been a really good role model for me. I’ve tried to keep up with him and he has been a great help to all through this. I’m not really all that big, but Kyle has taught me that the technique is a huge part of steer wrestling. That’s 90% of it, is having the right technique and form.” Pete keeps himself in shape with workouts and spends time doing some chute doggin’ to keep himself sharp. “You have to stay in shape for any event in rodeo, and I’ll do sit-ups and push-ups to keep my upper body strength.”

    Preparation for competition begins in the practice pen for Pete. “A big part of it is getting things right in practice. Then at the rodeo, it should just be second nature. Of course, you really need to have your mind on it and focus. But it all starts with practice. If a guy can make consistent runs time after time, then you’ll be placing. Especially in college rodeo, that’s important.”

    Pete, 20, lives in his home town of Chambers, Neb. with his family. His parents are Alvin and Brenda. Pete is the middle sibling and has three brothers and one sister. During the week, Pete is a full time student and does various day work for ranchers around Cheyenne. Leisure time when it can be found, is spent hunting or fishing. Goals for the future are to build a career in ranching and to continue to rodeo.

  • Triston Boor

    Triston Boor

    Kicking the new year off in style, Central Plains Rodeo Association (CePRA) bull rider, Triston Boor has taken the top of the leader board and has set out to win the Gunslinger Rodeo Series in his second year with the organization. “I have won buckles and saddles, but never a pistol and that’s a goal I would love to accomplish,” he said.

    A third generation rodeo cowboy, Triston says that he is inspired most by his grandpa (Jerome, who passed away in 2009) and his dad (Mark). “They are my supporters and motivators for the future, in and out of the arena,” said Triston. “I just want to thank them for everything that they’ve done for me.” While Jerome was the owner and operator of Lazy J Rodeo Company, supplying some of the top bulls in the area, Mark is a prior Dodge National Circuit Finals qualifier in the bull riding; opening the door for bulls to get into Triston’s blood. Although his mom (Loretta) has never been affiliated with the sport, other than watching her family compete, Triston says that she is also a huge supporter of her children. His competitiveness is accompanied by his two younger siblings (sister, Shanndi and brother, Ty). While Shanndi used to run barrels within the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA), Ty continues to compete in the bull riding within the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).

    The 23-year old cowboy got his start at a young age, competing in the mutton busting and progressing to calves and steers, but got on his first bull his eighth grade year. He says that he has expanded his events to riding saddle broncs, but sticks to bull riding. “I’ve gotten on a couple for fun, but never took it serious,” he said. From there he competed in the NHSRA, where he qualified for Nationals in 2008 and 2009 and was crowned the Kansas State Champion in 2009. His growing talents landed him a rodeo scholarship with Fort Scott Community College, where he spent one semester before transferring to Pratt Community College (PCC). “I was only able to rodeo one year, due to an injury,” he said of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus acquired during his rookie year of the PRCA. But his tough luck wasn’t over as he returned to the arena after surgery to break his jaw and have five teeth knocked out on his third bull back in Mesquite, Tex. “They had to wire my jaw shut and I was put out of competition again,” he remembered. He says that his misfortune began as he had qualified for the Prairie Circuit Finals while holding his permit in 2010 and was knocked out during the first-round and did not get to finish out the finals. “I still ended up eighth in the standings, but would love to make the Circuit Finals again,” he said of another 2014 goal.

    A recent graduate in automotive technology, the Pratt, Kans., resident now works for Main Street Auto. “I just work on cars. It’s a good job and you could say that it’s a passion outside of rodeo,” he said. He shares his rodeo passion with his long-time girlfriend, Latisha Simon, who is currently seeking a degree in agricultural business at PCC and will graduate this spring. She makes her way through collegiate competition running barrels on the rodeo team.

    While only competing in five CePRA rodeos during the 2013 season, Triston was one position out from making the finals. “One of the bull riders doctor released out and I was offered the opportunity to go, but had already made other plans and wasn’t able to go,” he said. To reimburse himself, Triston has set his targets on hitting the association hard and qualifying for the finals. “To win the finals and the year-end would be good,” he concluded.