Category: On The Trail

Piper is currently mastering four ponies, and has been working on that for a year. She began her career as a trick rider at the age of four. She added Roman Riding a year later, hopping on her brother’s ponies one day in the arena. “My brother was driving a wagon and I wanted to be part of that, so I just jumped on.” She relies on her brother, Cash, for the ponies. Cash doesn’t mind anymore because the ponies aren’t fast enough for him to use on the chuck wagon. Chuck wagon racing is a Canadian thing, and he started with ponies, and is now moving to Shetlands. Along with the rodeo events, both Piper and Cash do a lot of work on the ranch, which has been in the family for five generations. The family lives in Wardlow, Alberta, a small ranching community, three hours from the border in the middle of nowhere. Between Brooks and Hanna, the community is known for the Calgary Stampede rodeo horses that make their home there as well. Most of their family lives around the area.

 

Piper is a gymnast, nicknamed Pipes because she is so strong and has the ability to do things that kids her size can’t do. Her gymnastics teacher, Petre Neda, is an Olympian champion. He immigrated from Austria and coached the Olympian gold Korean team. She started at age 2 and at this time in her life, her groundwork in gymnastics is more difficult that the strap work of trick riding. “That’s what has set her apart,” explains her mom, Kelsey. “She can do difficult maneuvers like the bar work in gymnastics. Her snappy groundwork is her signature. The maneuver she likes the least is anywhere that the ponies can potentially bite her. “Since she rides naughty ponies, she has a hard time trusting her horse so she would prefer to vault.” Her work ethic in gymnastics included 20 hours of training a week. “Her coach was very strict – back hand springs, back walkovers, putting her feet in bars against the wall and lifting up; multiple chin ups and climbing a rope up a wall were other “warm up activities” he required of Pipes. “Piper respects her coach because he can do anything she is doing and when she doesn’t want to try, he shows her.”

Pipes received her first formal training in trick riding from Rae-Lynn Armstrong, who was Madison MacDonald Thomas’s partner in Magic in Motion. “I met her through that,” explained Madison, who has been working with her for four years now. “She’s determined with a lot of try and a lot of heart. She’s very fun to teach – you can throw anything at her and she’ll try it. For someone as young as she is and the pressure of the shows we put her under, it’s incredible what she can do and handle.” Madison, who has been trick riding for 20 years, teaches trick riding from coast to coast. “The number of trick riders is growing,” she said. “The ‘trick’ is learning how to use your body, and Pipes is a natural – I love that little girl – she’s a fun one.”

The trick riding and Roman Riding has come easily to Pipes, who practices Roman Riding often while the family is moving cows. This is the first year that she has had to work on the mental part. She’s never been nervous before. In Roman Riding there is no room for error. In order to “button up mentally,” Pipes has implemented a song into her preparation time. Fairland Ferguson used to performa in the show Cavallia, so Pipes sings the song: ‘Strong in the legs, quiet in the hand, chest and eyes up and go sell eggs.’ It’s an inside joke – she repeats the song until she is calm and focused.

Piper leaves with Madison July 2, and she will go all the way to the end of August. Kelsey will travel along. “Maddie is contracted with Flying U, Mr. Rosser has given me my first chance to see if I’m good enough to be with her,” said Pipes. Her first show is Nephi, Utah, July 11-13. This is her first full summer on the road and she is excited. She came down to the states from the end of January until the middle of March for The AMERICAN and performed during the Junior American. “My teacher sent me homework. Miss Gray has been her teacher since kindergarten and now in third grade, she will work ahead to get done before she leaves. Half of her class is gone for the winter.

“It gets pretty cold up here, so many of them go to Arizona,” explains Kelsey. “We do everything in -40 degree weather and it will be like that for a long time.”
There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into the few minutes in the arena. “The production behind it takes a whole team,” said Kelsey. “It takes two hours just to get in the arena.” For Pipes, she would rather skip that part.

“I don’t like to brush my hair,” she admits. “I just want my hair in braids.” She is not taking after her mom – who has a chain of beauty schools in Canada.
“I grew up out here and I wanted to braid my ponies hair instead of barrel racing,” said Kelsey. “I worked internationally for Revlon for several years as Canada’s creative director. So I got to go to Barcelona and Paris, designing shows. I loved this side of the business, so I started schools. I have a great team – we’ve had the same team my whole career and we’re committed to each other. You can’t be strong without that.” Her ability to produce a style show has helped with the specialty act scripts. “We can do the photography, the make-up and all the art that goes behind it.”

Her husband, Wes, spends his days doing ranch work, and is supportive of his children’s interests. “It takes a lot of time, but it’s good.” After a full day of looking after cows, haying, or whatever is necessary, he practices with the kids, rope a little with Cash. As a former bronc rider in Canada, he knows what it takes to get trucks and trailers ready to go. His bronc riding skills have come in handy as Cash breaks his ponies. “The ponies are too small for me to get on, but I can coach him.” He stays behind when the family hits the rodeo road. “I got the easy job – I fly down to watch and then fly home.”

 

…A Little more about:

Cash Yule

Cash started working with ponies when he was six – he is 11 now. His secret is to spend lots of time with them. “Don’t give up and don’t let them win or they will keep doing that over and over again,” he said. “When I was little, I liked to play around with them. When I got older I started doing other stuff with them. I try to pick the better ones that aren’t naughty.” His cousin dropped off a trailer load when Cash was younger and he sorted through and picked the ones he thought he could break. “The other ones that I couldn’t break, I would buck them.” He puts them on a wagon and drives them until they are tired. He tarps them and ponies them on to something and Piper is often the rider.

 

Cash is in sixth grade and attends a school where there are 75 kids in school from k-12. His favorite part is social studies and math. He plans to play defense in the NFL one day as well as become a veterinarian. Along with racing ponies, Cash team ropes.

Last year, Kynan Vine, rodeo director of Calgary Stampede, hired Cash for the Presidents Day – a private performance done before the Calgary Stampede to recognize the sponsors. Last year it was geared towards kids and they had the opportunity to produce their first rodeo. They had to find all the other kids to help, they did events like ranch roping, mini broncs, barrel racing. He pushed the kids – they learned how to take the entire production seriously. He has become a huge mentor – they work hard for him and the rewards. Cash just sold 25 ponies – ponies that he raised. He has quite the business going on.

Bridger Anderson is from Carrington, North Dakota, where winters are seven months long. “For five months out of the year you can’t beat it,” said the 20-year-old who just won the College National Finals in steer wrestling. “In the winter we practice when it’s above 15 degrees, but that doesn’t happen too often. The temperatures will get to -20 with wind chill down to -50.”

“Bridger has been horseback for as long as he can remember. “My parents rodeoed, dad (Glenn) roped and mom (Robin) breakaway roped and team roped.” He has two sisters, Cedar and Dawsyn, who both competed growing up as well. “I was tying goats at amateur rodeos when I was five. The first time I roped at an amateur rodeo was in fifth grade.” He made it to Nationals in the calf roping twice in junior high and once in high school. His true passion has always been steer wrestling.

“When I was three, I told my mom I wanted to be a steer wrestler. I was going to be a Paleontologist during the day and professional steer wrestler at night.” Although he’s not so interested in dinosaurs anymore, he’s definitely got his sights set on the WNFR. “I grew up going to rodeos, it was during the NFR that Luke Branquinho became my rodeo hero – the person I looked up to and idolized growing up.”

 

He jumped his first steer in the spring of his eighth grade year at Tyler Schau’s bulldogging school.

Then Robin came up with an idea in December of 2015. “We don’t give Christmas gifts; so we look for experiences,” explained Robin. “I wanted to do something that would take Bridger to the next level and to create some relationships. I sent a message to Luke’s Fan page on Facebook, asking if I could pay him to send Bridger to California to throw steers with him for a few days. Luke responded 20 minutes later and said ‘let’s do it’. We flew down and spent a weekend at the Branquinho Ranch in April, 2016. Ever since that weekend, Luke has been a mentor for Bridger; often seen in the box with him if they are at the same rodeo. I could always tell from a distance that Luke was a great human being – you need to surround yourself with people like Luke.”

Luke has been glad to help. “He’s a sharp kid, he excels in the classroom and the arena. There’s a lot of talent out there, but he has all the things that will make a champion out of him. He has the right mentality, technique and work ethic. There’s several ways to bulldog. I teach the basics and let guys find their own timing. Nobody bulldogs the same. That’s what I like about Bridger – he’ll adapt to the situation and picks up things from here or there that will help him out. There’s very few out there that are like that.”

 

As far as adapting Luke’s signature move once he’s thrown a steer, Bridger said, “I’ll be better known for walking out emotionless – I don’t do much.”
Bridger went to Shawnee to the IFYR his sophomore year (2015) and won the steer wrestling title there. He was the North Dakota State champion wrestler at 170 # in 2016 – his junior year in high school. He was also in football but made the decision his senior year to retire from both sports so he could focus on getting into The AMERICAN. He qualified for the semi-finals that year in Rapid City, but didn’t make it to the AT&T – he finished in the top 25. He turned 18 in August before his senior year, bought his PRCA permit and made the short go his senior year in high school in Denver (2017) at the National Western Stock Show.

When it came time to pick a college, Bridger chose to rodeo for Stockton Graves at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. “I’ve known him for three years, said Stockton, who has been the coach for seven years. “He’s a great kid – he works hard in the classroom and he works hard at steer wrestling.”
Stockton is traveling with Bridger this summer along with Billy Bolden and JD Struxness, who was the 2016 CNFR steer wrestling champion, under the coaching of Stockton. They are hauling Bridger’s horse, Whiskers, Freeway, JD’s haze horse Wave, and Billy’s horse. “Whiskers is 10 – and came from Diamond S Performance Horses (Tyler & Jackie Schau, who are also mentors of his). He came off the track. He knows his job, usually if something goes wrong it’s my fault not his.”

 

Bridger says the driving is just part of the game. “I like to rodeo and you have to travel to rodeo. It’s worth it if you get to run steers; there are cool rodeos and cool arenas out there. We’ve gone to quite a few, and this year we’re going to even more in hopes to make it to Vegas.”

“I never doubted Bridger was going to be here. He’s always been determined, focused and willing put in the work,” said Robin. “When he was three he decided to quit daycare, saying ‘Mom, cowboys don’t go to daycare.’ So at the age of three, Bridger stayed home – Glenn was around on the ranch, and he painted pink fingernail polish on the television remote to show the power on and off button and the channel up and down button. He also taught him how to push ‘1-9 start’ on the microwave so he could make himself a hot dog.” He had lots of stories for his mom at the end of the day including what laundry detergent to use, and what his teacher had taught him during the day, insight gained from the television.

Glenn taught Bridger good horsemanship. “He keeps his hands soft and is light on Whiskers mouth in the corner.” Glenn, who works for ProAg in the crop insurance world, is excited for his son. “The kid is living his dream and more power to him.”

The National Little Britches Association was founded in 1952, and sanctions rodeos in over 33 states, giving children 5 to 18 years old opportunities to compete in rodeo events across the country. For kids in the central part of the country, NLBRA is one of few choices they have when it comes to being a rodeo competitor, and they couldn’t be more grateful. The Hinrichs family from Ellsworth, Minnesota have only been involved with the NLBRA for a few years now, but much of their time is now centered around the rodeo schedules in both the Dakota Prairie Little Britches and Minnesota/Eastern South Dakota Little Britches rodeos.

“The Big Deal Land & Cattle Company, that’s what everyone likes to joke about and call me around Minnesota and South Dakota,” laughs Steve, patriarch of the Hinirichs family, who supplies all the timed event cattle and goats for Little Britches rodeos across Minnesota and South Dakota. The fact is, the busy family hasn’t slowed down enough to give the stock-contracting business an actual name since they started rolling along three years ago. Not only do Steve and his wife Bridget work jobs outside of the family’s horse training business, but all three of their children, Paige, 18, Tanner, 15, and Kiana (Bubbles), 8, compete in the Little Britches Rodeo Association with quite a bit of success. In 2016, the Hinrichs children became more involved in rodeo and started in the MN/Eastern SD Little Britches Rodeo Association. Word spread that the family kept stock for the kids to practice on and train horses, and it wasn’t long before the requests started coming to bring livestock to the rodeos. “A contractor backed out right before a rodeo a couple years ago, so they asked if we could bring some stock. People were happy with what we brought, and it’s grown to full-time from there. We bring stock to rodeos in both states and will supply cattle and goats at approximately 50 rodeos this year.”

 

Paige competes in all 7 rodeo events available to a senior girl competitor; breakaway roping, ribbon roping, team roping, barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, and trail. She recently graduated from Adrian High School, and will be attending the Southeast Technical Institute, where she’ll be studying Invasive Cardiovascular Technology. Besides maintaining a 4.0 GPA, which helped her obtain a full-ride scholarship to the school, Paige has worked for two years as a CNA at Parkview Manor, a nursing home in Ellsworth. Paige also helps with farm chores and attends the Salem Reformed Church in Little Rock, Iowa with her family on Wednesday nights. “I’ve enjoyed competing in the Little Britches Association. I really like the leadership role I can have as a senior in the association and cheer on and mentor the little ones.” Paige favors roping the most, “At home I normally break in the tie-down calves, so the kids often ask me how they’re going to run at the rodeos. It’s been nice competing with Tanner and we’re fortunate we can practice together.” Paige hopes to continue roping in the future and looks up to Trevor Brazile as a competitor, although she doesn’t get much chance to keep up with his career. “We don’t have time to watch much television because we’re always outside. Friends will talk to me about something that was on television and I’ll tell them ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ we just live a different lifestyle than most people do.”

Tanner, a sophomore at Adrian High School, likes math and playing guard for the school basketball team. He competes in calf roping, and as Paige’s partner in both ribbon roping and team roping. He spends time watching rodeo runs on YouTube and especially likes to watch his favorite calf roper, Cory Solomon. He agrees with his dad that he lives in a rodeo paradise and appreciates the opportunities he has to practice whenever he wants. “I can tie goats or rope when I need to, and if it’s raining, I can rope in the indoor arena. I’m pretty competitive, so It’s great being able to have the tools I need to get to the top of my game.” Tanner enjoys hanging out with his friends at the rodeos and has learned a lot seeing the backside of rodeo production through the family’s involvement. “Being involved in the Little Britches Association has been great, my family enjoys the time together and everyone in the association has been so good to us.” Tanner likes getting to drive within a 20-mile range of the farm with his newly acquired farm permit but looks forward to turning 16 in July, so he can have more freedom on the roads. “It’s not bad having all the chores on the farm; my dad says if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

The youngest of the Hinrichs crew, Bubbles, may have been born with the name Kiana, but since her dad started the nickname after noticing she blew little bubbles laying in the hospital bassinet, Bubbles is what she’s gone by her whole life. As a second grader, her favorite school subject is reading, and she especially likes to read stories in the Biscuit series. She loves to compete in barrel racing and pole bending the most and likes practicing at home with her siblings. Bubbles likes riding Henny Penny, her 13-year-old black mare in all her events. “The Little Britches rodeos are giving Bubbles a great environment to grow as a competitor. She was a little hesitant to go too fast at first, but her confidence is growing, and she’s getting faster at each rodeo. She recently won the flag race and that used to be the event she dreaded the most.” Her favorite chore to help with in the afternoons is bottle-feeding the baby goats and calves.

 

The family’s settling into their new home at Hinrichs’ Arena, on land where Steve grew up as the youngest of four children belonging to George and Leona Hinrichs. The farm is in the southwest corner of Minnesota, just one mile from Iowa and 30 miles from South Dakota. “My parents were very involved in showing horses and my mom was the secretary and treasurer of the Southwest Minnesota Trail Riders’ Club where we showed horses in halter, pleasure, and game events. When they passed away, I bought their 80-acre farm, and we’re raising our family here.” The farm has an outdoor and indoor arena that Steve used after he graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1989, to train outside horses while helping operate their dairy cow business. Bridget, graduated from Ellsworth High in 1997 and is grateful she’s just three miles from her childhood home, where her father, who remarried after her mom passed away, still farms and raises stock cows. Steve and Bridget have been married since 1998 and appreciate raising their family in their hometown with so much family history surrounding them.

Currently, Steve works for a neighboring farm managing 4,000 head of swine. Besides that daily work, he spends three days each week riding horses at the sale barn, sorting and bringing livestock up for auction. “I work at the Sioux Falls sales barn on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the Sheldon, Iowa barn on Thursdays. I ride horses I have in for training while I work at the auctions and it gives me great opportunities to train horses for my clients.” Bridget who team roped, and barrel raced before family responsibilities took over, also works at the sale barn with Steve on Thursdays but spends much of her time managing the family and farm, where she takes charge of raising bottle calves and goats.
The family keeps approximately 25 head of roping cattle, 30-40 goats, and 50 calves ranging from those still on milk, up to 350 pounds. “Right now, we’re bottle feeding 20 calves and get new calves in from the dairy twice each week. We use lots of Jerseys for the Little Britches rodeos; people thought they’d be too weak and wouldn’t run, but we feed them heavy and they work great for the kids. The cattle we use give each of the competitors a chance to win and we work hard to keep them as even as possible. If one of the cattle or goats don’t work well, we don’t bring them back again. We can’t always predict what they’ll do, but we want to bring the most user-friendly stock we can to the rodeos. I’d much rather see the kids beat each other on times rather than beat another contestant just because they drew better.”

It’s said that a family that plays together, stays together; and for the Hinrichs that’s what their life is about. When they aren’t taking care of business, they like to take their dogs out for coon hunts and go bow-hunting for deer. They enjoy their time together on the road; Tanner shared, “On the way to rodeos, Paige and I put in the aux cord and get jamming with dad to get pumped up. We mostly play old country music that dad will recognize, and he gets crazy with all that stuff.” One of the family’s pre-game traditions is the kids all praying together before the rodeo competition gets started. Steve explained, “It’s not all about blood and guts, of course we all want to win, but it’s more about making good horses, learning from our mistakes, and helping each other get better. We’re glad that the Little Britches association gives us a great opportunity to watch our kids grow in rodeo and enjoy the members and the comradery we share. If we’re not having a good time while they’re competing, what’s the point in doing it?”

Nathan Hatchel just graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University with a degree in business management. The 22 year old from Hennessey, Oklahoma, is heading to Casper for his third appearance at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in the bull riding. “This year I’ll go first in the nation. It’s a clean slate going in, but sitting first through the season is bragging rights; but whenever you get to Casper it’s all even, so it’s about riding good and getting good bulls. That’s the fun part to me – everybody has a chance.”

Nathan is getting prepared for the upcoming Finals (June 8-15). “Right now, whenever I’m climbing on the bulls I feel like I’m physically and mentally ready and trusting in God. I go to my Bible every day.” He credits his coach in college (Mike Visnieski) for the mental game, and his dedication to the gym every day for the physical preparation.

“I’m doing a lot of stretching and I do cardio and free weights. Right now I’m trying to gain muscle, but I ride the best at a certain weight so I try to keep that going.” He is also very careful about what he eats, avoiding sweets, cutting down on carbs, and doing meal preparation before heading out to a weekend of rodeos. “I get people laughing at me like I don’t have enough money for food, but I’m just trying to keep it healthy.” One of his favorite road foods is chicken and rice. “I could take that every weekend.” He puts chicken in a crock pot with barbeque sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic salt. He adds onions, bell peppers, carrots, asparagus, and takes that with cooked rice. “I don’t even care if it’s hot.”

“Wherever I go now, the preparation I’ve done through the week is done and I just have to react and trust myself that I’ve done the work in the week to be successful on the weekend.”

 

Nathan grew up in a small 2A school, where everybody knew everybody, with his dad, Craig, and his older brother, Dylan. He came from bull riding stock, both his dad, Uncle Glenn, and grandpa, Corky Hatchel, rode bulls, but he wasn’t allowed to get on one until he was 13. Instead, he concentrated on sports – basketball, football, and baseball. He played on a traveling team in the summer and enjoyed basketball the most. “That’s what I played until my junior year of high school – then I put my focus into riding bulls.” His goal was to get a full ride scholarship, and that’s what he did at SWOSU. He competed for Oklahoma State High School Rodeo, making the National High School Finals both his junior and senior year. He was fourth in the nation his junior year, and was riding with a torn MCL his senior year, so he didn’t ride as well. “I got that fixed and went to college,” he said.

His dad works in the oil field and was instrumental in teaching Nathan the basics. “He’s always there,” said Nathan. “He goes to every rodeo – he drives umpteen miles – Rock Springs to Casper – and everywhere in between.”

Craig wasn’t crazy about Nathan riding bulls at all. “I know how dangerous it is – now I’m pleased that he is. He’s very gifted – Nathan is very athletic and has put a lot of time and effort into this.” Craig has supported him with practice bulls at home and helping him find the coaches he needed along the way. “He is very dedicated and when he sets his mind to something, he puts 110% in it. He finishes what he starts.”

Nathan remembers watching his dad and uncle ride when he was young, but he wasn’t formally introduced until one day when Craig offered to let Nathan and his brother get on a steer. “We didn’t know what we were getting into. My brother was a football star, and I thought it was fun, but didn’t ride one steer for the entire year to date, not one.”

The second year, he won the championship in the COJRA – Central Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association. After that, he kept riding in another little association in Edmond. He started going to a bull riding school put on by David Berry (Monster Bull Company) out of Locust Grove, Oklahoma, “He puts them on once a month and he had the perfect stock for me to get on,” said Nathan. “We went back month after month and I spent summers out there in high school and worked for him. We did drills and drills and that’s how I got started. He’s been a huge help to me. Still to this day, he welcomes me and is always there to help and comment on my riding.” The drills consist of a stationary drill on a barrel as well as walking on a pipe for balance plus other things. “Another good one is getting a medicine ball and sitting on them and squeezing it with your legs – then try standing on top of that ball and keep that ball underneath you. When I’m on the back of a bull, I can’t see, so that’s where the subconscious comes into play. And the balance comes in.”

David Berry has put on bull riding schools for more than 20 years. “I wasn’t a world champion bull rider; my claim to fame was the PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year in 1988 alongside Ty Murray,” said the 51-year-old. The next year, in the short go of Cheyenne he broke his jaw. “That was the same year Lane Frost died – the bull after me. Growing up in Oklahoma all you heard about was Lane Frost. His school helped me a lot – he gave me the time of day.” David took his love of bucking bulls and started raising them and helping others learn how to ride. “I recognized the heart and try in Nathan – you can help coach to ride, but you can’t teach them to try. They have to bring that on their own.” David saw Nathan’s work ethic and dedication to learning. “Talking about riding a bull and getting on one are two different things. I can’t remember Nathan ever talking about riding a bull; he just gets on them. And he does everything with a grin on his face.”

Once Nathan went to college, he turned to Chad Drury, with Nothin’ but Try Ranch. “They have accepted me into their family – I took a bunch of buddies over there and got on some of his young bulls and he ended up sponsoring me and we’re pretty much family – that’s the name on my chaps.”

Both Chad and his brother, Shane, went to college at SWOSU. After college, Chad stayed around and Shane moved to Nebraska. Chad raised bucking bulls and would call the college to get his young bulls ridden. “Nathan is a good kid,” said Chad. “He’s talented and takes care of business- that’s the kind of person I wanted to sponsor. Anytime I need help, Nathan comes over and helps. It works out really great for both of us. He’s a really good kid and his fiancé is good as gold. He’s a winner, but he’s not arrogant and that’s the kind of guy I want to represent me and our ranch.”

 

Nathan met his fiancé, Kodi Holloway, through friends at SWOSU, she’s on the soccer team, and will also graduate this spring with her nursing degree. The couple got engaged on August 6, 2018. They will get married on September 20.

After the college finals, Nathan will move down to Castle Rock, Colorado, and start learning the tricks of the trade for his grandfather’s (Jim Lovell) construction business (Lovell Group), hoping to become a project manager and perhaps eventually taking over the company. He will also continue rodeoing, and plans to shoot for Resistol Rookie of the year next year once he buys his card. For now, he definitely is aiming for the Permit Challenge at the South Point this coming December. “I was leading the permit standings until April, and since college rodeo I’m sitting 7th and I’m focusing to make the permit standings challenge which happens during the Benny Binion Sale. This is my fourth year to fill my permit, but as long as you have a NIRA card, you can fill your permit more than twice.”

“Graduating college is a big deal for me. There is a life after rodeo, especially riding bulls, and this degree will help me provide for my family,” said Nathan. “The biggest thing I learned from college is responsibility – showing up for class – nobody is there to get you going, you have to do it yourself and grow up and learn that responsibility.” He admits that college has gone by very fast, but he is looking forward to settling in Colorado with his wife and eventually starting a family and raising some bucking bulls of his own. “I want to take what I have and run with it and help others the same way others helped me.”

He has been a believer his whole life, thanks to his grandmother, and the generosity of others that would get him to church since none of his immediate family went. “I bounced from home to home when I was young, and my brother and I finally ended up with my dad. We never had much money growing up, but I learned it’s not about your past; it’s about where you’re going. My past doesn’t define who I am now. I definitely didn’t have a very good childhood but I’m blessed it all worked out.”

“Follow the Lord and your dreams will follow you. Everybody is chasing their dreams, but I’m chasing the Lord and my dreams have come to me. Don’t let anything set you back from that.”

“We were blessed to have started out at a good time with a good group of rodeos. Actually, we have had some of the same rodeos ever since I started,” said Mike Cervi, who was born in Denver, Colorado, September 9, 1936.

 

For five decades, Mike, who earned PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year (1983, 2001), and his sons (the late Mike Jr., Binion, and Chase) have produced many of the country’s biggest rodeos, including RodeoHouston, the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver, and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and 27 others. They continue to take many of their animals to the Wrangler NFR. Recognized for his accomplishments, Cervi was inducted into the PRCA Hall of Fame in 2003.

 

Today, Mike and his sons are recognized as one of the largest rodeo producers in the country, yet he has always been a deal-maker and entrepreneur. As an elementary schoolboy, he sold flavored toothpicks and Christmas trees, hauled ashes and rode racehorses. Cervi became fascinated by rodeo clowns and, by age 14, had a trained mule act at Little Britches and junior rodeos.

 

Mike grew up in Littleton, Colorado where his dad had a newspaper. He got interested in rodeo through the Centennial racetrack, which was not far from his childhood home. “I started out galloping horses at the race track in 1952 at age 12. Many of the people I met were involved in rodeo. I took off with it from there.” Two years later, Cervi was at a Little Britches rodeo, where he was competing in steer wrestling and bull riding. He ended up clowning as well, because someone didn’t show up, and his passion for crowd-pleasing performances was sparked.

 

 

Spending a semester at Colorado State University, Mike got his first taste of stock contracting. “Marvin Brookman sent all the stock to that rodeo in 1957, but didn’t have any help, so I pitched in,” recalled Mike. “That’s when the arena was outdoors – it was just a simple wire and the cars would park all around the outside of it.” Cervi Championship Rodeo now provides stock for CSU every Spring.

 

Mike decided college wasn’t for him and took off for the rodeo road, taking his clown acts, steer wrestling and bull riding with him. One of his acts, the famous mule act, came from George Mills. “He gave me the mule, trailer, and everything I needed,” said Mike. “Gravel Gertie (the mule) would ride into the arena in the taxi cab, get out of the car and lie down while putting her feet in the air. She would get back in the car to leave the arena.” He had another trick that involved a station wagon with windows that were soaped up so nobody could see inside. “We’d get about 32 kids and pack that wagon. We were bringing the kids to the rodeo and every five or ten feet we’d stop the car and let a few more out. At the end, we’d let Gravel Gertie out – that’s how we got the idea of the colt coming out of the limo that we still use today.”

 

The family had a ranch near Sterling, Colorado, which was homesteaded by his grandfather starting in 1852. In 1958 Mike acquired the family ranch. “When I first got to the ranch, I bought a load of cattle from Oregon. I was only 19,” explains Mike. “My dad called and asked how I was going to pay for them. I hauled the load to Scottsbluff and resold. I made a little over $350 – that was a lot of money back then. From there I started trading – I would bring cattle from the west, back to Colorado. It put a little change in my pocket.” He bought an airplane, put a good friend in charge of the ranch and took off. “That’s what I did from 1960 through half of 1980.” During that time the Cervi’s expanded their Colorado operations – adding a ranch in Roggen in 1979 and the Cervi Feedlot east of Greeley in 2001.

 

Along with trading cattle, Mike was also producing rodeos. In 1967 he acquired the Beutler Brothers Rodeo Company, now known as Cervi Brothers Rodeo Company, and in 1974 the Billy Minick Rodeo Company, now known as Cervi Championship Rodeo Company. “When I got in it, there were two major stock contractors – Harry Knight and Beutler. Harry Knight was one of my best friends and one of the most professional people I’d ever been around.” During that time, Mike bought quality bucking horses. “I would buy all the good horses out there that I could. In the early 60s, 70s, 80s, my goal was to grow and improve our string of horses. That was the key to a lot of it. When we were in Oklahoma at the Finals, we sent as many as 35 horses to the Finals every year.”

 

Mike Junior was born January 4, 1971, and his role in the stock contracting grew over time. At the age of 16 Mike went up to Canada and borrowed a stud from Donny Peterson. “He drove up there and wanted this stud – he’s the one that started the breeding program here,” said Mike. 70-80% of the first set of colts yielded good bucking horses. He got a scholarship at Sacramento State for football as backup quarterback. He graduated with a degree in history, and went to picking up for Mike. “He married Sherry (Cervi), and started to trade cattle. He was going to circuit finals, roping, and helping with the stock as he could.” Mike Junior was killed in 2002 when the twin-engine Cessna that he and four others were traveling in crashed. He was on the bubble in the standings and trying to get to a rodeo in Missouri. The loss was a void that Mike will never fill.

 

Another tragedy struck the Cervi family in 2005 when Mike was charged with violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act. “It had to do with wastewater disposal for an oil field,” Mike explained. “I had built a monitoring well in 2000 and we had a leak – my employees were bypassing that without my knowledge.” Three years later, Mike spent five months in prison. “I came home from court and told Binion and Chase that I had to go to prison. They were 19 and 21.”

“It felt like a lot of responsibility at the time, especially given our age, but everything happens for a reason,” said Binion.
“I ran the ranches in Lompoc, California on Vandenberg Air Force Base,” said Mike. “They asked me to take care of 900 cows for them. The game wardens had five horses that were terrible, so I asked Chase to bring me some pickup horses and they stayed with me awhile.” Mike was able to raise their calf weight by 42 pounds by implementing his experience raising cattle and teach the game wardens how to do it. “They didn’t want me to leave,” he said with a laugh, then adding with a serious note about being in prison. “It matures you dramatically and you learn what the real world is – meeting all kinds of interesting characters.” He got out while RodeoHouston was going on, “All my committees stuck by me,” said Mike. He had home detention for five months, paid $30,000 in fines, and did several hundred hours of community service.

 

 

After that, it was business as usual. Mike settled into his role running the feedlot, while Binion and Chase continued down the road. “I run this feedlot and oversee the two ranches,” he said. “When things increase, you put parts together and you have good people around you is how you do it.”

 

“We call him for advice,” says Binion, “Dad gave us an opportunity that most people would die for. He would give you whatever you needed to get the job done. He crafted Chase and I each to do what we wanted to do and did best.” Cervi Championship Rodeo provides stock for pro, amateur, college, and high school rodeos. “We’ll take an animal for everybody – we bring enough for all of them. We make it as fair as we can for college and high school to compete on the same level.”

 

Chase handles the livestock end of the ranch, on both ranches. He also picks up at every rodeo that Cervi produces. Chase was horseback his entire life, beginning his picking up at the age of 14. He gets horses that are started and then he trains them to be pickup horses. He doesn’t sell any, but when they retire, he gives them to a kid as a good retirement home and family friend. “We are blessed to be able to do what we’ve done our whole lives. Binion and I plan to be part of the rodeo thing forever, and we hope to carry on my dad’s legacy. It’s some pretty big shoes to fill.

 

“These boys goals for high school and college is to develop the cowboy; help these youngsters come up so they have something to get on later,” said Mike. “They try to bring horses that the kids can be taught something on.” Part of that program includes a nonprofit that they started to provide free schools to help teach the next generation of bronc riders. To-date, the Ace High Roughstock Academy has put on 25 free schools in the last eight years and hosted over 700 aspiring saddle bronc and bareback riders. “We will host the first one of the year at the ranch in Stoneham, Colorado May 24-26. At the end we give prizes and scholarships.” Acehighroughstockacad.com has more information about the schools.

 

A lot has changed over the years in rodeo for Mike. “Rodeo has increased in popularity considerably,” he said. So has the number of stock contractors. “There were probably 15-20 active stock contractors in the PRCA when I started; now there are over 70.” He has remained at the forefront of that list by being an example to others. “The best management is the owners’ footprint – the best fertilizer for a ranch.”

 

Mike ended with this, “One day, if it all went away, we’ve been blessed to be able to do it.”

Madison “Madi” Outhier has been competing in rodeo since she was one. “I started in the lead line,” said the 16-year-old sophomore who made history by winning both the Junior American and the American in the breakaway roping on March 3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “I started roping when I was 8.” Helping her get the win was her equine partner, Rooster, a 10-year-old gelding that was raised on the ranch and trained by her dad, Mike.

 

“Rooster is amazing. My dad let me start roping off him when he was seven, three years ago. He didn’t let me ride him too much because he would stop way too hard for my roping abilities. We are so molded together – he’s the sweetest horse in the barn. When I saddle him, he turns his head and nudges me. He goes wherever we need to go with a great attitude.”

 

Rooster is a grandson of Colonel Freckles and a son of Gallo De Cielo. His mom is Colonel C Hermosa, a horse that was raised on the Outhier ranch as part of the LA Waters Quarter Horse breeding program started in the 1970s by Madi’s grandparents, Lou and Wanda Waters. “Colonel Freckles was a futurity Champ and one of the best cutting horses around,” explains Mike, who is Madi’s main coach. I had Rooster ready three years ago, but Madi wasn’t. We worked on position and the basics. Madi works real hard at rodeo and she’s so coachable.” Mike competed in both ends of the arena; bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and steer roping. He entered his first International Pro Rodeo at the age of 15 and went to the International Finals Rodeo, winning the All Around in 1995, 1996, and 1997. He made four appearances at the Wrangler National Finals, 2001 – 2004, competing in saddle bronc riding. He won the PRCA Linderman Award twice; 2004 and 2007. Through rodeo, Mike has developed a huge circle of friends that have been instrumental in his daughter’s success. His good friend, Ricky Canton, is a huge part of it. “He always keeps us in calves and puts on ropings every Saturday and Sunday in the fall and winter. It’s really helped her roping- she’s roping against girls that have roping schools of their own.”

 

 

Madi also honed her horsemanship skills by playing polo, something her mom, Kristy, did professionally for 25 years. She played her last polo match last year, retiring to stay home with her family and help Mike with the horses that they train and sell .“Polo has helped me a lot with my competition skills, my mind set,” said Madi. “You have an hour and a half to make up your mistakes in polo, in rodeo you have 2 seconds and then you have to drive home. I bring my polo mindset to rodeo – and don’t get too stressed out.”

 

All that support and Rooster’s incredible abilities have paid off greatly this year. They won the Junior NFR in Vegas in the 15 and under; Joe Beaver 15 and under, Cody Ohl and won second in Lari Dee Guy’s open breakaway.

 

The family ranch is in Utopia, Texas, but they also have a place in Fulshear, 30 minutes from the middle of Houston, where they live during the week so Madi and her younger brother, Ace, can attend school. “Mom has a big polo barn. We live in a little house attached to the barn. Rooster is 200 feet away from my bedroom. We have polo fields out front that our family built.”

 

Ace (11), is involved in baseball, basketball, football, fishing, and hunting. They both work hard at school. “School is very important to me and my family. I play basketball as well so basically ever since school started I’ve had basketball, then come home and rope and then homework. I work really hard to keep all As, but it’s worth it to keep good grades to get into a good college.” Kristy handles all the communication with school when Madi has to take time off to attend rodeos. “The teachers know I work hard and they give me my work and I usually get it done before I leave.”

 

Besides polo, rodeo, basketball, and school, Madi has another passion – acting. “I was an actress and that’s all I wanted to do when I was 9. We spent one summer living in New York City. My mom had a couple of polo jobs in upstate New York that summer. I had won an acting competition that gave me an agent in New York City that sent me on auditions, sometimes three a day… all summer,” she said. “I was in a couple movies with Robert Duvall. That’s what I did and what I loved.” She was also in a fabulous children’s movie called “Charlie, A Toy Story.”

 

She missed the ranch, though, and they came home. “It’s so much different when you have a whole ranch in Texas versus a tiny little apartment in New York City. My mom was so awesome to support me in taking me there, but they didn’t want to live there either. I had an agent in Houston that I still do auditions for, but a year ago I started focusing on everything else I was doing. It was too much to balance rodeo, basketball, school, – I still love the acting world – in fact Robert Duvall called my dad to congratulate me.” She felt the experience with acting gave her the skills to interview, something she has done a lot of since winning the American.

 

Madi found out about the Junior American through the International Finals Youth Rodeo. “We signed up there and I went to a few others – Joe Beaver and Cody Ohl had qualifiers. Joe Beaver is also where I qualified for the open breakaway.” She had two spots in the Junior American and two spots in the main semi finals.

 

After she won the Junior American short go on Friday, at the Will Rogers Memorial Stadium in Ft. Worth., she moved to the fifth round of the semi qualifiers at Cowtown Coliseum. “I honestly think I used up all my nerves in the semifinals. Once I made it to AT&T I knew I had accomplished my main goal. I was just like okay, get this one run at a time. Three runs. The last one was a 2.2 – my fastest time is a 1.7 at Ricky Canton’s roping. I was a 1.9 to win the Junior American at Will Rogers. I was actually a 1.9 three times that week. I’m usually not that fast.” She gives her dad the credit for that. “My dad giving me the perfect start. He can watch the calf and how long the box and barrier is. And then the calves were great there all week. We kept a list on them and we watched a video on them.” After that, she just remembers what he told her and nods her head. “Tip down, throw down. Look at the shoulder.”

 

After that win, what’s next for this young roper? She competes in barrel racing and cutting, but breakaway is her favorite event. “I get direct results – the horse is a huge part of it, but I have control of the winnings because it’s myself doing the roping.” She practices every day – she ropes on Rooster and one other practice horse and I rope between 10 and 20 calves every day. I try to rope the dummy too.”

 

College is definitely in the future. “I really don’t know what I want to do – I love the business industry, I’ll get into that like my grandpa did. My mom’s dad (Lou Waters) has taught me how to act and be and go about things. He’s such a respected and humble man.” Madi is quick to give her parents the credit for her success. “They taught me all their horsemanship skills and to stay humble and take everything as a blessing. I pray to God every night. They’ve showed me how to live.”

South Dakota native J.J. Elshere finished 16th in the PRCA saddle bronc riding standings in 2018, and won his fifth Badlands Circuit Saddle Bronc Champion title in October. While J.J., short for Jeremy James, is also a four-time WNFR qualifier and the 2006 WNFR average champion in the saddle bronc riding, his motivation for riding at the age of 39 is still bucking horses over dollar signs— though pulling a check is always a highlight. “I wasn’t even planning on traveling that much, but with how Kissimmee went last year, and when I won a little out of San Antonio, things got rolling a little bit to where I decided I’d try (to qualify). I ended up pretty good for what I was planning on doing.”

J.J. won $75,773.58 last season, and his 2019 rodeo lineup includes the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. In 2015, he competed in The American just a few months after winning the 2014 PRS World Saddle Bronc Champion title. These days, the Badlands Circuit, which J.J. has competed in since buying his PRCA card in 2000, keeps him closer to home and his wife and five sons, while the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo is just 40 miles down the road from his ranch near Hereford. “I’ll probably get into the Extreme Broncs there, and then the regular rodeo. They have some pretty good stock there and quite a little added money. Any time you can ride for that money and not have to travel is pretty nice.”

 

These days, J.J.’s wife, Lindsay, and their five sons, Talon (16), Thayne (14), Trik (9), Tel (8), and Trailon (6), don’t often travel with him altogether because of a ranch to run and multiple school sports to attend. The whole family was with him the years he competed in the WNFR however, as well as the RNCFR in 2016, making the 30-hour drive to Kissimmee, Florida, following Trik’s state wrestling competition. “Rodeo is just the greatest sport there is. The rodeo family that you meet along the way are lifelong friends,” says Lindsay. “The years J.J. was making it to the Finals, I had four little boys with one on each side holding on to my purse. That was pretty stressful having all the kids there, and Taos Muncy’s mom (Johnnie Muncy) was sitting right behind us. She’s become one of my dearest friends and she helped me through the Finals. They become family and you can’t raise your kids without them. They video for you when you’re not there and text you to let you know how they did. And we get to see the country—our kids have been to pretty much every big zoo in the United States and Canada, and it’s a real great experience. It’s a hard life, but it’s great.”

The Elsheres run cattle and grow hay on their ranch, all with the help of their older boys. “We sure couldn’t do half the things we do without their help. They’re pretty handy boys—rarely do we ever need outside help,” says Lindsay. She too grew up on a ranch, and rodeoed in the SDHSRA with J.J. Talon and Thayne handle the bulk of haying while J.J. is rodeoing in the summer, along with helping their neighbors during branding season and taking on other jobs like riding colts. J.J. has been starting colts since his teens, and has a pen full of horses to ride year round. “I put the basic 30 or 40 days on them, or whatever the owner wants. I have a barn that I can ride in, so they’re pretty good about loping circles in the barn all winter long. I just really like to ride horses. I like coming across the ones that are smart and pick it up quick that are pretty fun, and there are some that can be pretty challenging.” Like his sons, J.J. grew up ranching with his parents, Jim and Lana Elshere, and siblings, Cory, Ryan, and Misty, working the operation his grandpa started and later passed down to J.J.’s dad. “We’d make sure everything was done, and our parents would take us wherever we needed to go, and they worked pretty hard to help us along.”

 

J.J.’s dad rode bareback horses for several years, then passed the roughstock gene along to J.J.’s older brother Ryan, who rode saddle broncs and helped J.J. start his rodeo career. “The goal was to ride professionally and make the NFR—I decided that right around high school. They didn’t have junior high rodeos back then, so I did a lot of 4-H rodeoing and then I high school rodeoed for South Dakota.” J.J. qualified for the NHSFR in saddle bronc riding in 1997 and 1998 and even slid his hand into a bull rope for a time, but saddle broncs were his niche. “It was just a little easier event because that’s what a lot of guys from up here did, so that made it easier traveling. My parents helped me out the most getting me started, and my brother. I used to work for Jeff Gabriel and he helped coach me along and we’d go to some schools. Eudell Larson, the rodeo coach in Dickinson, helped me out at some of those schools, and Tom Miller.”

Today, J.J. helps with as many rodeo schools as he can, along with coaching Talon in the saddle bronc riding and Thayne in the steer riding. “We’ll have some practices in town or at the neighbors. We’re not really set up for bronc riding, but Thayne rides steers and we can do that at home. If not, then we go into Rapid City or Sturgis—Rory Lemmel has a nice facility we can use.” Talon qualified for the NJHFR in 2016 and now competes in the SDHSRA, while Thayne went to the 2018 NJHFR in Huron, South Dakota. “I could hit a couple rodeos that were close when he wasn’t competing, so that worked out good,” says J.J., who competes in bronc riding matches in addition to pro rodeos throughout the summer. Four of his five boys will be in 4-H rodeo this summer following their school sports, including basketball and wrestling. J.J.’s goal is just as much to help them pursue their passions as his own. “I plan on going to the stock shows and all my circuit rodeos, and to just keep having fun and pull a check or two. I want to thank everybody who’s ever helped me along the way. There’s a lot of people to name, but I’ve had a lot of support over the years.”

Born and raised in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Tyler Waltz was the oddball through high school, focusing on rodeo instead of other sports. “I grew up with Jeff Askey and he and I had rodeo in common.” Tyler worked every event in high school, trying to make his childhood dream of winning the world in the IPRA come true. Several injuries would have shattered that dream for most, but not Tyler. He’s leading the bareback riding in the IPRA by more than $10,000; and he’s more determined than ever to make his childhood dream come true. “It’s in my blood,” said the 28 year old. “My dad (Dave) and uncle (Steve) both rodeo, and I love to do it.”

 

His list of injuries started his junior year in high school, when he broke his right femur at the National High School Finals in Farmington, New Mexico. He recovered from that and made it back to the high school finals again the next year. At a pro rodeo he attended before the Finals, he got hooked by a bull.. “It bent the rod in my femur; it was a bad deal. I really thought they were going to amputate my leg. We went to four different hospitals to find someone that could get the rod out.” He was headed to the University of Tennessee in Martin and the college rodeo red shirted him until he was better. “My dad went to school there and was on the rodeo team; my best friend Jeff Askey was going to school there, so I figured that was the place to be. The coach (John Luthi 731-514-4630) is really good too.” He made the college finals his freshman year in bareback and steer wrestling. “I missed my sophomore year for knee surgery, but went my junior and senior year.” He graduated with an Ag business degree and plans to be a rodeo coach. “I’d like to rodeo first, and when I slow down, I’d like to coach.”

 

 

Tyler has focused on bareback riding, but has added steer wrestling to his events. He also team ropes and hopes to make a run for the IPRA All Around next year. He stays in shape by doing T25 on his phone at least a couple times a week. He also made the decision to stick closer to home to rodeo, something that has helped him stay healthy. “I think when I was starting, I just went too hard, and that led to some of my injuries,” he said. Tyler travels with his girlfriend, Bri Dubar, the 2017 IPRA Breakaway Champion. “She’s honestly done all the entering, she’s done it all,” he said. “I don’t like the road part of it. I like when you get there, and hanging out with your friends.”

 

His dad knows all about overcoming rodeo injuries. “Its part of rodeo,” said Dave, who owns a fuel and coal business and farms on the side. “I was injury plagued when I rodeoed too – he’s mentally tough and that’s what he wants to do.” Dave and Tyler raise bucking bulls, hauling to 25 rodeos a year around the northeast. Tyler works for his dad in the winter, both in the fuel business and the bucking bulls. “My success is because of my dad – he’s always been there and taught me everything I know about rodeo. He gave me every opportunity he could get me to succeed.”

 

His mom, Cindy, rode English and Western Pleasure and her parents produced a rodeo at Jersey Shore, which is how they met. “My parents put a rodeo on a few times a year,” said Cindy. “It was an open rodeo and lots of people came out.” Cindy knows rodeo is her son’s true passion. “He has a strong will and a good faith and I’m hoping this is his time. I’m very proud of him for going after his dream.” He has two older sisters – Lauren and Courtney –33, and 30; Lauren still runs barrels.

 

Tyler and Bri will both be competing at IFR 49. “When I was a kid, I always wanted to win the world in the IRA It’s been a really good year – I’ve worked really hard to have a year like this.” Tyler wants to be remembered as a good person – an all around good cowboy.

Nate Jestes grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado. “I lived in town and spent my childhood playing sports.” Since the age of 6, Nate played hockey, baseball, and soccer as well as wrestling, track/field, and golf. When he got into high school, he concentrated on football and lacrosse, receiving academic athletic honors all four years. He played on All Star teams along with his older brother, Bryant, and younger sister, Kelli. The closest the bullfighter came to cattle was his summer job at a local sale barn, Centennial, working cattle in the back pen and family visits to his mom’s (Sue) family ranch in Douglas, Wyoming. It was at the family ranch that Nate acquired a love for flying when he flew with his uncle on the ranch.

After high school, Nate pursued his dreams of flying, heading to Bozeman, Montana, and completing a two year Aviation Science program at Montana State University. He got his Associate of Applied Science in Aviation and went on to get his commercial rating and his flight instructor certificate. At the age of 20, he was hired as a flight instructor at Summit Aviation and taught for two years. While Nate was in college, he worked at the Yellowstone Jet Center to learn more about the aviation industry and get his foot in the door. His boss, Al Sanvold, was a professional bullfighter, and Nate tagged along to a couple of his rodeos.

“When I quit playing sports and working out, I missed that athletic side of my life,” said Nate. “When I watched him, I was intrigued and amazed how much athleticism it took to do what he did. I decided I could do that and hit him up about it. I was really interested in learning how to do it.”

 

“Nate is a laid back guy,” said Al, who has now switched careers again; he leases a spot in a barbershop and Red’s Classical Barber is open for business in Belgrade, Montana. “He was one of my most favorite employees, he would do anything I asked; he was quiet and got the work done. When he came to me, I wasn’t sure if he was serious.” After Al realized he was, he agreed to take him down to the (Montana State Rodeo) college practice and teach him how to fight bulls at their practice every Monday and Wednesday. “The first time we went and we were working with a wheelbarrow I knew the kid was going to make it – I didn’t know he’d be a 3x NFR bullfighter. He took to it right away and everything I told him, he put in his memory bank. He has more natural talent than I’ve seen in any student I’ve taught so far.”

“I continued working as a flight instructor for two years and during that time I also worked a few rodeos; high school and then I had an opportunity to do a summer run full of amateur rodeos in North Dakota.”

That is when Nate was faced with another decision. “When I gave my boss my schedule, he said he couldn’t work around it. At 22 years old, my aviation career was on track, and I was getting to the point where I was building enough hours to apply for bigger and better.” The amateur rodeos didn’t pay enough to make up for the loss of his flight instructor career, so he turned again to Al.

“He told me that rodeo was tough and very few people made a living at it, and he told me that I needed to be willing to give up my life to do it – sacrificing my entire aviation career, weddings, funerals, birthday parties,” remembers Nate. “I’ve always followed my heart and it was tugging me towards rodeo and ultimately that was the decision I made.”

He officially switched careers in 2010; moved back to Douglas and worked for his dad (David) in his construction business to fill in the gaps when he wasn’t rodeoing. He worked Montana State High School Finals in Bozeman and Al came to watch. “It had snowed 6 inches the night before and the arena was a mud pit. They hung up about 8 bulls; we had to work that night. Al came up to me and said ‘Nate really, really good job. There’s no doubt in my mind you are ready to get your PRCA card and start fighting bulls at the professional level.’”

 

He got his card in September of 2010 and worked his first PRCA rodeo in White Sulphur Springs. Nate went to the PRCA convention in Las Vegas and spent three days sitting in his booth; nobody showed any interest in this new bullfighter. “The last day, Bob and Marty Barnes hired me for their entire summer run – June – September. I did their run for two years, working for my dad during the off time.”
In 2013, Nate got another big break. “When I was fighting for Barnes we would sell the rodeo with the Mexican fighting bulls. I was down in Sterling, Colorado, at a bull fight and won it.” That is when he met Cody Webster. He was at the event, working for Cervi, and friends with PBR bullfighter Frank Newsom. “He invited me to go to Rex Dunn World Championships in Ardmore, Oklahoma. I made the short round, and ended up winning fourth. That is where my career as a bullfighter started to get some traction.”

Cody worked a lot of rodeos for Powder River and Nate ended up getting hired in 2013 with Cody and the rest is history. “The young man has such a wonderful way about him,” said Lori Franzen, who along with her husband, Hank, own Powder River. “His personality is such that he wants to please – and his ability makes that easy – he’s really good in the arena and such a pleasure to have outside the arena around the crew. And his wife is a doll and a huge supporter of him.”

This marks the third year that the trio, Nate, Cody Webster, and Dusty Tuckness, will fight bulls at the Thomas & Mack. The three work as a team. “We all know what each others doing. When you’re fighting bulls, you’re reacting to the situation. When you have three guys on the same page, it just falls together.”

Nate spent the month of November at the Pitt Training Facility in Bozeman, Montana. Dane Fletcher is a retired linebacker for the New England Patriots, and Nate knew him when he was playing for Montana State. “I heard about this gym that was opening and I reached out to him – I sent him some videos of me fighting bulls, and he put together a workout routine. I try to get up there whenever I can.” His training consists of many things – explosive, deceleration, strength, cardio, stretching – everything. “The sport of rodeo is fast, you have split seconds to make decisions and react; your body has to be able to perform and get there – the speed is crazy.”

Nate is married to Bridget, a kindergarten teacher in Douglas. The couple met through his cousin and their friendship led to a wedding on May 14, 2016. Her teaching schedule works perfectly with his work schedule. Although he only has May and November completely off, his busiest time is from June to September and they travel the rodeo road together during the summer.

“When I started to find success in the rodeo industry, I was only missing one piece of the puzzle in order to take it to the next level. That puzzle piece was found 6 years ago when I met my wife. I just want to thank Bridget for all that she has done for me. She is the backbone to this whole thing, and I wouldn’t be where I’m at without her.”

At the end of his rodeo run, Nate has no plans yet. “I wasn’t raised or led down the path to become a bullfighter. I’ve had the cards stacked against me from day 1… Never be afraid to dream. Chase those dreams, and through hard work, determination, perseverance and resilience anything is possible.”

Mike and Kristy Outhier are continuing the brand that Kristy’s parents began – LA Waters Quarter Horses. “My dad (Lou Waters) put himself through college as a cotton farmer,” said Kristy. “When they moved to Boston, mom (Wanda) helped put him through business school – they had a $20 per week budget for groceries.” The goal was to buy a ranch in Texas and thanks to smart business decisions and a horse named Colonel Freckles, the dream came true. “They had instincts about him – and did lots of research – they bought Colonel Freckles as a young stud and promoted him.” Between his successful business ventures and Colonel Freckles, they were able to build a breeding facility on a 300 acre facility near Houston. “Dad was the backbone and master mind, but mom was the wind beneath the wings, did all the paperwork, and helped pick the crosses that they bred to.” Mike and Kristy are running LA Waters with a stallion, Wild Card Dunnit, that they raised and campaigned. “We won the AQHA Junior Horse of the year in all the roping events in 2006.”

 

Kristy grew up in the horse world, involved in AQHA and cutting, but left that behind when she found polo. “I fell head over heels in that, and went on to Texas AM intercollegiate polo.” After college, she worked for a year, and got hired to play polo professionally. “I spent 5 years hauling – three months at a time, playing across the United States.” For Kristy, polo was the best of sports – it incorporated her love of horses, which she trained, to her passion for competing. “To have a sport with a ball in the competition – all that goes into your strategy on the field, and then it’s multiplied by your horse and horsemanship. It’s like driving race cars – if you’re good at it, you still have to have a good car.”

She was competing in Calgary Canada when she met Mike – both in their 20s. “I didn’t know a thing about rodeo, except it existed and here comes this guy.” Mike was traveling with a friend of his (Johnny Pollock) and his wife (Tori) introduced them. “He stopped by the barn while I was riding one of my ten horses. He offered to jump on one of my horses, English saddle and all. Away we went, and four months later we were engaged.”

She continued playing polo and Mike kept rodeoing. “I would go somewhere riding 18 hours a day – it wasn’t glorious. Mike would fly in when he could.” She took time off when their oldest, Madison, was born, but went back to polo shortly after. “I was out of the country a lot; England, Argentina, and other countries, and that was hard on the family.” Madi watched her play on the US Team in the Queen’s Cup last year in England. She played her last polo match last year, retiring to stay home with her family and help Mike with the horses that they train and sell.

Mike started competing at the age of 7. His dad (Milburn) was an IPRA bareback riding champion, and Mike was born into the rodeo world. “I remember going to the rodeos with my dad,” said Mike. “I’d be behind the chutes, rosin in hand. I was always around the chutes. I craved it my whole life.” His dad taught him how to do all the events – having competed in them himself. “All week we rode outside horses for other people, and then go rodeo on the weekend.” He had two younger sisters (Lynnsi and Amy) who started rodeoing when they got older. When he started entering the junior rodeos and high school, his mom (Deena) and grandpa (John Salsbury) would haul him. Mike competed in both ends of the arena, bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and steer roping. He was also a four time IFYR All Around Cowboy (1993, 94, 95, 96). Mike entered his first IPRA at the age of 15 and went to the IFR, winning the All Around in 1995, 1996, and 1997. He is a pro rodeo cowboy in the NFR as well as the IPRA. From Oklahoma, Mike was the PRCA Resistol Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie of the Year in1998. He made four appearances in the NFR, 2001 – 2004, competing in saddle bronc riding. He won the PRCA Linderman Award twice; 2004 and 2007. Most recently, he was inducted into the International Finals Youth Rodeo (IFYR) Hall of Fame in 2007.

He finished his strongest NFR ever in 2004 and started off 2005 winning many of the major rodeos in Bronc riding. He was in the top 5 in the world standings going into the big summer run. He and his traveling partner, Taos Muncy, had to rent a jet to make it to several rodeos in a few day stretch. The two were up at Window Rock, Arizona with a huge week ahead of them when time stopped for Mike. He finished a picture perfect ride and hit the ground right after the whistle, when a pick up man ran smooth over Mike crashing him head on with the chest of his horse at full speed. Mike had to be carried out of the arena and put in an ambulance straight to the hospital. When he came to, he never regained full use of his left shoulder, his riding arm. After months of doctors and studies it was known that the blow had damaged all the nerves that attach the neck and shoulder. It was devastating to Mike and Kristy, as their lives suddenly changed. “Both of us have battled injuries and we always bounced back. Every time it just brought us closer and you learn to really appreciate each other when you are down physically.”

He rode a bronc last year, and still competes in team roping and steer roping, but has concentrated his time on training horses and coaching his two children as well as many others in rodeo.

 

Madison, Madi, is 16 and competes in all the events. She went to every NFR since she was born and by the time she was four, she was riding around the barrels on her own. “Her biggest love in life is roping, and she just completed her best year as a breakaway roper,” said Kristy. Between rodeo and school, she works hard to be at the top of her game. She is an AP student, taking a full load at school. “She is so much like her dad, but she also has varsity basketball, and of course, she got into polo big time – there’s not enough hours in the day.” Madi competes in the Texas High School Rodeo, TYRA, and YRA. She is headed to her third year at the Junior NFR, competing in breakaway. Her rope horse was raised and trained on the ranch and her barrel and pole horses were bought as yearlings by Mike’s father – they are now 22 and 15. They are working on young ones for Madi as she progresses in rodeo.

She learned rodeo from her dad. “He’s really taught me how to be a humble winner and never take winning for granted. Just because you have a winning day doesn’t mean you always will. He’s been my only mentor in breakaway and I’ve had a bunch of success in that and I owe all of that to him.” Last year she won the Junior NFR in Vegas in the breakaway, also the Cody Ohl’s 15 and under and the Joe Beaver. ”I definitely thank my mom and dad – anywhere I want to go, they take me.”

Her younger brother, Ace, is five years younger, 11, and rides well but his passion is sports and fishing. “Ace is our bigtime fisherman,” said Kristy. “He just won 3rd runner up in his first ever state wide fishing tournament this year. He has the talent of a professional fisherman and has the passion for it.”

Mike and Kristy head to the “office” every day – the barn – riding and training anywhere from ten to 20 horses each day. The foals start selling from their yearling year through to the two-year-olds that Mike has started. “We keep one or two,” said Kristy.

Along with the performance horses, Mike raises bucking horses. “I used to wait for my folks to leave and buck all the steers at the house – I like the idea of being a stock contractor and messing with livestock.” He bought his first set of horses at the IFR Bucking Horse Sale in 1996. “I liked to have them around to buck.” He sold them, and three years later, he found some good blood from Ike Sankey, and started again. “I had some stock contractors take a chance on me and buy some of my horses. I raise them until they are three, after they’ve been dummied twice and ridden once. We take them to our family annual ranch rodeo, the Utopia Ranch Rodeo – which has been going on for 16 years.” The town of Utopia has gotten behind the event and with a crowd of more than 1,000 watching the Memorial Day event. The horses head to pasture for the summer and in the fall, they sell them all. Stace Smith, Pete Carr, Scottie Lovelace, and HiLo Rodeo have all bought horses from Mike. “Several of my horses have been to the NFR – Betty Boop, ridden by Tim O’Connell won a round last year. Sweet Maria has been high mark horse of the night. It’s been crazy – one year Raised the calf horse, sold him to my buddy who rode him at the NFR, plus I had bucking horses there as well. That’s pretty cool.”

From bucking horses to performance horses, from polo to fishing – the Outhier family is on the go. “I couldn’t be happier to be building a breeding program and helping my kids succeed,” concludes Kristy. “I feel so lucky to have a great man at home and a great family and life ahead!”

Annelle (Nellie) Miller gets home as often as she can. “This year I didn’t have to travel near as much,” said the mother of two. “We had a pretty good start in the winter so we could pick and choose where we wanted to go.” Nellie has fit motherhood into her NFR run perfectly. “They travel with me most of the time.” That family includes James Miller, General Manager of Red Bluff Roundup, and their two daughters; Payton is 6 and Hadley is 3. “Since they aren’t in school yet, they can go with me. My parents are a huge factor in this too – her dad, Sam Williams, trains her horses, and her mom, Roxy often goes down the road to help with the girls. She has two brothers, Clint and Wyatt.

She competes on her horse, Sister, a 10-year-old blue roan mare, Sire: KS Cash N Fame/Dam: Espuela Roan. “I have so much confidence in her,” said the 30-year-old who is making her third appearance to the Thomas and Mack arena this December, with career earnings of $533,276. The duo won Cheyenne Frontier Days in spite of a run around the barrels in the hail. “I knew she was going to work no matter what. My main plan was to push her through that hail – my cowboy hat helped block it a little bit and luckily it wasn’t too big. We definitely felt it – honestly I don’t remember much about it, I was just trying to get through it.” Back home in California now, Nellie is doing mom stuff. “I’m riding a few horses and I’ll go to the Circuit Finals, but until December, I’m home. “ The road to her third WNFR qualification started when she was a little girl.
Nellie started riding about the age of ten. Roxy took it upon herself to take her daughter to some gymkhanas and once she started, the whole family pitched in. Sam is a self-taught horse trainer. “I’ve had a few mentors along the way; Tom Johnson, Bob Nelson and his wife, and I picked up a little bit from everybody, learning where I could from anybody.” Sam breaks all the horses they use on the ranch and roping trail. “I rope and my boy ropes too. Nellie started out roping and the barrels just happened,” he said. “You have great hopes for all of the horses you ride, but until you put them on the clock, you never know. Sister was a real good mare to break and ride – real confident. I was tying cattle out in the field when she was four – very willing and not afraid. To run at the PRCA level, you have to have a horse that can do anything. She tries hard every time. So does Nellie – she doesn’t weaken an ounce.”

Nellie rodeoed through high school, competing in team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping, pole bending and goat tying, although goat tying was her least favorite event. She made the high school finals in barrel racing all four years, but only traveled to it three times. “My last year it was in Springfield, way far away, and the horse I was on was a real good horse at state level, but not at a national level, so we decided not to go. Her parents, Parents are Sam and Roxy Williams and brothers are Clint and Wyatt…Father Sam trained her horse Blue Duck which was a homegrown horse and started out as Sam’s roping horse.”
Nellie went on to college rodeo at UNLV in Las Vegas, winning the region and second at the CNFR. “I never made it in the roping, just barrels.” She had a great horse in Blue Duck AKA Rebas Smokey Joe (Registered name), half brother to Sister, and made the decision to start rodeing professionally on him. She filled her permit on 2008, but Blue Duck got hurt midyear and they went home. “He came back the following year and did OK and in 2010 we made the NFR.” Nellie has no words to describe her first trip to Vegas. “You never know until you experience it for yourself. It was a real learning experience. We struggled that week. We didn’t know what to expect.” The duo won second in the first round, and after that they were one out of the money every night for five or six nights, and then it went downhill.

The bright spot in that year is she met James Miller, who worked for one of her sponsors. They got married one year later in Las Vegas. Payton was born in 2012 and they moved to California in 2013 for the position that James accepted as GM for Red Bluff RoundUp. Hadley was born and Blue Duck was getting older and Nellie was starting to work with Sister, but she wasn’t quite ready for life on the road. “She had a lot of potential and had what it took to be a rodeo horse, so when she came on, we hit the trail.”
The family lives in Cottonwood, California, two hours from the Oregon border. The small town has a lot of team ropers and barrel racers, but it’s not the California that people generally think of. “It’s rural and ranching.” Nellie was raised there, but James made the trip across the country from his home state of Florida. “I kind of joke about James – he hit California and had more friends than I did – and I lived here my whole life. He’s got a lot to do with the community and the town and it’s fun to be a part of all that.”
Both girls have ponies and they are already talking about barrel racing. For now, Nellie and Sister are at home making sure they are legged up for Vegas. “We raised Sister and have a whole family of horses related to her – I’ve been running her since she was six, and she’s consistent and always fires. She’s special!” Nellie’s secret to being on the road is simple. “I just try to do my own thing and if it works out that I win great and if not, that’s the way it goes. I don’t get wrapped up in beating anyone.”