Rodeo Life

Author: Siri Stevens

  • 2022 PRCA Vet of the Year: Gregg Veneklasen

    2022 PRCA Vet of the Year: Gregg Veneklasen

    There are many royal bloodline mares living at Timber Creek Veterinary in Canyon, Texas. And thanks to the work of Dr. Gregg Veneklasen, great geldings like Harry Vold’s Bobby Joe, have been cloned. Match that gelding daddy to the eggs of the amazing royalty of mares and the resulting embryos are producing horses truly born to buck.

    Gregg, or Dr. Rodeo, Veneklasen received his DVM from Colorado State University in 1983 and headed to Texas on a bet by one of his teachers. “They needed a vet at the 3 Bar D ranch in Canadian, Texas,” he explained. “I didn’t even know where that was. I wanted to be a wildlife vet.”
    Glenn Blodgett was the veterinarian for 3 Bar D ranch and his lifelong dream was to go to the 6666s. “He hired me to be the vet on the ranch. He stayed with me for six weeks.” Dan and Jolene Urschel, owners of 3 Bar D, were looking for a veterinarian and that first year, Gregg (who had never foaled out a mare) foaled out over 200 mares. He bred over 250 mares the first year. “I bred all the living world champion race mares that first year.” He also did all the racetrack lameness on the ranch. They had just syndicated Special Effort for 15 million. “I was a little guy from Colorado State University and Dan and Jolene took very good care of me. It was a ‘deer in headlight’ feeling.
    “Little did I know that the good Lord was showing me my journey. You can have lots of stuff and still have nothing.” He left 3 Bar D and spent two breeding seasons with Joe Kirk Fulton. “Between those two jobs, I met my wife, Peggy. She had worked with me at 3 Bar D and we decided to do this thing together. She had a daughter, Jennifer, and I adopted her.” They had three more children, Carolyn, Andrew, and LG – Little Gregg, all born and raised in Canyon, Texas. “A classmate, Jeff Young, and I came back to Canyon and leased this clinic (Timber Creek Veterinary).” They bought the clinic in 1993. “We were truly a rural mix practice, trying to make it work.”
    That’s when he met Brenda (Binion) Michael. “She had a great cutting horse and was tired of going to Weatherford from Amarillo for all her vet work, and I told her we could do it, including embryos.”
    Brenda and her daughter, Mindy, and son-in-law, 4x World Champion Saddle Bronc rider, Clint Johnson, introduced Gregg to rodeo. “I was never really ate up about rodeo until her. Brenda and I went to every rodeo there was and pretty soon I was hooked – she always put me in the front row with Clint and Mindy. I would not be where I am today without Brenda Michael. She introduced me to Clint and Mindy Johnson, who have been my dearest friends for 30 years. I have done this because of Brenda.”
    Gregg became proficient at diagnosing lameness issues with the timed event horses as well and helped a lot of the NFR contestants along the way with their horses. His clinic continued to expand in the cutting and cow horse world with the arrival of Metallic Cat. “In 2008, Alvin and Becky Fults brought him to me.” He’s the all-time leading working cow horse sire at $5 million and approaching $60 million in progency earnings as a cutting sire.
    What Gregg enjoys is genetics and he has devoted quite a bit of time to the bucking horse pedigrees. “We were all taught that bucking horses were wild animals that bucked. I thought geez – I’d been involved with all these great running horses, and all of a sudden, we were doing bucking horses also.” Clint would point out great bucking horses and say ‘his mother did that, or his brother did that.’ “Genetics is powerful. The stock contractors believe that and that’s why they are here. I didn’t pioneer this – people like Winston Bruce and Harry Vold get the credit. We are all taught about pedigree, but the end of the story is about conformation and all the things involved in bucking – pedigree doesn’t equal genotype.” Pedigree, DNA, and Genotype will be explained in a future issue of Rodeo News
    “I had a really nice mare I wanted to do an embryo transfer,” explained Clint Johnson about meeting Gregg. “He was the only one doing that kind of work around here. Gregg likes people a lot, but he is passionate about horses. He’s a workaholic; veterinary work is his life. He’s either doing it or thinking about doing it.
    “He’s a progressive thinker, super intelligent and well read,” continued Clint. “He’s got a large network of professionals he draws from and gives of his own experience freely. He’s not trying to hoard his knowledge. He’s outside of the book by now.”

    Cloning
    “Every time a veterinarian gets bored, something gets thrown in your lap,” Gregg said with a laugh. “I didn’t know you could clone a horse. This was 19 years ago.” Royal Blue Boon, the first commercially cloned horse, has lived at the clinic all of his 18 years. “I met a guy named Jason Abraham in Canadian, Texas, in 1984, and we became dear friends, we went down to Austin and met with ViaGen and we ended up foaling out clones for them. We foaled out Adolfo Cambiaso’s cloned polo horses. We foaled out a lot of clones of all the Gold Medal jumping horses – we even foaled out Pablo Excabar’s Paso Fino horse. Blake Russell, Shawn Walker, Jason and I were quite a team and still are.”
    “The first bucking horse that we know of that was cloned was Air Wolf in 2009,” said Clint. “Go Wild came in 2010. Winston had given me the horse after he retired. He was around 33 years old. It was a project that ViaGen and Gregg did – my part was I had the original horse. Winston felt like it would be an excellent horse to clone. So ViaGen cloned the horse and I ran the recipient mares and colts, weaned them and handled them.”
    Gregg’s company, Timber Creek, and ViaGen cloned Bobby Joe Skoal, PRCA World Champion Saddle Bronc 1991-1993 and 1991 NFR Champion Saddle Bronc. “That’s how I met Harry Vold,” said Gregg. Bobby Joe Skoal was bred on the Tooke Ranch and born on the Vold Ranch. “I got to be with Harry the last part of his life. I would never have met Harry if not for cloning. Harry came every month for two or three years and he told me story after story and he was very serious. When Bobby was born, Harry cried. He said, ‘That’s him – he’s back.’ Painted valley, Lunatic Fringe, Tiger Warrior – they all came through here and the people that came with them were teaching me.”
    Gregg gives a lot of credit for his success to his family and the staff at the clinic. “It’s a bunch of 25-year-old women, two of my kids, and Petey,” he says, of the staff at Timber Creek. “We do stuff nobody does. My world is amazing, and you can hardly wait for the next day. These embryos are going to buck and it’s going to be fun.
    “I don’t know where I’m going but every day is a journey. I’ve got a lot to prove with the bucking industry. Selecting of traits is far more important than looking at pedigree. There’s nobody having more fun than I am.” Bucking horse embryos make up only 10% of what the clinic does, but horses in general are Gregg’s passion. “I just love horses. I walk through the barns at night talking to them.”
    Gregg will be recognized at the PRCA Awards Banquet at the South Point Hotel, Casino, and Spa in Las Vegas on Nov. 30.

  • American Hats Presents Stan Redding

    American Hats Presents Stan Redding

    “The day to day philosophy of this company is what keeps me here. They truly look at every one that works here as family and there’s not much of that left today.”

    Stan Redding was raised in Winnsboro Texas. “When I was a kid in grade school the population was 3,000. It hasn’t changed.” As a small-town kid, he played little league baseball and all the sports. “My father was in the grocery business, he had three in three different towns. He showed cutting horses and AQHA halter horses.” Stan would ride his horse to baseball practice.
    He went to college at Texas A&M, College Station, working on a degree in animal science and business. “I saw what my buddies were making when they graduated and I found a run-down convenience store and a bank to loan me the money and at 21 years of age, I was a business owner. Until I was in my early 30s, I never had a job. I had every kind of business – convenience store, pawn shop, Gulf gas distribution, a used car lot.” He juggled several of them at the same time as well as trading and selling cutting horses. His first real job came through Cavender’s. “James Cavender, Sr. talked me into coming to Longview Texas and manage that store. I stayed there six months, and he sent me to be the manager in Hurst Texas, the largest store in the chain. I was there for four years – I learned the retail side of western wear.” Stan did all the hat buying for Cavender’s and Resistol (Hatco) hired him as a sales rep in California. He managed that territory for five years. “I had three kids born in California, and I didn’t want to raise them there. I wanted to go back to Texas, but I couldn’t match the money.”
    He moved his family back to Texas and went to work for Vogt Silversmiths as their rep in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Susan and Keith Maddox called him and shared the good news that they bought American Hat company and wanted Stan to help them. He worked as a consultant for American Hat, selling hats along with Vogt in his territory. Stan was approached again by Hatco to join management as Vice President of Sales and Marketing in Garland, Texas. He accepted the position and remained there for almost ten years. In 2010 Hatco underwent an acquisition of which Stan was a key component. “I was promoted to President at that time. I implemented strategic processes to improve profitability.” He accomplished that goal and others, retiring in January 2014.

    “My plan was to enjoy ranch life,” he said. He was called by Keith Maddox within two weeks of his retirement. Stan wanted to take at least a year off and try ranch life. “I’m very blessed that my youngest son, Rhett, and daughter-in-law built a house on the ranch, and he takes care of a lot of it. He does the cattle side and I do the horse side.” The twenty-year friendship between Keith Maddox, Keith Mundee, and Stan lasted the time of Stan’s year long retirement. To the day, his phone rang again, and this time Stan came back on board. “I’d had a year break from the corporate world. I recharged my battery. But the big thing that made me go back is the family. I had a real comfort zone with Keith and the crew at American hat. His whole deal is quality of life. Keith Maddox always said, ‘bigger is not better, better is better.’ The business plan hasn’t changed.”
    He came back with some conditions. “As long as it’s exciting for me and I love it, I’ll stay. One year turned into 7.” The other condition was that spending time with his family and on his ranch in Winnsboro came first. “We bought a ranch when we moved back from California (2002). I used to ride my Shetland pony on when I was a kid.” The ranch wasn’t on the market, but all the locals knew it was for sale. “My dad told me about it. I called one of the sons and was told their sister wouldn’t sell to just anyone. All the linens were still in the closets. His sister was there when we looked at the ranch, and I told them my history and they sold it to us.”
    Stan and his wife Kimberly have a total of 9 children and 11 grandchildren.
    Kimberly created a brand of women’s apparel that has continued to catch the eye of the western world. R Cinco Ranch was created in 2014 and its tag line “It’s not just a brand, it’s a lifestyle,” has steam rolled. Kimberly’s background in women’s apparel was fashioned out of necessity. When her youngest son was diagnosed with cancer, her career as an accountant ended. She soon put her eye for design and her crafty talent to work and created a tie-dye and rhinestone T-shirt line that landed in Dillard’s. Two Mud Pies gave Kimberly a look into the fashion business. In 2014, she and Stan put their talents and years of experience together and launched R Cinco Ranch, named after the ranch. She has concentrated her efforts on American made clothing, made on the ranch. She has an exclusive line with Forrie Smith, Lloyd on Yellowstone, to create T-shirts. She also has one-of-a kind purses made in Oklahoma. “T-shirts are huge – we can do up to 400 shirts per show – and we do all the work at the ranch.” The wholesale side got way big too fast and something had to go. “It wasn’t going to be my family, so we downsized and now it’s something I can do and still be available for the family and support Stan.”
    Stan has no end date. “I love the industry, the people, and the business. For the past 18 years, I’ve had an opportunity to work for a company of powerhouse brands (American Hat, Vogt, and Hatco).

  • On The Trail with Erin Johnson

    On The Trail with Erin Johnson

    Erin Johnson has always believed in being consistent over the long haul. That consistency has brought the 42-year-old mother of three to the NFBR three years in a row. Erin is going into the NFBR finals in second place. She went in last year in third place and the first year breakaway was offered during the NFR, she was 15th.

    Erin was the first one to ever leave the box for a NFBR event. “By the time I got there, all the excitement took over the nerves. What helped with the nerves was the opportunity to be the very first one – the first girl to rope at the NFR Breakaway Finals – I wrote my name in the history books that day.”

    That first finals fell on the heels of Covid, when most of the rodeos were canceled. “That summer I enjoyed staying home,” she admits. “When you do something for so long, you feel like you have to do it.” Towards the end of that summer her husband, Darnell, entered some circuit rodeos and Erin tagged along. Before too long, her world standing went from 54th to 17th and after discussing it with Darnell, she hit the road. “I’d never gotten to do that before – I went all over the Northwest to the ones they had. We drove a lot of miles to go to very few rodeos.” Her success spurred her on and before she knew it, she was heading to Arlington. “I stumbled into it, that’s for sure.”

    Erin grew up north of Burlington, Colorado on the Republican River. She was a “ranch kid,” and spent her time showing horses and cattle in 4-H. Erin and her family team roped for fun, and she dabbled in all the events at the local gymkhanas, but never competed in high school rodeo. When her parents divorced, she moved to La Junta, Colorado with her mom, graduating from Swink High School in 1998.

    It was in college that the rodeo bug bit. She took her horses with her to Chadron (Neb.) State College, and the kids on the team talked her into college rodeo. She began breakaway roping, and “I really had a lot of fun. I didn’t have a lot of success, but I had enough to keep me hooked. That’s what got the bug started,” Erin remembers. After a year in Chadron, Erin transferred to the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo (now Colorado State University-Pueblo.) She continued to compete in college rodeo, earning an accounting degree in 2004.

    During her college summers, and after college, Erin continued to compete. She became a member of the Colorado Pro Rodeo Association in 2000 but didn’t win a check until the final rodeo that year. As other kids had learned the ropes when they were young, Erin spent her college rodeo career learning the mental aspect of rodeo. In the CPRA, she was intimidated by the women who roped well. “I was still on a learning curve,” she says.

    In 2001, her second year of CPRA rodeo, she made the finals. Her learning was advancing. “It was gradual. I was gradually learning how to win, and gaining the confidence to win.” She won her first CPRA breakaway year end Championship in 2003.

    In 2003, at a U.S. Calf Roping Association event, she ran into another roper, a young man named Darnell Johnson. Erin knew him from college rodeo, but he was just an acquaintance. They got to be friends, and, when she told him she was looking for another breakaway horse, he helped out. “That gave him an excuse to call,” she laughs.

    After dating for three years, they married in October of 2007. Darnell, a tie-down roper, moved to her home near Pueblo, and he added a barn, corrals, and arena to the place. Erin, who worked in accounting for several years, focuses her time now on her roping and her family. In addition to the CPRA, Erin competed in the Wyoming Rodeo Association, the New Mexico Rodeo Association, and occasionally ventured into Texas for their rodeos.

    She has qualified for nearly every CPRA Finals in the last 20 years, winning the breakaway title in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021. She won the breakaway roping title in the WRA in 2005 and 2006 and in the NMRA in 2003 and 2005. In 2007, she began competition in the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association, mainly at their co-sanctioned events in the CPRA. She qualified for her first WPRA Finals in 2007, and has won the WPRA Breakaway Roping World Championship in 2011, 2012, and 2015.

    Being consistent is important to Erin. “Rodeo is one big average roping over the course of the year. Whoever ropes the most calves the best is going to win.” She sets goals in her mind every year, and if she doesn’t reach them, “it makes you tougher the next year.”

    She and Darnell were blessed in February of 2011 with a little cowboy, Denton. He’s playing football, baseball, and is wrestling. They have two daughters, Evin, 8; and Annie, 6. “It’s not easy,” she admits about leaving the family for the rodeo road. “I don’t know how long I can sustain it – this year was harder than last year. Seeing all the big cool rodeos that I never got to see carried me – but now my kids are loving horses and riding. They have little gymkhana horses, and they will soon become the priority.” Erin missed several of Denton’s games this season and has found greater enjoyment in being part of the little farm than part of the rodeo trail. “I don’t like missing any of it.. I want to help the kids excel.” Now her goals are more “one day at a time – We have a little farm and a lot of animals; it would be nearly impossible to go down the road all the time as a family and I’m not willing to sacrifice where we are and our lifestyle.” She is quick to recognize that her parents were crucial in her rodeo career. “Both my parents are extremely supportive. My mom (Gail Downey) has supported me in every way in order for me to get started and learn, and my dad (John Homm) encouraged me and raised and gave me a lot of the horses I’ve won on.” She credits Darnell with her accomplishments. “If I didn’t have his support, encouragement and advice, my roping wouldn’t be where it is today. I’m ready to help my kids the same way. I am content with the accomplishments that I have, and my goals have changed. I’m going to play it one day at a time.”

    Erin has spent her time preparing for the NFR by roping and practicing on her young horses. “I’ve also taken a break from the whole scene which has been good for my mind. I’ve been sitting on a swather and helping Darnell catch up and I love it. It’s fun to spend time in the arena together as a family – there’s no pressure and that’s my preparation – remembering we do this because we enjoy it and it’s not all about winning.”

    She will compete at the Mountain States Circuit Finals and then head to Waco for the WPRA Finals. “We are going to rope through the NFR calves. Then I can come home and gear my practice and preparation based on what it’s going to be.”

    Erin and her family from a little ranch in eastern Colorado have etched out part of rodeo history by paving the way for breakaway ropers to rope for more money. “I’ve been learning as I go,” she admits. “You have to approach it humbly and say thank you, no matter what happens.”

  • American Hat Presents Tuf Cooper

    American Hat Presents Tuf Cooper

    Tuf Cooper has been an American Hat endorsee for years. “American Hat believed in me since day one. Just to be part of the legacy and be able to represent Keith Maddox and for them to believe in me was huge. It’s easy for me to ride for their brand; our values line up and that’s what makes the brand. None of this happens without Keith Mundee and when they brought Stan Redding on board, they had the team.”

    Tuf Cooper is turning his attention from his rope to his wife, Tiffany, and daughter, Tru Fashion, born Sept. 20. “Being a dad is second to none,” said the 32-year-old from his home in Decatur, Texas. “I went to 40 rodeos this year – and I’ve been able to be home more. It’s been amazing to experience the growth of your child and pray continually for her.” Tuf has been practicing for the role with his 20 or so nieces and nephews.
    The 13x NFR qualifier is heading back to the Thomas & Mack this December. “This is a very competitive awesome sport that we play. To do it at this level, you need a very big team, that goes with sponsors and supporters of your team. Your sponsors help make this lifestyle as awesome as it is.” Tuf admits when he gets home, he doesn’t want to leave. He also realizes that he still has goals to strive for in rodeo. “God has put me here to do and be my best – Covid has taught me that there’s a balance.” Tuf and Tiff are hoping to be able to get a bus and take their daughter on the road with them starting next spring.
    In the meantime, Tuf is practicing at home with his team and making it work. “I’ve had a few rough spots in my life and I feel I had to go to those places to learn that God is a part of each and every thing – His love is in our hearts and as long as I’m getting out of my own way, I’m at my best. It’s a hard lesson to learn.”
    “Roping has been a job for me since I was 14 years old,” he said. Tuf won his first All Around title at the age of 6. “I made a living with it for twelve years before I fell off for a year (2016) – I’d practice maybe for a day before going to a rodeo. I had to figure this thing out.” He came back in 2017 and won the All Around. Then he admits, “I got too big for my britches. But it led me here so I’m thankful. It’s all I knew and all I saw, that’s what’s fun. I still get to go back and relive this a little bit and get another chance to do it differently. I was trying to be my best, but my heart wasn’t fully there. There was too much on my mind to be in any one spot at any one time. I realize that to be my best, I must be grounded and that’s a daily work.
    Tuf saw his new look on life come to life in Castle Rock, Colo., during a summer rodeo. “I was by my trailer and these kids were roping the dummy and they asked me to come rope with them. One of their parents walked up and realized that it was me (a world champion) and the little kids decided I was their best friend. God wants us to take what he has in our hearts and just like a child, come to him, and enjoy His love.”
    “I’m so thankful being in the western community and given this opportunity – God is here in this western way of life.”

  • 5 Star Champion: Mike & Sherrylynn Johnson

    5 Star Champion: Mike & Sherrylynn Johnson

    “5 Star has been part of Mike and Sherrylynn Johnson’s team for 10 years. “The Moore family built their life around rodeo and passing their knowledge on to others,” said Sherrylynn. “What they do for kids everywhere is amazing. Without what they do for the kids we couldn’t do what we do. One of the visions for 5 Star and our event is to see their grandchildren compete in this event. They’ve been with us forever from our clinics to the beginning of the event on. They are a family run business that knows what’s going on … they are from the heart and really understand it.”

    Sherrylynn is talking about Vegas Tuffest, which started out fouryears ago with Mike’s vision. “He wanted to give back to the kids from what we’ve accomplished, and we wanted them to run at the most money possible. He created it and I’m part of the package,” she said. “We built it into a million dollar event for the kids .. not including the prizes – two trucks and two trailers, electric bikes, saddles, pads, boots, and a whole bunch of other product.” Mike and his traveling partner, best friend, and wife, Sherrylynn agree that Vegas Tuffest is exactly what they envisioned and more.
    “We have put the qualifiers in states like Indiana and North Dakota, and in the states where the kids can get that opportunity to run in this – it makes them grow and gives them a stage to be on that they’ve never been on.”
    “I don’t know any other way of life,” said Mike Johnson, who went straight from high school to the rodeo road in 1982. “I’ve never held a job, I just rodeo. I was an event representative in the PRCA for tie down for four years, but that’s as close to a job as I’ve had.” Born and raised in Henryetta, Okla., he started roping when he was 6 and went to his first rodeo at 10. He had his PRCA card at 18. “Rodeo is what I’ve wanted to do – I have no regrets. You meet a lot of people and go a lot of places.”
    “I think if there was a male me, it would be Mike,” said his wife. “When you’re in a box as much as we are – truck or horse trailer – you’ve got to be best friends – you’re together constantly.” They shared the same common goal that they had and accomplished – to make the Wrangler National Finals. Along the way, they are giving back through our Vegas Tuffest event.
    The couple has built their life around rodeo and passing their knowledge on to others. Mike started doing clinics 30 years ago. “We started helping kids in small groups,” said Sherrylynn. “We don’t have kids, I don’t have patience for young horses, but I do with the kids.” The couple has worked their entire life to do what they are doing now and a large portion of their time is devoted to managing the qualifiers for Vegas Tuffest, held Nov 30-Dec 5, starting with the back number ceremony, at the Expo at World Market Center, Las Vegas.
    Part of the Vegas Tuffest program is set up to help kids get to Vegas. “25% of the 850 kids coming this year are part of that program – they are sponsored through Vegas Tuffest Sponsorship Program. This program partners sponsors with contestants. The Sponsor pays for the contestant, allowing them to have five hotel nights, five nights of a stall, and entry fees paid. Some of those kids that are sponsored win, and then the sponsor gets a chance to win money as well.
    “For some kids, winning at Vegas Tuffest can be life changing – they could win as much as $30,000 per event – that’s life changing.”

  • American Hat Presents Click Thompson

    American Hat Presents Click Thompson

    “My first hat was an American. I’ve always been particular about how I looked and that’s where it started – they are definitely family members at this point for me. They have a great product and have helped me progress and connect with other people.”

    Click Thompson grew up in Virginia. His passion for photography was sparked in high school, and further fueled in college when he went to his first PBR event. “I was hooked,” said the 34-year-old who migrated to Decatur, Texas, in 2019 to further his plan to become a successful Western sports photographer. “I started shooting bull riding and barrel racing. I was working at a theme park and got my first taste of shooting at a monthly event three hours from my house.” Click received his undergrad degree in visual communications from Virginia State University. “It was a mix of communication tools like graphic design and photography,” he explained. He went on to get his Master’s of Fine Arts in photography from Savannah College of Arts and Design while working as a photographer for the Department of Defense. “What you learn what you’re interested in from a bachelor’s degree. The Master’s degree is where you develop your own voice.” He picked Western Sports because of the unique aspect of the photography.
    “Western sports are a reactionary type of photography; I have learned how to be conceptual and intentional in what I shoot,” he explains. With clients ranging from American Hat Company to individual athletes, and projects including catalogs, print and social media creative, and photography, he has etched out a market that allows him to utilize his many talents into various platforms that his clients need for marketing.
    He admits the last three and a half years have been a whirlwind. “Overall, I’ve shot western sports for 11 years. Geographically, moving to Texas was perfect. Fort Worth is the headquarters for all of it. It allowed me to network and meet new people and clients to work with.” Click planned out this future for himself. “When Covid hit, I had to step back, but that allowed me to focus on my profession and process. I am dedicated to my craft and being a professional.” His short-term goal is to continue to give back to the western industry through his work as an artist. However, it’s his work as an instructor that serves as the driving force and foundation for his long-term legacy. Click instructs the next generation of rodeo photographers hosting clinics and workshops nationwide. “That ties back to me being an instructor years ago at Virginia State.”
    For now, it’s on to the next one for this American hat wearing cowboy from Virginia.

  • Pro File: Summer Kosel

    Pro File: Summer Kosel

    Summer Kosel from Glenham, South Dakota, was talked into entering Cheyenne to “experience it just once.” That experience will be with this mother of four for a long time as she and her eight-year-old gelding, Apollo (registered as FireWaterFrenchFame), set the arena record during the qualifying round on July 22. Her time of 17.02 broke the 26-year-old record set by Kristie Peterson and her horse, Bozo. Summer devotes most of her time to her family, helping on the family ranch and stock contracting business, Smokin Guns Rodeo Production. “My husband, Kevin, was a bull rider, and now we put on amateur rodeos in South Dakota and we have a few bulls that we take to PBR events,” she explained. “We ranch for a living and Kevin is a cattle order buyer as well. Our kids compete, so we’re running in one direction or another all the time.
    “I honestly didn’t think the time was that fast,” said Summer about her arena record. “It felt wild to me. Apollo is very broke and touchy- feely; I have to be careful how I ride. He just felt like he was running through me. Apparently, he was just running very hard.”
    “I always say that ‘The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.’” says Summer, quoting Proverbs 21:31 in an interview with Cheyenne Frontier Days. “Most days I’m amazed myself when I come out!” She is currently sitting in the top 30 of the world barrel racing standings and second in the WPRA Badlands Circuit.
    The drive to Cheyenne was a little over nine hours. “My trailer is a stock back instead of slant, so my horses have water and hay strung for them. I check their water when I get fuel. They adjust themselves and move around. They have soft rides and wraps to keep them more comfortable.” She came back and ran three more times in Cheyenne, and left Wyoming with a little over $12,000.
    Summer had no plans to rodeo outside her circuit this year. “I made up my mind that when Apollo started firing again, I’d go to where God sent me. I had no intent on trying to win anything, I was just going to stay in my circuit. I don’t need to hit many circuit rodeos to get into the finals, so I’m going to venture out – I’ll stay around home for a week, and then I’ll go to Billings and Baker, Montana, and some in the Northwest. My kids will be in school, but my friend Kailee Webb, is going with me.”
    Summer is following the gift that God blessed her with – her horse and her ability to ride. “I think He blesses everyone with something, and it’s our job to find that out and use that to bless God. My dad (Tom Anderberg) raised racehorses and he threw me on horses – usually three year old’s straight off the race track. My dad was a firm believer in figure it out and never say you can’t. From a very young age, I had to figure out how to make a horse work, even if it bucked.” Summer was the only girl in a family of four older brothers. “I like going fast – these horses would come to us and the mares went to the brood mare pasture, and the geldings we’d use as ranch horses.”
    She is a little nervous to venture into the Northwest but believes “If something scares you a little bit, then you should do it. It will be tough not being around my family, they are my greatest blessing, and I will never let rodeo become an idol that I am chasing after. I like being a mom. I’m a nobody trying to tell everybody about Jesus, that’s it.”

  • On the Trail With Rayne Grant

    On the Trail With Rayne Grant

    Wheatland, Wyoming, cowgirl, Rayne Grant, took home the 2022 National High School Finals Rodeo All Around title, AQHA horse of the year, pole bending championship as well as reserve world champion in the barrels. “It feels crazy still,” said the 18-year-old. “I remember in junior high looking at all the national champions; those kids seemed so cool to me. Now that I’ve won it, it doesn’t feel any different, I’m still just a normal person.”

    Growing up on a fifth generation ranch south of Wheatland, Rayne is accustomed to roping and riding. She started riding when she was three, and watched her older sister, Allie, and her dad, Mike, compete. Rayne started competing in Colorado Junior Rodeo Association when she was five, entering all the events she could. Rodeo News wrote about her seven years ago. https://mwdatademo1.com/association/meet-the-member-rayne-grant/

    She moved up to Wyoming High School rodeo and also helped her parents put on a weekly team roping jackpot in the summer. Rayne competes in the Colorado Pro Rodeo and the Wyoming Rodeo Association as well as entering futurities with her barrel racing prospects.

    Her barrel racing and pole bending horse, Chily, won the girls AQHA Horse of the Year award at the 2022 NHSFR. VF A famous Lady, has been part of the Grant family for four years. “We were looking for a barrel horse and she was a really nice horse – Chily was 8 and I took her to some races and it went good. A year and a half later, my pole horse got hurt so I entered Chily in the event. Her first time running, she clocked a 20.3 – the fastest time I’ve ever made.” The Grant family all ride Quarter horses. “They are the best – I don’t know why I’d try anything else.”

    Rayne will be a freshman this fall at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo., where she will continue to compete in college rodeo in team roping, breakaway, barrels, and goats. “This region (Central Rocky Mountain) is so tough; I feel like I fit in well here. I’ve been fortunate to go to Arizona in the winters, but I don’t want to go to school there.” She is studying applied management; “to do something with horses. I want to train futurity barrel horses – they are amazing, and I love being in that industry.” She will take five of her quarter horses with her to school; four to compete on and one colt that she will continue to train and futurity on. “I’m confident about going to college and making it all work with the horses and school. My parents have prepared me very well. I am pretty independent, and I’ve taken five or six horses to rodeos all year, so I can handle it.”

    The Grants have been buying, training, and selling Quarter horses for years. “We have one that we raised, but for the most part we buy two or three-year-olds,” explained Rayne. “You are investing in bloodlines, and you find the bloodlines that are winning and you like and go from there. My dad trains more of the head horses and I do more with the breakaway and barrel horses. Mom (Becky), videos and supports us and gets mad when we buy more horses.” Mike still does general ranch work on the family ranch, but he also manages Fox Farm Storage, a company the family has built up. Rayne is quick to be grateful to her parents for providing her with horses all of her life. “I’ve ridden so many – I’ve had four-year-olds since I was 12 and then I’d sell them. It’s what I want to do for a living, train and sell horses. You keep going and better yourself to move up.”

    One of the obstacles Rayne had to overcome at the National High School Finals was three broken vertebrae. “I had a horse fall with me a month ago before Nationals and broke L1, 2, and 3.” Doctors orders as well as the pain made practice for Finals impossible. “I think I went to two jackpots between state Finals and Nationals and I wore a back brace at Nationals. The doctor said I could do what felt ok to me – they told me to take it easy, that’s why I didn’t go anywhere but it didn’t stop me from going to Nationals.”

    She made Nationals all four years of high school. “Nationals is a completely different set up – it’s not like any other rodeo you’ll compete at in the high school level. It’s the top four people from every state and the competition is tough.” One of the advantages that Rayne had was the winters spent in Arizona. “We would head down in November and come back in May. My sister (Allie Eddington) and her husband – he’s a banker in Wheatland – live on the ranch and they stay and take care of everything. We take all the horses – we have three rigs that go down every year.” With this win, Rayne will add three more saddles to her collection of 9 trophy saddles. Rayne’s interest is strictly horses. “I honestly don’t think I could do anything else.”

    For now, Rayne is heading to Cheyenne for college. “I’m excited about college – I’m ready to experience something new, move out and be on my own.” She’s not sure she’s excited about the winter though. “Wyoming will always be home, but I can train horses a lot better in the heat than in the cold. When it’s hot, I can still ride in the early morning – when it’s cold I just can’t get away from it.”
    One thing she is sure of is that she is following her passion. “Do whatever makes you happy and have fun. I think part of myself having this success, is I’ve always wanted to rodeo. It truly makes me happy and I focus on all the positives and have fun. I think people forget to have fun – I love my horses and I want to take care of them, and you do whatever you have to do. It makes winning a lot sweeter.”

  • AQHA Will Jones

    AQHA Will Jones

    Chex Out Tuff, AKA Wilson, took home the honors of AQHA Horse of the Year at the 2022 NHSFR. He is ridden by Will Jones from Allerton, Iowa. Allerton is a small town in southern Iowa, 15 minutes from Missouri border. “It’s real humid,” said Will. “I live on a ranch five miles south of Allerton – my grandfather has 4,000 acres and we have 1,500.” They raise hay, cattle, and horses. “I rope all through the day,” he said. Between he and his brother Cort, they ride around 15 horses a day. “We team rope, calf rope, and train some on the dummy that we haven’t started yet.”
    His dad, Luke, has several cow horses in training and has shared his knowledge of horsemanship and training with his sons. “We are slowly taking over the roping horses when they are younger. I want to train rope horses and pro rodeo when I get older.” Luke started roping when he was 13 – his dad was a carpenter, he had horses, but didn’t do much with them. He competed in high school and college rodeo but found his passion in training and showing Quarter horses after watching the world show one year in Oklahoma City. Will started competing when he was young, graduating from mutton busting to bull riding, as well as roping. “I rode bulls until I was 10; I broke my arm and I was done. My deal with dad was I had to rope along with roughstock, so I stuck to roping.”
    Will is going to be a senior; his two brothers, Cort, 14, and Lane,10, all compete in high school or junior high rodeo. They are home schooled by their mom, Erin, who helps with the horses as well. Cort will compete in all the events and Lane’s rodeos start in a few weeks. Will competes in cutting, team roping, tie-down roping, and reined cow horse. He uses Wilson for reined cow horse and was able to win the AQHA award with just one event. For his accomplishment, Will received a Todd Sloan saddle and a $1,000 check that he will put in savings. “It was really cool to win a saddle at the National High School Finals Rodeo!” Wilson is 7 years old and the family has had him for three years. His mom showed him in Fort Worth during the World’s Greatest Horseman and won the boxing on him. Will goes to AQHA shows with his dad to help but plans to show more in the future. “It’s a great association to be part of.”

  • American Hat Presents: Daylon Swearengen

    American Hat Presents: Daylon Swearengen

    Daylon Swearengen accomplished something he’d dreamed of since 2017 – he was the 2022  PBR World Finals event winner and the 2022 Professional Bull Riders world champion. “I’ve watched videos my whole life and it was a lifelong goal,” said the 22-year-old, who is also the first New York native to be a PBR champion. “My grandma passed away this past year and winning the PBR would have made her happy. It was great having my family with me during the Finals – they were praying for me and pushing me forward.” Daylon up in Piffard, New York, the oldest son of Sam and Carrie Swearingen, former owners of Rawhide Rodeo Company. Daylon and his younger brother, Colton, grew up helping produce rodeos as well as compete in them.

    Rawhide Rodeo put on 80 performances and 30 ropings from June to October, in addition to the usual rigors of summer haying. Daylon tried to make it to at least two rodeos a week and his talent grew as well. He came up through the high school ranks, riding bulls and bareback horses, but settled on bull riding during his college days at Panola College. He made one NFR qualification in 2019, but has been strictly competing in the PBR since then. “I love riding bulls, it’s always been my passion. With the PBR, I can be home most of the week and work on the weekends.” He took the million dollars he won at the PBR Finals and invested it. “I have a place in Silver Springs, Texas, I remodeled the house, added to my cattle herd, and invested some.”  Daylon started his herd 8 years ago, adding to it as he accumulated earnings competing in bull riding.

    After the Finals, Daylon took some time off before starting again as part of the new team series debuting in Cheyenne, Wyo., on July 25. After competing in Calgary, Daylon headed to North Carolina for his team’s training camp. “It was tough, but it will bring out the best in us. We worked out and got to know each other.” When the bucking chute opens in Cheyenne, all 8 team will be competing against each other. “My goal is to help the team – the Carolina Cowboys – win the first ever team championship. I set my goals – we aren’t working for the individual season, it’s the team. After that I’ll reassess and make some new goals.”

    Daylon is always open to advise. “If I have a question, I ask for help. I look up to a lot of people and appreciate the help in making the right decisions. My own advice seems to get me in trouble.” For now, he just wants to keep working at being the best version of himself each day. “I want to push myself to be better today than yesterday. I like to always be working at something.”

    As a member of the American Hat team, Daylon is excited to align with a company that has the same values as he does. “American hat means made in America … it’s a great hat and a great company.”

  • Corah Brunson Presented By Shorty’s Caboy Hattery

    Corah Brunson Presented By Shorty’s Caboy Hattery

    Corah Brunson from Terry, Mississippi, is the 2022 Little Wrangler All Around Champion for the National Little Britches. The 9-year-old is also the 2022 Goat Untying and Barrel Racing Champion. Corah came back to Shorty’s Short Go in all four of her events: flag race, goat untying, barrel racing, and pole bending. Corah, sporting her blue hat, is easily recognized in the arena, and plans to continue that by ordering a red hat from Shorty’s as part of her prize line from the Finals. She will add Resistol hats, Yeti coolers, and 4 saddles, along with a truckload of other prizes. “I have never won anything like this,” she said. “This makes me want to work harder so I can win something like this again.”
    Corah has been riding since she was 18 months old. “I was trying to sell a horse and put her on a pony for three hours while they videoed the horse. She didn’t want off,” said her mother, Joy. “She was loping on a horse by herself without straps by the time she was two.” Corah comes from a fourth-generation rodeo family. Her parents, Joy and Wes, competed through high school and college. Joy made the state and national finals in Florida, competing in barrels and poles, and now trains barrel horses. Wes won a world title as a calf roper and competed in that as well as team roping and steer wrestling in college. Both her grandfathers are quick to help her practice and between both families, she is kept well mounted. “She works her tail off. She is at one of her grandparent’s place every night and every weekend we are at an event.” She has four cousins that often go every weekend with her. One of those cousins, Clarke Gordon, was the 2020 National Little Britches header in the Senior division.
    “Once I get on a horse, it makes me feel like all the pressure goes away,” said Corah. “It just clears my mind.” She brought five horses to the NLBRA finals, which included her brother’s (Wayne – 12) horse that he breakaway roped on at the Finals. Her favorite horse is her pole horse. Bigelow has been with her since she was three and her Daddy won a truck roping on him. “We’ve had a long time to connect, and he does the pole bending and the flag racing. This year I’ve worked hard at it and now I’m good at it.” Her work included “going slow a whole bunch of times and then going fast.”
    She had a lot of fun at the National Little Britches Finals Rodeo held at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Okla. “I went on the water slide and we got on our horses and played around on them, going trail riding and just sitting on them and talking.” They also went to Oklahoma City for a back number scavenger hunt in the old Stock Yards. They went to all the stores that participated and they had prizes for them. This is her fourth trip to the Finals and she ended her last year as a Little Wrangler in style.
    She moves up to the Junior Division next year and will add ribbon roping, team roping, goat tying, trail class and breakaway to her event roster. “I’m quitting goat untying and flag racing,” she said. “My favorite event is barrel racing – my parents give me good horses to do it and the time to practice it better.”
    She likes Little Britches. “It’s where all my friends are and I feel very honest when I’m there.” She hopes to be a horse trainer when she grows up, following in the footprints of her parents and grandparents.

  • Momma’s Message: Built to Last

    Momma’s Message: Built to Last

    “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
    Matthew 7:24-27
    What happened to building things that last? Everyone wants to point fingers at so many different things that are causing the many issues of the world today instead of looking at what’s happening in the home. Why are there so many shootings? Why is everyone so on edge or depressed? Why is there so much anger and hate?
    If you build a broken home, the world will be full of broken people. If you do not build your house on God’s word, and have him as your rock, you will crash. We need to go back to finding our answers in the Bible, not Google. We need to fight like crazy to keep our marriages together, instead of splitting so easily. According to a recent study, a total of about 12.7 million children under the age of 18 in the United States are being raised without a father.
    Society is filled with so many distractions and discouraging news that saturates our daily lives through social media, television, and countless other platforms. Screen time isn’t censored, violent video games are being played by kids way too young to be playing them, television is filled with trash, and much of the music is garbage with cussing and inappropriate, disrespectful behavior that many children are listening to.
    Our children are counting on us, and it is our job to raise them up to be kind-hearted, well-mannered humans. It’s not up to the Hollywood elites, a political party, or outside influences, it’s what happens in the home that is the most important. Showing love and affection for your spouse, playing with your children, taking the time to play games, read books, and have one-on-one time with them, playing outside, and just letting kids be kids should be our top priority.
    We need to protect our kids from the negative influences, and take our jobs seriously. It is up to us to build them a strong, unwavering foundation. I saw a recent quote that said, “If I could give my children three things, it would be the strength to follow their passion, the confidence to always know their self-worth, and the ability to know how deeply and truly loved they are.
    We must build a foundation that lasts for our children. We must be their role models, and set a good example for them to follow. We need to be their positive voice, and feed them encouragement daily. A simple, but powerful quote says, “The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.”
    Your house that you build needs a sturdy interior structure built on a firm foundation. That foundation needs to be concrete, your cement in life. God is that concrete, and his word is the cement. As for the house beams, they need to be solid.
    Picture a small framed house with the concrete poured for the foundation, the Lord’s Word for the foundation, and there are four beams that support your roof, they are the emotional beam, the spiritual beam, the physical beam, and the mental beam. Those beams must work together to keep the structure of the house solid.
    As for the shingles on the roof of the house, those are the everyday tasks that must be completed. The little things that you must do and maintain in order for the house to not have a leaky roof that leads to damage, and if not taken care of or fixed, will make it crumble and fall.
    Build a home that will last. You have to maintain your internal being to be able to be the best version of yourself for your children and the world to see, and you must build your family’s home on the rock, on God’s Word, so that no matter what storms your house must endure, it will remain standing firm on it’s foundation.
    “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15