Rodeo Life

Author: Siri Stevens

  • Dara Short

    Dara Short

    Kansas Professional Rodeo Association (KPRA) breakaway roping director, Dara Short, has just wrapped up her fourth year-end title by dominating the event throughout the season. “It was an excellent summer. I started clicking with my horse to the point that we could trust each other and just go rope,“ she said. Placing in the money or winning 18 out of the 20 regular season rodeos, she wrapped up the year by finishing fourth in the finals average to take the saddle by approximately $4,000 above her closest competitor. “It was one of those dream summers. We won a couple big ones in there, but I owe a lot to Rocky,” she said of her nine-year old horse, whom she started on four summers ago. “I’ve been seasoning him and letting him mature. I just wanted to get him going, while gaining confidence to be successful,” she explained.

    Also competing from the heading box, Dara finished 12th in the 40/40 team roping standings to win her fifth runner-up all-around title with a little over $10,000 between her two events. Obviously, not new to the winner’s circle, Dara’s KPRA resume also includes two all-around titles (2007, 2009) and three breakaway year-end runner-up titles (2004, 2005, 2007). “I have been very blessed with quite a bit of success,” she modestly said.

    Growing up in Goodwell, Okla., Dara and her sister (Tanya Goad, two-time KPRA breakaway year-end champion) took to the loops early on in life. Learning from their dad (Dwayne), who is a team roper within the KPRA and the United States Team Roping Championships (USTRC), the sister-duo started their competition in the National Little Britches Rodeo Association and then the National High School Rodeo Association. “Dad started us when we were young and it just stuck with us,” she said of her start in rodeo. Progressing through the years, Dara received a rodeo scholarship to Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU) and, soon after, won the Rookie of the Year in the KPRA in 2000. Her mom (Joyce) does not compete, but is her family‘s biggest fan. “She is our time keeper, secretary, photographer and supporter. She is our everything,“ Dara detailed. Joyce, too, has found her ties within the organization and has served as a secretary for the past nine years. “My family has supported the KPRA for several years and I have always enjoyed the family aspect of the sport, which is something that the KPRA offers,” Dara said of the association. Among the family ties, Tanya’s husband (Travis Goad) competes within the organization as well.

    The 32-year old cowgirl’s sensational summer started off with an engagement to calf roper, Kyle Belew, back in May. The couple were brought together through rodeo in the NLBRA, but were reunited about three years ago while both competing in the KPRA. They have set the day for March of 2014 and Dara says she does not know how hard she will travel next season. “It will all depend on how we settle in,” she said. In the mean time, Dara continues to reside in Goodwell, where she is the Administration Counselor and Enrollment Coordinator at OPSU.

    “I mainly breakaway rope in the summer and team rope in the winter,” she said. Dara competed with her dad at the USTRC Finals in Oklahoma City and recently with her uncle (Byron) at the World Series Team Roping in Las Vegas, where she won fast time of the rotation, earning each of them $3,000. “Team roping with my dad and uncle is something that is pretty special to me. They have taught me so much and it feels great to be able to compete with them,“ she said. “I just want to rope the best that I can and be as successful as I can.” While Dara enjoys riding and roping as often as she can, her roots remain with her family. “I like to spoil my nephew (Kyler, 8) and niece (Kynlee, 4) and spending time with the whole family. It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as we’re all together,” she said.

  • Cole McNamee

    Cole McNamee

    First year Colorado Pro Rodeo Association (CPRA) member, Cole McNamee, threw down in the steer wrestling during the 2013 season and was crowned the year-end champion with almost $5,600 won throughout the year. “I had a very blessed season. I just drew well and had luck go my way,” he said. The 27-year old cowboy was found in the money at 14 of the association’s 29 regular season rodeos, but battled every inch of the way with reserve champion, Kyle Maez. “Kyle and I had been going back-and-forth through the whole season and I was able to pull away after my last two rodeos, but he made a come back with a great finals,” explained Cole.

    With a long running steer in the first-round of the CPRA Finals, Cole was unable to pull a check until the second-go, where he took second place to win $354, but a stopper in the third-round caused Cole to go over the top and miss the average. In the meantime, Maez was closing the gap by placing in all three rounds and winning the average title with an aggregate time of 15.4 on three head. “The only thing that saved the year-end for me was my traveling partner [Dan Cathcart, three-time CPRA steer wrestling champion] tied for first with Kyle in the third-round, which helped me seal the deal,” said Cole of the close call and he walked away with the saddle by $12.96 above Maez.

    Living east of Pine Bluffs, Wyo., Cole had been a primary member of the Wyoming Rodeo Association (WRA), but had been to quite a few CPRA rodeos through co-sanctioning prior to this season. “I knew the finals were good, but besides that it’s a good all-around association. They put on good shows and try to have everything run smooth,” Cole said of why he likes the CPRA. “On top of having good cattle and good business backing, they treat the contestants right.” His early season goal was to buy both cards and win the year-end title in both associations. Goal accomplished. He was also crowned the WRA steer wrestling champion by approximately $2,300 above Cathcart. “I had a good finals,” he said after finishing second in the average and first in the shoot-out round.

    Cole grew up around the sport. His dad (Steve) is a former steer roper and his uncle (Mark) steer wrestled and traveled with Cathcart in his day. Although Cole roped through junior high, school sports soon consumed his life and he got away from the arena. His football talents found him playing at the college level for a year as a running back for Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D., before suffering an injury to his shoulder. Knowing that his career on the field was coming to an end, Cole transferred to the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where he graduated in 2010 with a degree in animal science. He currently works for his dad on the family ranch running approximately 100 head of cattle in a cow/calf operation. While his mom (Dawn) never competed in rodeo, she grew up in Colorado and likes the ranching life. “She enjoys watching rodeo and both parents are very supportive,” Cole said. “A special thanks goes out to my family, especially my parents, for all of their constant support and help.” He also included that he would like to thank Dan Cathcart and his family for all of their help and support as well. “I’m very blessed to have such great friends and family,” he said.

    He returned to rodeo in August of 2009. “It is action packed and gives me the adrenaline rush that I was missing from sports. I’ve loved it since the first time that I tried it,” he said. An immediate click with his event allowed Cole to purchase his permit within the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 2010. By 2011, he had filled his permit and went full force in his rookie year in 2012. “It’s the atmosphere. Everyone feels blessed to be there and it feels like a distant family with the people that you are around all of the time. It’s a community that you become apart of,” he said of why he likes to rodeo.

    Starting the 2013 season working for a qualification to the Mountain States Circuit Finals, Cole changed his focus after getting a new horse half-way through the season. In a more settling state with his four-legged companion, he hopes to go at it stronger in the 2014 season and fulfill his goal.

  • Wyatt Crowder

    Wyatt Crowder

    Wyatt Crowder is a good businessman. He knows how to work, how to see things from a different perspective, and the 18 year old cowboy is on his way to a well-established business.

    The Ft. Lupton, Colo. man found his bucking bull passion four years ago, when he and his uncle bought a cow and five bucking bulls. Wyatt had helped uncle Mike Hadley produce a bull riding futurity in Loveland, and when uncle Rick Harris offered to partner with him on the cow and bulls, he jumped at the chance. After breeding them, they sold them and Wyatt bought his most famous bull so far, The Rocker.

    Last October, as a four year old, The Rocker won the Classic at the PBR Finals in Las Vegas. The Classic is an American Bucking Bull event, where bulls are ranked coming into the PBR Finals and are scored. Bulls are scored as they are ridden by PBR Finals qualifiers, and then owners are paid, just as a bull riding event is paid out.

    The Rocker bucked off Luke Snyder in the first go-round and Kody Lostroh in the second, scoring an 86.75 and an 89.25 to win. As Classic champ, The Rocker won a gold buckle, trailer, and $200,000. Wyatt had a plan for his earnings: a new truck to replace the old one, and the rest of the money into his business.

    Wyatt bought The Rocker as a yearling, unseen. His mom watched him buck at a sale, and “she pretty much told us, go ahead and buy him and trust her, he’s that good,” Wyatt remembers. “We actually kind of stole him for as cheap as he was.” The Rocker required quite a bit of work, however. “I had to do a lot of work with him as a two year old.” Because he had so much kick, he had a tendency to fall to his knees when Wyatt put the dummy rider on him. “I had to do a lot of work teaching him not to fall down.” As a three year old, he began his first year of breeding, and it was last year that Wyatt began hauling him to Classic events.

    Prior to high school, Wyatt competed in the tie-down roping and the team roping, but he was getting burned out. “I’d won everything you could win.” That’s when The Rocker entered the picture, and “ever since then, it’s been bulls, bulls, bulls.”

    When he started in the bull business, he knew he needed to learn more. “I went down to the big guys (bull stock contractors Darrel Hargis and Dillon and H.D. Page) and learned how to do stuff, and it’s paying off.” He gives credit to Hargis and the Pages. “I got a lot of tips from them. They’ve helped me out quite a bit.” Wyatt’s Uncle Mike also offered advice and helped him get a good start in business.

    Not only has Wyatt gotten into the bull business, he’s helped create a bucking bull supplement. With his first bulls, he was feeding the liquid Performance Essential of Formula 707. He really liked it, but it was hard to administer to each bull. He approached Melanie Luark with Formula 707 with suggestions, and she asked for his help in making a bucking bull product. They combined the Performance Essential with other ingredients, and Wyatt is pleased with the result. “It really, really, really works good. I wouldn’t feed my bulls anything else. I won’t take my bulls off 707. Formula 707 bends over backwards to help me out.”

    Wyatt graduated from high school in May of 2013, and his future is in his bucking bulls. He has a herd of 50 cows and 25 bulls, and The Rocker has a set of coming two year olds who look really good, with a chance for one of them to go to futurities next summer.  He also owns The Rocker’s sire and a brother who is “possibly as good as (The Rocker) is.” He plans on turning The Rocker out on more cows next year, and hauling him to more PBR events. And whatever happens with his business, Wyatt is ready for it. “If you do something, you have to give it 100 percent, or there’s no sense in doing it.”

    Formula 707 is one of Wyatt’s sponsors, as is Estes Park Feed Store, Greeley Hat Works, and Knobbs Chiropractic. Wyatt’s parents are Robert and Missy Crowder, and his younger sister, Peyton, also owns some bucking bulls.

  • Mandy Bari

    Mandy Bari

    Mandy Bari rides a horse with a disability, but the horse has no idea that he is at a disadvantage. Her ten year old barrel horse, Forest (named after the character in the movie “Forest Gump”), is blind in one eye. Forest, whose registered name is Forest Firewater, was born ten years ago, after his dam carried him for twelve months. When he was born, his front legs wouldn’t straighten out, so he wore braces.

    As a four year old, Mandy made the Barrel Futurities of America Finals in Oklahoma City on him. When he was seven, he developed an irritation in the eye. In the process of doctoring it over a month and a half period, he scratched it while rubbing it, and an ulcer developed. The veterinarian treated the ulcer for another three weeks, but it never improved. Forest was in so much pain, that the vet advised Mandy that the eye should be removed. Mandy agreed, and Forest’s right eye was removed. Two days later, Mandy brought him home. “He was fine, he was running and playing and had no pain.”

    And Forest has no idea that he only has his left eye. As he runs the barrel pattern, he loses sight of the first barrel, but rarely knocks it over. “He runs exactly the same as if (the eye) was in there,” Mandy says. “He runs normal to me.” And the loss of the eye hasn’t changed his temperament, either. “Most horses I know that have lost an eye are skittish and you have to be careful around them. But not him. My little girl is around him all the time, and he knows right where you’re at.” Mandy speculates that the loss of his sight in the eye was gradual, so Forest never realized his vision was gone.

    Mandy has competed on Forest at three of the ten Arkansas Cowboys Association Finals Rodeos for which she has qualified. She rode him in 2010 at the Finals, just four days after his eye had been removed. In 2011, she was second in the average on him, and in 2012, she won the average.

    The Arkansas Cowboys Association member has lived in Jonesboro, Ark. her entire life. Before she had Forest, she grew up on a little gray mare, Dolly. “Everybody in the state remembers ol’ Dolly,” Mandy says. She went to the ACA Finals on Dolly three times, and after Dolly, she rode a bay mare named Hazel, who also carried her to the Finals.

    Mandy is a graduate of Westside High School in Jonesboro and Arkansas State University, where she graduated with a degree in animal science. She worked as a secretary for a construction company and as a vet tech, until May of 2012, when she had her daughter, Laura Mae. Now she is a stay at home mom.

    She and her husband Chuck married in 1999. Chuck has never competed in rodeo but loves it, “more than I do,” Mandy says. He goes with her and helps get Forest ready. This year, he’s helped babysit Laura Mae while Mandy runs. He also drives tractor to do the groundwork at some of the big barrel races, including the Lucky Dog Barrel Races.

    Mandy also competes in the International Pro Rodeo Association, the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association, and in 4Ds. Laura Mae travels with her mom and dad, unless it’s going to be a late night, and then she stays with her grandma. Mandy’s dad and brother, Randy and Cody Emerson, are also ACA members.

  • Tina Deshotels

    Tina Deshotels

    Tina Deshotels is a barrel racer in the Louisiana High School Rodeo Association. The eighteen year old cowgirl, who lives in Mamou, La., is in her third year of high school rodeo.

    She rides a thirteen year old bay gelding named Dennis the Menace, whose name fits him well. “He’s very high maintenance,” Tina says. “We make plenty of trips to the vet, chiropractor, and the dentist.” Menace, as he is nicknamed, also loves company. “He’s very much a people horse,” she says. “He’s very cuddly and in everybody’s business. He’s always hanging around.”

    The senior in high school is homeschooled, and dispels the rumor that home schooling is easy. “You don’t get to do it in your pajamas like everybody thinks.” The best part of homeschooling is that she can finish early and ride. The worst part of homeschooling is the self-discipline, “to sit down and do your work.” But being self-disciplined is beneficial, she believes. Homeschool, she believes, also helps a person mature faster. “You learn a lot more around your parents than you do in school.” She’s learned how to change a blown-out tire, for example. “You learn to grow up a little bit more. You have to be mature about it.”

    In school, her favorite subject is math, and she has enjoyed Bible class, where the class has studied not just the Bible but personal finance. When her school day is over, Tina rides and works for her dad. Her dad has a real estate business and a septic tank business, so she answers the phone, does computer work, writes receipts, and runs errands.

    Her earnings go towards payments on the Hummer H3 that she bought last summer. Even though the Hummer is new to her, she’s thinking about replacing it with a truck. The Hummer “isn’t too good on gas, not at all,” she admits, and the truck would be useful for hauling her horse.

    Tina has two older brothers, Alec, 26, and Robbie, 24, and an older sister, Valli, who is 21. She also has two nephews, Eli and Cy, who are both two years old, and love their Aunt Tina, or “Nana,” as they call her. She loves to play with them and read books to them.

    After high school, she hopes to attend college and major in a business related field. She may not college rodeo but will focus on her studies. Tina will compete in local open barrel racings, and someday, wants to join the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association to rodeo professionally. She is the daughter of Luke and Jonell Deshotels.

  • Krista Romero

    Krista Romero

    Krista Romero’s family loves it when she’s baking in the kitchen. The thirteen year old cowgirl’s specialties are cakes, cookies, and cupcakes, especially red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Everybody in her family loves her red velvet cupcakes, and sometimes she even decorates them with sprinkles or pretty patterns cut out of fondue.

    The Church Point, La. cowgirl competes in the Louisiana Junior High Rodeo Association as a barrel racer and pole bender, with barrels being her favorite event.She rides the same horse for both events, an eleven year old named Pete. Pete is really good, but really smart, and he can be a troublemaker. He sometimes gives her problems in the alleyway. At home, when she goes to catch him, he runs away. “But he still takes care of me,” she says.

    She is an eighth grade student at Richard Elementary in Church Point, and she loves the teachers at the school, who are always willing to help her out. But her favorite teacher is Miss Comeaux, her seventh grade English teacher, because “she always said how good her students are, and she encouraged us to do better in school, and she helped me a lot, too.” Krista still has her for enrichment classes at the end of the day.

    She likes to read mystery books and is currently reading “Close to Famous.” It’s about a girl who loves to bake and wants to become famous through her baking. She is a 4-H participant and plays volleyball. Krista’s mom helps her with her baking, and even though she doesn’t do much cooking yet, she enjoys her favorite meal her mom makes: chicken fettuccine. The family has two pet dogs: Max, a Shih Tzu, and Cookie, who is part rat terrier and part Shih Tzu. Cookie claims Krista as “her person,” and sleeps with her every night. She doesn’t hog the bed, but she sure hogs the pillow.

    Krista also competes in the National Barrel Horse Association, where she has qualified for the World NBHA Show two years, and has also qualified for July of this year. She qualified for the junior high state finals last summer. When she was younger, she competed in the Acadiana Youth Rodeo Association, where she’s won several buckles. When she grows up, she’d like to be a veterinarian. Her favorite animals are horses. She is the daughter of Rickey and Christy Romero.

  • Michal Robertson

    Michal Robertson

    Michal Robertson is a barrel racer and pole bender in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association. The 18 year old cowgirl lives in Garden Plain, Kan., just outside Wichita, and loves barrels more than any other event. “Chasing cans is pretty fun,” she says.

    Her barrel horse is a ten year old named Ty. He started his rodeo career as a heading horse for Michal’s dad, but Michal and her dad realized that Ty was pretty athletic and they should give him a try on barrels. So Ty went to a trainer, came back, and “he’s pretty darn good,” she says. Michal has purchased him from her dad and is making payments on him, but her dad still uses the horse occasionally for team ropings.

    Michal’s pole horse is a 19 year old sorrel named Buddy who is new to her. He was going to be her main barrel horse, but she realized “he’s a smoking good pole horse.” This is Michal’s first year to run poles, so it’s a learning experience for her, even though Buddy has run poles for years. “It’s definitely a work in progress,” she says. Buddy is not very understanding, she jokes. “He’s like, ‘what are you doing?’ He gets really impatient.”

    Michal is a senior at Garden Plain High School, where she is taking five online college classes. In her marketing management class, she is head of the marketing team for the school’s café, “The Nest.” Students bake cookies, popcorn chicken, nachos, and corn dogs, and make slushies and coffee and sell them to their classmates during the day. The class is in charge of the café’s finances, purchases, and marketing, and they gain business experience through the class. “I love it,” she says.

    She is a member of the gifted program, is on the honor roll, and is a member of the Farm Credit Academic Team for the Kansas High School Rodeo Association. She is the event director for the tie-down roping.

    Her unusual name is pronounced “Michael,” and comes from the Bible. David’s first wife was named Michal, and her mom and dad thought it flowed well with her older sister’s name, Morgan. She’s thankful her last name is easy to pronounce. Announcers struggle with “Michal.” “When they have this dramatic pause before they say my (first) name, and then they say Robertson, I know it’s me,” she laughs.

    After high school, Michal plans to attend junior college, compete in collegiate rodeo, and then go on to finish her bachelor’s at a four year college. She’d like to get her Women’s Pro Rodeo Association card. She has a five year old horse coming who is doing very well in the barrels. “She’s very, very good,” she says. “She’s green. We’re taking it easy so I can run her in a couple years, so she is sound, and sound-minded.” For the last two years, Michal has finished in the top fifteen at the state level in the barrels.

    Her older sister, Morgan, is 25 and played basketball at La Salle University in Philadelphia and pro ball in Europe. She is the daughter of Bill and Lita Robertson.

  • Haylee Naylor

    Haylee Naylor

    Haylee Naylor is a contestant in the Kansas Junior High Rodeo Association. The thirteen year old cowgirl competes in the pole bending, barrel racing, goat tying, and is a runner for Cade Pearson in the ribbon roping.

    Of all her events, pole bending is her favorite, in part because of her horse, Lacy. “We just seem to be in sync, and we get along really good,” Haylee says. Lacy, who is a 24 year old sorrel, is also her goat tying horse and was ridden by Haylee’s aunt in high school and college rodeo. Because of her age, Haylee will probably retire her after this year of rodeo. Lacy is very calm, and even follows Haylee without a lead rope.

    For the barrel racing, she rides a sixteen year old horse named Demmy who is new to the family. Both of her horses are spoiled; Haylee loves spending money on them and makes sure their tack is color-coordinated (pink zebra). They have rhinestone headstalls, pink boots, pink blankets, and zebra fly masks. “They’re pretty girlie.”

    Haylee is an eighth grade student at Olpe Junior High School, and she loves sports and hanging out with her friends. The best part of the school day is the practices at the end of the day, and the worst part is math class. Her favorite teacher is Mr. Robert, her science teacher.

    She is a cheerleader and plays volleyball and basketball. This year her volleyball team went undefeated. She also participates in 4-H, where she showed two steers (named Willie and Si), and pigs, which she chooses not to name because she doesn’t want to get  too attached to them. Her theme for this year’s fair was Duck Dynasty: her show box and name tags were all camouflage, and her friend’s steers, who were next door to hers, were named Jase and Jep. Willie won Haylee some premium money, and Si became the family’s beef for the freezer.

    Haylee also competes in local Show-deos in Olpe and in the winter series for the Heartland Youth Rodeo Association. Over her rodeo career, she’s won money and 26 buckles. All of her earnings go into savings or to her mom, “so my mom doesn’t have to pay for so much.” When she grows up, she’d like to be a sonogram technician and work in the medical field, like her mom.

    She has a younger brother, Logan, who is six years old. Haylee is teaching him how to ride, and is proud that he has already won money and buckles. She is the daughter of Cassie Naylor, and credits her mom’s boyfriend, Rope Hammond, with helping her out.

  • Jill Oatman

    Jill Oatman

    Jill Oatman is one busy girl.The eighteen year old cowgirl successfully juggles a strong academic schedule, extracurricular activities, a job, and participation in the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association.

    She competes in the goat tying, breakaway roping, and team roping (heading for Lindy Woita of Atkinson), and is having her best year of high school rodeo. “It didn’t start clicking till this year,” she said. “This year, I’ve made a lot of accomplishments. I’ve set a goal of placing every weekend. I want to make it to state in breakaway and team roping (in addition to goat tying).” (She’s qualified her sophomore and junior years in goat tying.) “Finding what works for you and your horse and your style” is what’s helped her this year, she believes. “I’ve enjoyed it a lot, working my way up to this point.”

    The Broken Bow, Neb. cowgirl is a senior at Broken Bow High School, where her classes include statistics, political behavior, Spanish IV, anatomy, physics, and research writing. Her favorite class is anatomy, because the teacher makes it fun to learn. Statistics class can be boring: “it’s very, very wordy and not in plain terms. It’s a lot of reading but not interesting reading.” Jill didn’t have to take a math class as a senior, but decided she’d take one to gain more knowledge before college.

    She loves to read in her spare time, and finds most of her leisure time in the truck going from rodeo to rodeo. The last book she read for fun was Water for Elephants. She enjoyed the book, and saw the movie. For her extracurricular activities, Jill is in golf, 4-H, FFA (as treasurer), Spanish Club, National Honor Society, Spirit Squad, and Tri-M Honor Music Society. She plays the trumpet in band, and her team roping partner gave her a guitar for her birthday that hasn’t been played yet, but Jill hopes to take lessons some day.

    Every afternoon after school, she makes her way to the Grassland Veterinary Hospital in Broken Bow where she works. Her goal is to be a veterinarian someday, and she plans on attending the University of Nebraska and then going to Iowa State, where she will earn her vet degree.

    For the goat tying and team roping, she rides a 23 year old horse named Quigley who is “golden.” For the breakaway, she rides an eleven year old horse named Joey. She and Joey don’t always see eye to eye: “We’re both really stubborn and set in our ways. We clash a bit.”

    Jill has an older brother, Lance, who competed in high school rodeo and now is a welder for their father’s business, V Bar Trailer Sales. She is the daughter of Kem and Kimberly Oatman.

  • Kellie Wells

    Kellie Wells

    In July, 2013, Kellie Wells assumed the duties as the Arkansas Cowboys Association Rodeo Secretary. There was a lot to do in the next few weeks with the finals only being two and half months away. However, she was no stranger to rodeo and bull riding productions. In 2006, after completing their week long course and testing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she was awarded her Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) secretary card. Just a few months later, she was working marketing for a Professional Bull Riding (PBR) and was approached about working some events as the secretary. A few weeks later, she was flying to Pensacola, Florida, to work her first PBR event and soon thereafter, obtained her PBR secretary card. This was the beginning of her working career for SuperBull Entertainment and the late George Marshall. “Over the past seven years I have worked with numerous events with George and his crew. It was always a great time and there was never a dull moment! I learned so much about rodeo production during these years. I was fortunate to have the opportunities I have had to work in this business and with many different producers including the American Bucking Bull, Inc. (ABBI) and the PBR. I have met many great people and made life-long friends. I have been able to travel all over the United States and been to places I would never would have been able to go to otherwise.”

     Kellie and her husband, Billy, make their home in Bakersfield, Missouri. A small rural community just minutes north of the Arkansas border. Billy rode bulls in the Arkansas Cowboys Association (ACA) in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. After completing his bull riding career, he started team roping. Kellie was competing in barrel racing during this time as well. Billy was working at Cloud 9 Ranch located in Caulfield, Missouri, while Kellie was finishing college. In 1993, Kellie graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work.   They were also busy during this time, raising their two children, Johnny and Taylor. Johnny rode steers for a while and he team roped. However, his interests moved to hunting and fishing. Taylor continued to rodeo and she competed in Little Britches and ACA rodeos in goat tying and Jr. Barrels. This year she was rookie of the year and finished sixth in cowgirl barrels, reserve champion in goats, and third in all-around for cowgirls. “Rodeo is a great way to raise your children. We spent many hours traveling many miles with our kids going to rodeos. There was a lot of talking, singing, joking, and yes even arguing but would not have changed a thing! Rodeo helped them to learn to be responsible, respectful, and to know what you put into something is only what you will get out. Billy and I consider ourselves very successful in that we raised two wonderful children who have morals and values and continue to say yes ma’am and yes sir. They both have respect for others and are so kind hearted. Although Johnny stopped rodeo in his early teens, he wants his little girl Ellie, 4, to have the opportunities to rodeo. She already has a huge love for horse. Billy has worked for Missouri Department of Transportation for 20 years and Kellie is a juvenile officer for the 37th Judicial Circuit of Missouri for 18 ½ years. Billy and Kellie both stopped participating in rodeo while they were raising their children. They are returning to the ACA as contestants this year and are looking forward to team roping together.

    Kellie stated that she is honored to serve as the secretary for the Arkansas Cowboys Association. “I believe the finals was a great success this year and am looking forward to an even better rodeo year in 2014,” she stated.

  • Bill Martinelli

    Bill Martinelli

    Bill Martinelli was born in 1935, in Glendale, California and grew up in Playa del Rey. His dad was a high school football coach and referred pro football games. Bill was the only one of his family to take a liking to rodeo. He began his rodeo career when he was in the seventh grade, riding bucking horses. That auspicious beginning continued into adulthood, with Bill traveling throughout most of the United States.

    He went Cal Poly and took a horse shoeing class – his desire was to rodeo.

    “In 1954, I went to Idaho with Bill Stroud, and rodeo’d all summer up there. In 1955, I went to Denver with John Hawkins on the train. I went to all the winter rodeos, and then started traveling with Alvin Nelson and the Teschers,” he recalled at the 9thAnnual Cowboy Museum Dinner Auction held at the Oakdale Cowboy Museum in Oakdale, Calif., September 16, 2006.

    After spending quite a bit of time in the Dakotas, Bill and his rodeo companions came back to California, where he met up with Jim Charles. Bill and Jim started hauling a bulldogging team for Harley May. Those trips took them to New York, Boston, and then back to San Francisco and the Cow Palace. When they weren’t traveling, they called Harley’s place home, dubbing it the ‘Rodeo Rancho.’

    Like a host of young men, Bill was drafted into the army, and served two years, from 1958 through 1960, with some of that time spent in Korea. After he was discharged, he came back to Oakdale, moving into the Live Oak Hotel with Jim. In those days, a room was 50 cents a day, with a bathroom down the hall. But, it was home. When he returned from the Army, he went right back to rodeoing, He met Kay in 1971 and they were married in 1972. “He was a 37-year-old bachelor,” said Kay. “We had a motorhome and took off rodeoing. My mother thought we lived like gypsies.”

    Bill’s rodeo exploits found him winning numerous awards. Of local notability, he won the all-round title at the Oakdale Rodeo in 1957, with his name being inscribed on the John Bowman trophy. He won the bareback competition at the Los Angeles Coliseum twice, and the bronc riding in Fort Worth. He won at San Antonio twice, and also at Phoenix. Three times, Salinas proved to be no problem, and he went on to add a notch for the Cow Palace to his winner‘s belt. He had five wins at Puyallup, Wash. He also won at Red Bluff, Long Beach, and Inglewood, all California rodeos. “I placed at all the other big rodeos, placing second at most of them.”

    He spent three months riding broncs in Europe for Rodeo Far West, a traveling Wild West show owned by Buster Ivory. The show traveled to Europe by freighter, taking 28 days to get there. When asked if that ocean trip reminded him of his trip to Korea, Bill wryly commented, “No. When I went to Korea, they got us there fast!”

    Over the course of his rodeo career, Bill went to the National Finals eight times, winning the average once, and placing all the other times. When not competing in rodeo, Bill earned a living by shoeing horses and all-around cowboy work, working for various ranchers in the Oakdale area. He also was the Winston Man – driving the Winston scoreboard around to the all PRCA rodeos. That became a family event, with his wife and kids traveling with him.

    When Bill reminisced, he has a twinkle in his eye and a laugh that comes from down deep as he told stories from days gone by. “When he told a story, one led to another,” said Kay.

    Bill is married to the former Kay Peterson. They make their home in Knights Ferry, and have raised four daughters, Mickey, Angie, Megan, and Tasha. They have twelve grandchildren.   Daughter Angie is serving in the United States Army and is stationed in Germany. “She makes her home in Switzerland and we have been there six times,” said Kay.

    Angie loved to rodeo with her dad. “One of my favorite times with dad was in Santa Maria ’96. I was entered in the barrel racing and dad in the gold card team roping. This was the first ever rodeo we had entered and traveled to together. We were both up in slack Saturday morning and Friday night I had gone out and had a pretty good time. I was moving really slow and late that morning and dad beat me to the arena. When I showed up, the barrel racing had already started and I was expecting a lecture, but instead I found my horse fed, saddled, and ready to go. We made a smokin run and placed in the go round. Dad just hugged me and said “nice photo finish”.”

    Bill quit competing in 1978 at the Cow Palace. “You couldn’t keep me away from rodeo. I don’t care if I wasn’t even entered, I was there. I’d watch it. That’s all I ever wanted to do. But when it was all over, it was all over, all done. I remember at the Cow Palace, I had a horse that was mediocre, and I thought, ‘if I ride him pretty well, I’m going to keep riding them, and if I don’t ride very well, I’m going to chuck it’ I was riding him pretty well, just giving it to him, and I thought ‘Well, shoot, I don’t have to quit.’ Then all of a sudden, I looked toward the ground, and I just pulled that rein across his neck and stepped off. And I thought, ‘Well that’s it. I’m supposed to quit riding them.’ And I did, I never got on another one”

    His love of rodeo continued as he took the scoreboard. When that stopped, he started running the side gate for the NFR, a job he did for ten years. “Bill was a good guy to have on the NFR crew as he was entertaining but was serious about his job,” recalled Shawn Davis, Wrangler NFR General Manager, who hired him to work the gate. “He kept everyone uplifted.” He worked his last NFR in 2005. He also went into the ranching and cattle business when his rodeo career ended. Bill suffered a stroke two days after his induction at the Oakdale Cowboy Museum in September of 2006 that left him unable to speak or work. His wife of 42 years, Kay, has been his voice ever since.

    “Dad is an amazing man,” said Angie. “He had mentored so many guys throughout the years. He and mom have always had an open door policy for our rodeo family. We never knew who would be camped out on our lawn. It was a great way to grow up.” When anyone mentions rodeo, Bill still gets a twinkle in his eye and for a brief period, he can focus on his life – and rodeo remains at the top of the list of his accomplishments.

  • Jackie Hobbs

    Jackie Hobbs

    Jackie Hobbs went to Waco with one goal in mind. “To win the All Around at the Finals and win for the year. And I did. There was a good race,” said the . “There were a couple younger girls that don’t have the cautious side that will give you a run for your money.” Jackie has been a member of WPRA for 8 years, getting her rodeo start doing speed events around her home in Illinois. “When I moved to Oklahoma, I went to the junior rodeos and all these kids were roping and that triggered something and I wanted to do it. My mom (Annette Hobbs) helped me a lot.”

    She waited to start competing until she was a sophomore in high school. “I won state my junior year and reserve my senior.” She went to college in Vernon, Texas, on a rodeo scholarship, majoring in business. “I wish I’d have paid a lot more attention, but back then I was busy rodeoing. Like any kid, my first year in college, I stepped into a different rank and I got my butt kicked all over the arena. I worked hard, but the longer scores and different set ups took some time to get used to. But I came back my second year and won the Women’s Team, won the region, and won the nation.” From there, Jackie headed to Stephenville and won the region every year for the next three years. “There’s a combination of talent, try, and people with a great mental game. When you find the combination of all those, that’s when you have your threats.” Jackie has worked hard in all three areas.

    Jackie put all three together at the 2013 WPRA Finals, taking the All Around title as well as the World Champion Tie Down Roper. She won second in the average heading and fourth in heeling. “There was a good spread in the breakaway and it came down the last round; Jackie was second high call behind Whitney DeSalvo. “I needed to win the round and win the average to win the world. She knocked me out by tieing me for that round and I lost by $90. I try not to be a bad losing. You can take things and learn from losing or you can throw a fit and have a bad attitude. Either way it doesn’t change it.”

    Jackie finds being a girl in a guys’ industry “unbelievably hard. In the horse business, and the training business, you have to be pretty thick skinned.” She quit training outside horses this year, choosing instead to put on clinics. “I’ve gone all over the nation putting on 13 clinics this year,” she said.

    She is about to make a few more changes in her life with her recent engagement to NFR Qualifier Charly Crawford. “We actually went on our first dates at Vegas last year during Finals. I rope in the World Series out there. We were acquaintances – the first time I met him I was dating one of his friends – this has been a few years back. When I go to Vegas I dress up – people don’t recognize me. He thought I was a buckle bunny and the next several times he saw me all he could do is apologize.”

    The two have become involved in some horse deals and Jackie planned some of her clinics around his rodeo schedule. Their plans for a wedding include the idea of Vegas this year followed by a reception after the Finals is over at their place in Stephenville. “ We are trying to put together a facility that has arenas that can cross over as my calf arena and for him to practice for Vegas. We are also setting it up so we can give clinics.”

    Jackie is hoping to concentrate on my team roping. “Obviously I have a great opportunity to do that.” Charly is a header. “I am getting to the end of my calf roping, but it seems like I haven’t really exhausted my avenues in team roping. That’s something I haven’t really done yet and I want to. The most challenging thing I’ve ever done is be the same number as a header and heeler.” She wants to build her arsenal of horses to be interchangeable. “I’ve got four right now of the best horses I’ve ever had. Between me and Charly we have between 10 and 15. I’m looking to get away from the pure cutting horses. I want the running blood crossed with some cow blood. That’s extremely hard to find.”