Rodeo Life

Category: Archive

  • ProFile: Chuck Kinney

    ProFile: Chuck Kinney

    Chuck Kinney appreciates the Rodeo Clown Reunions, and plans on seeing his old friends at the 2021 event, to be held at Colorado Springs August 5-8, and the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo in Castle Rock, Colorado as well as the ProRodeo Hall of Fame & Museum of the American Cowboy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
    Kinney is one of those “old-timers” whose body might show its age, but whose mind is bright, alive and fresh.
    The retired rodeo clown grew up the son of Cotton Kinney, who owned Kinney Bros. Rodeo Co., alongside Cotton’s brother, Edward Lee Kinney. He traveled with his family across the nation as the family produced rodeos from coast to coast.
    In 1969, when Kinney was twelve, Cotton and Edward Lee sold the business, ending their pro rodeo days but keeping enough stock to provide for youth events.
    And Chuck resolved to take the Kinney name back to the National Finals Rodeo, in one way or another.
    “I set my goals to go to the NFR in something,” he said. “I didn’t know what, and I didn’t care what, but I was going to get there one way or another.”
    He competed in all the events but was better at the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding. After high school graduation in 1975, he didn’t want to go to college so went to work. After a year of punching a time clock, he changed his mind. “I thought, no I need to go to college. This ain’t no fun.”
    Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, offered him a full ride, so he took it, graduating in 1982 with a bachelors in animal science.
    By this point, he was fighting bulls and rodeo clowning, with one of his early gigs working with Mack Altizer of Bad Company Rodeo. He saw the Wrangler Bullfights and the freestyle bullfighting, and petitioned a friend, Miles Hare, to help him get on the Wrangler Tour. In 1988, his first year on the tour, he finished in the top six in the world, qualifying for the National Finals. “Whether I was first or last,” he said, “it didn’t matter. I had the Kinney name back at the Finals.”
    The next year, he began working for other contractors, building his business.
    Then the unspeakable happened. It was 1989, and he had worked the Salt Lake City rodeo, when Clint Branger, Cody Lambert, Tuff Hedeman, Jim Sharp and Lane Frost asked to shower in his hotel room after the rodeo. By 2 am, they were headed to Cheyenne and the fateful day when Lane would leave this earth.
    Chuck saw Lane’s accident happen, and it changed him. His daughter, Devin, was born the year before, and it got him thinking. “I thought, I’ve accomplished everything I need to do. Lightning is striking pretty close to home. I might need to rethink this.”
    So he retired in 1990. The only way he could retire was by not buying his PRCA card, so he could tell committees “no.”
    Chuck went back to college and ended up as an agriculture teacher. He was teaching what he knew as a bullfighter: animal psychology. “You have to know how an animal thinks before you can control him,” he said. He added more to his curriculum: butchering, welding, woodworking and other facets of ag.
    He taught for nearly 29 years in three parishes: Singer High School, rebuilding their ag program; Sulphur High School, starting their ag program, and Hackberry High School in Cameron Parish.
    “I told people I teach life,” he said, “how to make a living, how to use your hands, and how to use your head.”
    Newly retired the end of February, he’s found plenty to keep him busy. He and wife Tina’s place was hit by two major hurricanes last year, and there is still tree damage to clean up and buildings to repair. He also fishes nearly every day with his twelve-year-old grandson, Gavin. Grandpa Chuck enters him in junior bass master tournaments and youth fishing league tournaments, and “he wins,” Chuck said. “We’ve been fishing since he was three years old. He fishes. I don’t have to fish. I just have to drive the boat. That’s the way I like it.”
    He attended the Rodeo Clown Reunion when it was in Stephenville, Texas, and looks forward to this year’s reunion. He hears stories about Kinney Bros. Rodeo, told from the men who worked with his dad and uncle. He loves seeing his peers, too.
    He soaks up the newsletter written by Gail Woerner, on retired rodeo clowns, bullfighters, and acts. “I read it every time, from top to bottom.”
    The best part of rodeo for him is the friendships and the camaraderie. He talks to Miles Hare nearly every day, and Mike Horton and Rob Smets regularly. He tries to stay in touch with his friends.
    The rodeo life is like the old song, “the road goes on forever and the party never ends,” he thinks. “Ain’t nobody lived a better life than mine,” he said. “I just retired last week and from what I’ve heard, it’s fixin’ to get even better.”
    In addition to Gavin, Chuck and Tina have a granddaughter, Kynsie, who is nine, and a step-grandson, Brye Burnett. Devin’s husband is Brandon Burnett.

  • On The Trail with Jackie Crawford

    On The Trail with Jackie Crawford

    Multi-talented Jackie Crawford won the 2020 WPRA (Womens Professional Rodeo Association) Breakaway Roping world title by less than $2,000. Her performance at the first ever Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping held in Arlington, Texas, propelled the 38-year-old to win her 20th (WPRA) World title. This isn’t her first Breakaway World Championship, she has won the WPRA title in 2016 and 2014. She is the second most decorated member of WPRA, trailing the late Wanda Harper Bush, also an inductee of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, who won 32 titles during her rodeo career. Jackie’s other titles have been in All-Around, Team Roping, Tie-Down Roping plus she also barrel raced.

    The National Finals Rodeo, held in December happened to coincide with Jackie being six month pregnant with her daughter, due in March. “At first I wasn’t sure if I would compete. It was a bittersweet feeling because we have worked so hard and been on this journey to bring breakaway to this level; so to watch the inaugural year from the sidelines would have been tough. After much discussion with my family, doctor, and prayers, I told myself as long as I was comfortable, I was going to compete!”

    Jackie makes her home in Stephenville, Texas, with her husband, Charly; their daughter, Kaydence, age 16; and three year old Creed. The 38 year-old said, “I cut the horn off my saddle, to protect the baby. I trust my horse, T-Boy, so much and had so much confidence in him.” She had continued to compete three years ago until she was five and a half months pregnant with her son, Creed.

     

    The National Finals Breakaway Roping event was ten rounds, then they took the top eight into a shoot-out round, followed by the top four. Jackie managed it all. She even went back to the judges in Round 5 and admitted she had an illegal catch (the calf’s back leg in the loop) that the judges did not catch. The judges listened and changed her score to a ‘no-time’. But in spite of her honesty, winning $25,536 with two go-round wins, and placing in four rounds, she came out on top, with a total for the year of $47,185.
    Jackie thought the National Finals event was an awesome time. “I was suppose to be on that journey . . . what a way to end on a high and take a break!” She and Charly have named the ‘soon to be born little girl’ Journey.

    “My mom (Annette) and dad (Mark Hobbs) rodeoed in Illinois. My dad and his brother are the only two to win the National High School Finals Team Roping from Illinois.” Jackie explained that her mom cut the middle out of a foam pillow, for the saddle horn, and that is where she rode. Her mother was well known for training barrel and roping horses and she was inducted into the Murray State College Rodeo Hall of Fame. “You can’t have a cake without the ingredients – in other words, it took a good work ethic, dedication, horses, coaches, and sacrifice – you have to be willing to put it first,” said Annette, who got her work ethic from her dad.

    Jackie began competing in junior rodeos in barrel racing, poles and flags. When they moved to Oklahoma she added roping. “I was drawn to it – I was meant to be a roper. I turned my barrel horse into a roping horse. I started competing my sophomore year in high school.”

    Before they moved to Oklahoma her mom worked at Fairmont Park Race Track in Collinsville, Illinois. In Oklahoma she went to work for Blue Ribbon Downs, in Sallisaw, while she studied to be a radiologist. Jackie began working there cleaning stalls when she was 14. She got her pony license at 16. “To this day I have scars on by body from ponying horses. It taught me to appreciate a good minded horse and what those horses are, and what they do and how athletic they are.”

    Her first team roping horse came from the track. “I team roped and barrel raced off that big impressive bay gelding,” she said. “I sold him to buy my first truck – a 1996 extended-cab Dodge. It was the coolest thing in the world to me; I got to go to college from that horse.” She had several full scholarships from colleges in her area of Oklahoma. “Wanting to be the best and being so competitive I wanted to go to the toughest place there was. I knew the southern region was the toughest region. I took a scholarship for less money to go to Vernon Regional Junior College, Texas.” As she expected the competition was something she’d never seen before. She did win the NIRA Breakaway Roping Championship which helped the Women’s Team win that year, as well. “Iron sharpens iron and that was my mentality.”

    Jackie then went on to Tarleton State University, in Stephenville, TX, with her best friend in college, Tessie McMullan Doyle. They pushed each other every day to become better competitors. Their women’s team won the National title their senior year, 2005
    After college she went to work for Lari Dee Guy, in Abilene, TX, riding colts training roping horses, whatever was necessary. She admits she learned a lot. In 2009 Trevor Brazile won the calf roping and team roping on Sans Diamond Shine at the World Show and the owner of the horse sent us a bunch of that stud’s colts to train. “They were all good horses and I bought T-Boy out of that group,” she said. At first they didn’t get along. “He was so quirky, and we went through a battle,” she admits. “I had the feeling there was something about him – he isn’t fancy. He was a problem and hard to get to work, but he had an ability to win.” When he was five she took him to Joe’s Boot Shop that had a five-header and he won. He has been taking her to the pay window for a decade. Today she says, “He’s just a phenomenal horse. I don’t think anyone can dispute the fact he’s probably the highest money-earning horse ever in breakaway roping. He’s just a winner.”

    Jackie met Charly through the roping world. She was dating a mutual friend of his. “I thought she was a buckle bunny,” said Charly. “It turned out that wasn’t the case at all. We became friends and had a lot of things in common. One year she needed a head horse for the World Series Finale in Vegas so I let her use one of mine, and it went from there – I could tell right way it was a fit.”

    Charly started roping at a young age in Canby, Oregon. He roped with his dad and made it to the National High School Finals three times. He graduated in 1996 and went to Central Arizona College for two years. “I got my PRCA permit when I was 17 but didn’t have enough horses to really compete.” He bought his PRCA card in 1998 and won the Resistol Rookie (header) of the Year in Team Roping. He’s made 10 appearances at the National Finals which included 2020, when he and his partner, Logan Medlin, won the 7th go-round. He plans to slow down and concentrate on his family, his roping schools and clinics. “I’ve gotten five heelers to the NFR so I figure I better take that talent and use it to put on schools and lessons. My daughter wants to make the UPRA and CPRA finals this year so I want to help her as well as help Jackie however I can. I’m good with being a good dad and husband.”

    Jackie graduated with a degree in Business Administration, which she admits has helped her with communication, sponsorships, and everything else that goes with rodeo. She has hired Cheyenne Britain that acts as Jackie’s ‘right hand man’. “She helps me saddle, unsaddle, drive and everything in between. “I hired an agent and a social media person,” Jackie explained. Charly and Jackie are restructuring their program so they can do the things a replacement can’t do. “Nobody can replace a mother, a dad, wife, husband or a competitive roper,” she said.

    Creed has grown up in the arena. “We have huge play areas set up inside a 10×20 chain link fence; slides, jungle gyms, etc.,” said Jackie. “In between horses, we play and do what we need to do.” The plan is to keep going. “Our biggest goal as a family is not to be broke cowboys – rodeo doesn’t have a 401K.” Jackie’s initial goals were to be in the conversation of the greatest women ropers in the world and get inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Now that the doors are opening to breakaway roping opportunities, her goals are changing, but in the end she wants “to know that no matter what, I’ve accomplished the things, I’ve worked for. I did it and stamped my place in history … a sigh of relief that the first NFBR is in the books. Let’s rock on and keep this ball rolling. I’m so fortunate to do this – I get to be with my kids. Even though we are working, we are all together as a family all day. How many people get to say that.”

    “My vision for myself is continuing to help put this sport in a position that when I’m too old to do it, I’m sitting in the gold buckle seats watching my daughters roping at NFR.”

     

    CHAMPIONSHIP WINS
    2020 National Finals Breakaway Roping
    2016, 2014 Womens Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) Breakaway Roping
    WPRA All-Around 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009 & 2008
    WPRA Team Roping 2016, 2014
    WPRA Tie-Down Roping 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008

    2003 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Breakaway Roping for Vernon Regional Junior College
    2003 National Woman’s Team for Vernon Regional Junior College
    2005 National Woman’s Team for Tarleton State University
    2000 Oklahoma State Champion Breakaway Roper
    2020 Betty Gayle Cooper Ratliff Fast-Time Award see story on pg 43
    Sponsors:
    American Hat, Ariat, Smarty, Hay Chix, Classic Equine, Rattler rope, Classic rope, Martin Saddlery, LubiSyn, Chute Help, Plaza Hotel and Casino, Total Feeds

  • New Year Resolutions

    I hope everyone is off to a productive and prosperous start to their New Year. I hope everyone is crushing their goals and sticking to their New Years resolutions. According to some research I did, less than 8% of people actually stick to their resolutions. Most people don’t even make it two full months with their goals. Listen, if you have made a resolution and are crushing it and sticking to it, that is great. I’m proud of you. On the other hand, if you have fallen short of your goals for the new year, have gotten a little lazy, missed a few days, and have given up on your resolution, it’s not too late to pick it back up and crush that goal!
    I prayed about my resolutions for the year. What did I want to change in my life? What would make me a better person? What would make my life better in 2021 than in 2020? After some serious praying and searching I came up with two resolutions and one word to work on for the year. My resolutions were to read the Bible completely through front to back, and to compliment my wife every single day. My word for the year to work on was prayer. Now, I would be lying if I’ve said I’ve hit every single day, but to date, the end of January, I’m over half way through the book of Exodus, and I haven’t missed more than three days of compliments to my wife, and my prayer life has grown significantly.
    Now, whether your goals and resolutions were weight loss, money saving, more organization, less social media time, or whatever it may be, I’m going to give a few tips that have helped me out to stay on track.
    First, with goal setting or resolutions I think it is important to set them for the right reasons. It’s important to set goals that have deep meaning to you, rather than what is expected of you or what someone else wants of you. When we set goals that are important to us, they will stick with us in the back of our mind. We will strive for them daily because we actually want to accomplish them. When we miss a day or get to slacking, if they really have meaning to us we will pick back up and try again because we actually want to accomplish them or make the change. For me, reading the whole Bible is something I have not done that I really want to accomplish. I figured daily time in my bible will be good for my spiritual relationship with God. With my complimenting my wife resolution, that would make me think of something that I like about my wife everyday. She would see that I notice her more and that I am proud of her. It would also be a positive note to her day. Both of these resolutions have great meaning to me.
    Next, I have found what helps me with my goals is to make a plan and set smaller goals to achieve the big goal. We can become overwhelmed with the big goal; Lose fifty pounds, read the whole Bible, or save five thousand dollars. But, when we break it down and make a plan to actually achieve the goal, it makes it more realistic. If your goal is weight loss, it might be to loose five pounds a month by changing your diet, working out for an hour a day and four days a week, and loose five pounds a month. If it is saving money, it might be to budget your money, find something that you are spending money on that you could live without, and put five dollars a week in a piggy bank. For me it was to find a reading plan that guided me through the whole Bible in a year, and be setting time aside in the morning to do my Bible reading. Whatever you goals are, break them down, make a plan, and build the obedience and habit to stick to your plan.
    Third, document your progress. I have found it can be hard to stick to your goals if you aren’t seeing progress. Keep track of your successes. Make a calendar and check it off when you have accomplished it for the day, week, or month. Take weekly pictures or videos, ect. When you track your progress and see the improvements it keeps you motivated.
    Lastly, I think it is important to reward ourselves for achievements along the way. Look, resolutions are a marathon not a sprint. They are habits that require obedience. It is OK to reward yourself for being obedient and sticking to your goals. If it is dieting and weight loss and you have not missed a work out in three months and have lost fifteen pounds, take a rest day and eat a candy bar or have a cheat meal. If it is saving five hundred dollars a month and you have done that for three months, go buy yourself something small that you have wanted but couldn’t afford. Resolutions should not be all about hard work and no fun. That is why it is important to reward yourself. Occasional rewards provide tangible proof that your resolution plan is working.
    Resolutions and goal setting can seem like a daunting task. If you struggle with keeping resolutions or goals it’s OK. I promise it’s not a lost cause. The most important thing is to keep trying and to never give up on getting better. Keep trying, keep going at it, and don’t weaken!
    “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”
    Colossians 3:23-24

  • On The Trail with Rider Kiesner

    On The Trail with Rider Kiesner

    Rider Kiesner has performed in every state and 15 different countries. “When I turned nine I got a Will Rogers trick roping kit for Christmas,” said the 29-year-old from Ripley, Oklahoma. Rider grew up as a fifth generation cowboy on his dad’s side and third generation on his mom’s side. He was competing in Youth and Little Britches rodeos, winning his first buckle when he was just 5 years old. Today he is a two time World Champion All Around Western Performer, four time World Champion Trick Roper, as well as a two time World Champion Gun Spinner. He has performed at the NFR seven times as well as the Ram National Circuit Finals and several circuit finals.

    He mastered the art of trick roping by pushing the living room furniture back and watching instructional videos over and over until he mastered each trick. “My dad (Phillip) trained Arab English horses and had as many as 30 horses in training.” His great great grandfather leased out horses and had a turn of the century full city block, three stories tall. The bottom floor held all the horses; the second and third floors were for the wagons. He leased out horses to all sorts of companies that needed horses to deliver things.

     

    “My grandfather would stop at wherever the train would stop and unload ten teams, based on whatever the logging camp needed.” said Phillip. “They would check them in and go to the next one. He had around 2,500 head of horses in Northern Minnesota that were used for loggers.”

    Phillip’s dad trained saddle bred horses in the late 60s and 70s, and then switched to Arabs – that’s where the money was. Phillip grew up training horses. He also competed in high school rodeo in saddle bronc riding. He met his wife, Julie, who was the Minnesota High School rodeo queen and qualified for the National High School Finals all four years and was state champion in barrel racing. They met when they were 24 and 25 and married within a year. They took a job training Arabs in Oregon and got into cutting and reined cow horses. “We moved around a lot training quarter horses,” said Phillip. “Rider was born in California. Roper was born in Colorado.” Phillip trained out of Randy Dunn’s (Bath Brothers Ranch) ranch in Laramie and trained for notable breeders as the Merritt’s in Laramie, Wyoming.

    Rider had gone to kindergarten in Laramie, the school was 30 miles west of Laramie and there were 13 kids enrolled. “They taught us to say yes ma’am and no ma’am,” said Rider. The family moved to Penrose, Colorado, and bought a house with 80 acres, where they continued to train horses and give riding lessons. After Sept. 11, 2001, it all stopped. “We got one gift each,” said Rider, whose gift was a trick roping set. The family was forced to sell their place and start down another path. “We started doing a mini Wild West show at rodeos. Dad started with cowboy mounted shooting, adding clowning and I would do rope tricks, and Roper did the trick riding. That’s how we made a living until I was 18.” The family booked enough little rodeos to fill their card. By 2005 the family was working some of the most prestigious rodeo in the PRCA. Not only did the family spend four months in Bejing, China in 2004 producing rodeos, but “my dad produced the first rodeo in Lebanon. It was really fun.” The family did everything during the rodeo. “I was the bull fighter .. we were in charge of the back pens and competed in every event … that was in 2010 – I was 18 Roper was 16.”

    Julie’s role was throwing props, occasional mounted shooting and keeping it all together. She also kept all four paint horses white along with the four white shirts. She also home schooled both boys. “I’d bathe them in the mud and snow – we lived on the road full time for ten years – we started with a four horse trailer with a four foot dressing room. The only splurge we did was an air conditioner … we all slept in the gooseneck of that trailer. It was the time of our lives .. we were all together and we had everything with us. It was absolutely phenomenal.” Julie still competes in barrel racing.

    “I am certain that God has a bigger plan … none of this would have happened if we hadn’t gone broke after 9/11,” said Phillip. “It was such a huge blessing – unanswered prayers… there was nothing I could do. It opened up the world to all of us.”

     

    They got their pro cards as team ropers. “I always thought I was going to be a team roper, but God had other plans.” Roper rides saddle broncs – and has gone to the Prairie Circuit finals 8 times. He makes knives (see page 114) The brothers often end up at the same rodeo. “We played golf and tennis yesterday.”

    Rider has added barrel man and clowning to his skills. “I was so bad as a clown at the first…I’m not funny and I don’t want to die.” He’s gotten better at it over time. “I do all the walk and talk – I try to make my own twist on it – I do fire eating and juggle – I’ve been doing that since I was six. I was also the 2012 Kansas State YoYo champion, so I do that too.” Rider remembers hearing Flint Rasmussen saying he made his own twist on rodeo clowns, so Rider took that to heart. “I like to perform – I have a lot of tricks and props and jokes.”

    The pandemic has been challenging for Rider. “I lost all my rodeos, but I got on the phone and hustled to get some other rodeos. I did a handful of rodeos and that filled in the gap. I did a lot of driving – from Florida to Montana. I had a better year than most, so I’m grateful.” He performed at the Cervi ranch last month. “Cervi is one of the biggest stock contractors that hired me – that was a pretty short notice and he called me up and asked if I would do it. He didn’t have to have acts – so for him to have me and perform at his house – he’s one of many stock contractors that have done a lot for me. I felt like I was performing at Dances with Wolves … it was awesome.”

    Rider has been nominated for Coors Man of the Year as well as nominated for Dress Act of the Year for the seventh year. “I’ve built a truck with a stage on it; I’ve got pyro on it, and I do a lot of trick roping on my horse. Bethany and I are on the road, so I’ve got all the acts as a bigger wild west show act … just like I did as a kid. Without God, none of this would be possible.”

     

    Bethany Iles

    “He’s the guy I’m going to end up with,” said Bethany Iles, who started 13 years ago as a trick rider. “My family was not rodeo – we had the white picket fence house.” After taking horseback lessons at 9, for about three months, the lady who was her coach now was about to get married and they put on a little trick riding show for the people trail riding. “My twin sister (Brittany) and I decided that’s what we wanted to do. We took lessons from her and about a year later we were doing some rodeos around Missouri.” When they were 18, they started trying to get their pro card. “She had a couple wrecks; she broke her back and neck and that stopped her trick riding.”

    Bethany went out on her own and has now joined up with Rider. “We have a lot of the same goals – dress act of the year and always to be better. I’m always working to improve to be better at what I do. Both Karen Vold and Linda Schotlz inspired me. I love God and He has been a big part of what we do. I want to be a light for Him and being an example is what I want to do.”

     

     

  • Back When They Bucked with Bob Hagel

    Back When They Bucked with Bob Hagel

    As a kid, all Bob Hagel wanted to do was be horseback.
    The saddle bronc rider, now a resident of Mobridge, S.D., was born on Feb. 25, 1935 and grew up in Ft. Pierre, riding horses at his maternal uncle’s ranch every minute he wasn’t in school.
    When he was six years old, his dad, Carl Hagel, took a construction job in Rapid City, S.D., and the family moved.
    Bob hated it. There were no horses to ride in Rapid City, so, every summer, he went back to his uncle’s to ride. “The day school got out, I went to Ft. Pierre,” he remembered. His mother, Marion Hagel, knew the bus driver personally, “so she’d put me on the bus, and I’d stay (in Ft. Pierre) till the day before school started, and then I’d come back home.”
    Two days after his fourteenth birthday, his mother died, and Bob’s life changed. His incentive to stay in school waned, and in 1952, Bob packed his suitcase and hitchhiked to Ft. Pierre and his uncle’s.
    His uncle and aunt bought a ranch near Lake Andes, S.D., and they made him an offer: if Bob would go with them and finish high school, they’d get him started in the cattle business. But Bob had a girlfriend, so he stayed in Ft. Pierre.
    In 1953, at a dance at the Timber Lake rodeo, he met a pretty black-haired woman and danced with her. Audrey Ducheneaux and he dated for three years, and on March 30, 1956, they married.

    They lived in Timber Lake for several years, Audrey working in the soil conservation office and he working for ranchers and then for the Rural Electric Association as a lineman. He worked in Wyoming on oil rigs, and then a lineman job came up in Flasher, N.D., so they moved. In North Dakota, Audrey worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and then for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service) office.
    It was before he married when Bob was introduced to saddle bronc riding. He was running around with his future brother-in-law, Delbert Lamb, a bronc rider.
    Bob got on practice horses, and at a bucking horse sale in McLaughlin, S.D., he won first place and a buckle. His career was started.
    He ran into Mervel Hall, an accomplished bronc rider, who offered to take Bob with him rodeoing. “Mervel said, ‘I’ll pack you for twenty-five percent,’ and I said, ‘I’ll do that.’” A week later, Mervel was in Fargo but Bob had no way to get there. So he caught a ride with Emerson Chase, another bronc rider. They competed at the Badlands Saddle Club Rodeo, where Bob won first, and Emerson told him, “you stay with me and we’ll go to Florida this winter, to rodeo.”
    But Bob had made a promise to Mervel, so he and Hall took off, along with Dale Harper, a bareback rider from Carson, N.D. They rodeoed across Arizona and southern California, coming home in the spring.
    Bob was never more than a weekend cowboy, he said. He considered joining the RCA, the Rodeo Cowboys Association, predecessor to today’s PRCA, but he didn’t. “I was married, I had a job, and I knew damn well I could make more money working.”
    He competed in the South Dakota Rodeo Association, the North Dakota Rodeo Association, the Northwest Ranch Cowboys Association, and the International Rodeo Association. He finished as the SDRA’s reserve champion in 1961, to Bud Day, and in 1962, to Willie Cowan.
    At the time, the IRA (predecessor to today’s International Pro Rodeo Association), co-approved SDRA rodeos, and Bob qualified for their finals, held in Chicago, in 1962. He finished the year as reserve champion, one point behind Buzz Seely. It was the old-style of scoring at the time; Bob scored 172 points in the second round aboard a little black stripe-faced horse named Rastus, to win the round; Seely had 173 points in the third round to win the rodeo. Seely went on to win the bronc riding at the National Finals Rodeo in 1969.
    At the age of 85, Bob remembers the horses he got on and the rodeos he went to like they were yesterday. His favorite bucking horse was Dakota Chief, a horse owned by O’Leary Brothers and Annis, stock contractors. He won second on him, to Dean Reeves, at the IRA finals in Chicago, in a round. He recalls the horse, a Roman nosed bay named Friday, who he rode while doctoring for screwworms on his uncle’s ranch when he was in his teens, and his first horse, an old bay named Buster, which “I rode all day.”

    He got on his last horse in 1967, when he was 32 years old. He and Audrey had just moved to North Dakota, and he was on call every other weekend for the electric company. “You can’t rodeo that way,” he said, “so I just quit. But my powder was getting damp anyway.”
    All these years later, he still misses the friends and the competition of rodeo. “The thing I missed the most when it came to an end, was not seeing them guys every weekend, and the B.S., and what goes along with rodeo. It was hard to get used to.”
    He and Audrey raised two sons: Clayton and Todd. Todd lives in Bismarck with his wife Lynn and their two sons and a daughter. Clayton lives in Ft. Yates with his wife Maria and their two sons. (Two of their sons have passed away.) Todd was never interested in rodeo, Bob said, but Clayton was, and Clayton did well, winning a state high school title, two NDRA titles, and a Great Plains Rodeo Association title, all in the saddle bronc riding. Clayton and Todd were among 59 first cousins on the Ducheneaux side, and one time, at the Timber Lake Rodeo, there were eleven first cousins riding saddle broncs, with Clayton included.
    Audrey was the best thing that happened to him, Bob said. They were married sixty-two years before she passed away from cancer in 2018. “She was a good woman and a hard worker,” he said. “She never complained, even when she had cancer.”
    In January of 2000, Bob took his last drink. He wasn’t an everyday drinker, but if he got started, the next morning he’d crave more and keep drinking. He got up one morning, and Audrey had made a line of every bottle he’d drank, on the wall. “I looked at that, and said, ‘I’ll never take another drink as long as I live.’ Audrey’s reply was, ‘I’ve heard that before.’” Bob told her, “No, I’m done.” And he was. Sixteen years later, one of her sisters told him Audrey had said it was the happiest sixteen years of her life. “Thank God I quit,” Bob said. “By the time she died, I had eighteen years alcohol free.” Marriage “was the best thing I did.”
    Now he golfs, shooting under fifty, and would play every day if someone is willing to play with him, Clayton said. He enjoys reminiscing about old times and rodeo. He was never a superstar but he loves the sport.
    “I enjoyed it. I rode some, and I rode with some good guys. I never made a lot of money at it, but I enjoyed it.”

  • On The Trail with Ky Hamilton

    On The Trail with Ky Hamilton

    Ky Hamilton grew up in Mackay Queensland, Australia. “I actually grew up in town. My mom (Sharell) and dad (Micheal) had a house in town. My dad’s family lived three and a half hours south on a ranch – so I got to do cowboy stuff on the school holidays and stay with them. It was great.” Ky’s time in town was spent playing rugby and racing motocross with his brother, L’Koi. He also spent time watching PBR on TV. His dad drives a garbage truck, and his mom is a teacher’s aide. He rodeoed in America for the first time at the Junior High School Finals in Des Moines, Iowa, when he was 15.

    “I was always interested in bull riding,” admits the 20-year-old sophomore at Sul Ross University. “I bugged my dad enough to let me do it. I started riding steers when I was 12.” Ky and his dad did a lot of traveling chasing down the rodeos – from one to three hours for one rodeo. “He drove me everywhere- it was always me and dad on the road.”

     

    His determination to make it to the number one spot in the PRCA was instilled by his father. “This isn’t a sport that you can be half-hearted in – you’ve got to be 100% or it isn’t going to happen.” He learned the technique from his dad and Troy Dunn (1998 PRB Champion – only Australian). “He helped me out when I was 15 and he took me a lot further in it.” When Ky turned 18, he started doing the PBR in Australia. “I did that for about six months and then moved here.”

    “I always wanted to ride bulls professionally from the states and win a world title. I thought college was a great way to get started. CJ got a hold of me and offered me a scholarship and it’s opened a lot of doors for me.” He compares the caliber of the bulls here to those in Australia. “The bulls are definitely a big difference. I’d say 6 out of 10 at home are good, here it’s 9 out of ten. Over here there are so many events to go to and the money is bigger. I didn’t get to ride as much in competition at home as over here.” He admits to missing his family and not much else. He hasn’t been home since he came over two years ago. “My parents have come over here.”

    “He is probably one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached in 14 years,” said CJ Aragon, his coach at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. “He’s a really good student in the classroom and the arena. Everything he does is at a high level.” CJ shares Ky’s workout routine at the University. “He goes to CrossFit at 5:30, and then runs up the hill – the hill behind campus is a mile and a half up to the top – basically the equivalent of 50 flights of stairs. We’ve gotten to where we can do it in 9 minutes to the top.” After the hill, Ky goes to the gym with the steer wrestlers and then he goes to classes. “If he is heading out to rodeos, he turns his work in early and stays on top of it.” One of his classes is with CJ – Event management and Planning. “He’s one of those students that is coachable. He wants to be good and he’ll work really hard at it. On the dash of his truck is a book – Mind Gym – and he’s read it a few times.”

     

    Whenever his travels take him close, he stays with Cody Lambert, who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo nine times between 1981 and 1993, consisting of seven trips in bull riding and three trips in saddle bronc riding. In 1992, he was one of 20 bull riders who helped establish the PBR; he’s been selecting bulls for the organization’s events ever since. “He’s a really good kid that’s worked hard and come a long ways in the year and a half that I’ve known him. I’ve gotten to know his parents and they are really good people that have instilled a work ethic and a level of respect for people – and appreciation – I can say he’s represented his country and his family and his sport really well.”

    Ky has a few online only classes that he can do while heading to rodeos. He is in his second year at Sul Ross, majoring in Industrial Technology – learning everything from welding to woodworking, small engine repair and industrial drawing. His real love is riding bulls.

    “I like it so much; when you love something that much, you do whatever you can to be better at it. There are a handful of guys out there that will go down as great – if I want to beat them; I’m going to have to work at it very hard.”

  • Featured Athlete: Baby the Steer Wrestling Horse

    Featured Athlete: Baby the Steer Wrestling Horse

    There’s a Baby making a big splash in the steer wrestling world, and she’s doing it with 5 Star Equine Products, too.
    Baby, a nine-year-old quarter horse, is a steer wrestling horse owned by Sam Dixon and ridden mainly by Jacob Talley, Justin Shaffer, and Will Lummus.
    The blaze-faced sorrel, off the race track, was purchased by Dixon in 2018. Jacob and Justin rode her in 2018 a bit, and they considered taking her to the National Finals that year, but thought she might not be ready for the big stage
    In 2019, Jacob was out with an injury for three months, so Justin, Will and Cody Harmon rode Baby. She responded well, carrying the three men, plus Dixon, to the pay window several times, including big wins in Salinas, Calif. “People started asking where she came from,” Sam said.
    Now, in her second full year of rodeo competition, Dixon says she’s won over $130,000 in the last two years.
    Equine products are often overlooked for steer wrestling horses, Sam thinks. Some of the steer wrestlers are big men, and it’s not a natural movement for a horse when the wrestler hangs off the side. It can cause horses to have sore backs. “Here we are, hanging off the side of them, and that puts a major strain on their back. Ever since we’ve been using 5 Star pads, we’ve never had a problem.”
    Sam had a horse at home with back concerns, and he switched products. “I got a 5 Star pad and since then I’ve never had any back problems” with the horse.
    The saddle pads clean up well, he said, and the material, one-hundred percent wool, “wicks the sweat away very well, compared to others.”
    He has a few 5 Star saddle pads that he customized with certain neon colors that will be put into use at the 2020 National Finals, but they’re a surprise. “We’re waiting till the Finals to bust them out. When we do, they’ll be very noticeable.”
    He and his wife Allison’s kids: daughters Bailey, Hadlie and Reiny, use the boots, pads, and breast collars. “I’ve always believed that 5 Star (products) were above and beyond.”
    At the 2019 NFR, Baby came out of nowhere. She was the backup horse for Will, and when things weren’t clicking for him, he decided to ride her in the eighth round. Dixon and the guys were a bit worried; she had been seasoned, but they were concerned that she wasn’t quite ready.
    There was no need to worry. Will was3.6 seconds that round to win it, and he rode her in the ninth and tenth rounds, placing in the tenth. Dixon was in a motel room, on night eight, trying to bring up the NFR with limited service, when his phone blew up. “I spent three hours answering phone calls and texts,” he beamed, “before he could download the video to watch her run.”
    Baby, whose registered name is Babysgonecountry, lets guys do their job, Sam said. “She’s so good in the box, as far as scoring. She stands still, and lets you do your job and not worry about it.” She’s also versatile. “She fits any situation you’re in. A long score, running them down like at Salinas or Cheyenne. Everybody likes her in the short scores, too, because she’s quick off your hand.
    But she comes with an attitude. “She is very much a woman,” Sam said. “She wakes up on the wrong side of the bed many days.” Her quirks can be overlooked. “She is so gritty,” Sam said. “It doesn’t matter what she’s doing, she gives one hundred percent every time.”
    Baby loves to run and often plays with the hazing horse. She thinks it’s a contest to be the fastest, Sam said. “She’ll put her ears back and it’s like a race to the back end. It’s pretty fun to watch. If you really get after her, she’ll catch another gear.”
    Sam has been a 5 Star customer for as long as he can remember, even before Terry Moore bought the business in 2012. “Since the Moores bought it,” Sam said, “they have gone above and beyond to make sure their stuff is right. They put a lot of time and money into it, and it shows.”

  • ProFile: Brenda Youtsey Reay

    ProFile: Brenda Youtsey Reay

    Brenda Youtsey Reay was the first girl to win the National High School Finals rodeo in the team roping in 1986. “I’m happy for all the kids that win the high school finals – -it pays for college educations as well as is a great honor for all kids.” Brenda’s story was quite similar to Quincy’s. “I started the year roping with Skeeter Duby and we were having a phenomenal year – everything seemed to be clicking for us and we were having an amazing year. Unfortunately, Skeeter got hurt – he injured his knee on the chute practicing and that accident ended Skeeter’s run at Nationals and forced me to find another partner. I was lucky enough to find a partner and ended the year roping with Brett Kamm. We ended up winning third in the state and qualified for Nationals. At state finals, my number one head horse also suffered an injury so I had one month to practice and decide what horse I wanted to ride at nationals. At that time I had a nice heel horse that was also my barrel horse that I thought scored very well and so I decided to ride him.” In 1986, the high school finals were held in Rapid City , South Dakota. “While traveling to Nationals, Brett’s horse got over the divider in the trailer so he had to ride one of his friend’s horses.” She attributes that win to setting specific goals, creating an action plan and a large amount of resilience. “My health teacher was teaching goal setting so I actually called the National office my freshman year to see if there had ever been a girl who had won the nation. After finding out there had not been, I set the goal to be the first girl to win the Nation. I actually still have my goal sheet and I wrote that long-term goal down and stuck to my short term goals to meet the end result.”
    Brenda grew up in Applegate, a small farming community outside Grants Pass, Oregon. Her dad (Jay Youtsey) was a calf roper, team roper and built Westline Horse Trailers, a custom horse trailer business which were some of the first living quarters in the 1970s. “We ran cattle, raised some horses, built horse trailers and did a lot of bass fishing. My mom, Beverley was a ranch wife and helped with the horse trailers.” Brenda competed in volleyball, basketball, track along with rodeoing in high school. When she graduated, she went to Blue Mountain Community College where she played volleyball, basketball and rodeoed. She also attended Eastern Oregon University and then obtained a degree in health and physical education from Southern Oregon State College. She has been a Health and Physical Education teacher for 29 years, 27 of them at Homedale Middle school. During her time in education she has been a volleyball, basketball and track coach. In 2017 Brenda was Idaho’s Physical Education Teacher of the Year.

    Brenda amateur rodeoed and attended local ropings with her family until her two boys, Bryan and Tyler became old enough to be involved in rodeo and sports. Along with her husband of 30 years, Mike they both focused on their kid’s development in school, sports and all of their other activities. “I became a mom and focused on my family and my career. At some point you realize your children are your biggest asset and your energy is focused on them. Watching both my boys compete and be successful was one of the biggest gifts I have ever been given.” She spent her time keeping their horses in shape, running the chute, untying calves and making sure they were focused on their education. “It was their turn to shine.” Mike was also an athlete and played college basketball, but always enjoyed the rodeo community and lifestyle and now he’s turned into a roper. “We have an arena at our house in Adrian as well as a family place in Morristown, Arizona and we all continue to rope together. We always say—the Family that ropes together-Stays Together!
    Only a few years from retirement, Brenda has spent many of her adult years giving service to others in the rodeo world. That included serving as the secretary for the Idaho Junior High Division for ten years. She also serves as the vice president of the Idaho Girls Rodeo Association, which she has been part of off and on since moving to Eastern Oregon. The Idaho Girls Rodeo Association has been around for 65 years, offering a place for competitors to compete side by side with their grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and nieces. She won the all around last year, competing in pole bending, barrel racing, team roping, steer stopping, and steer daubing and goat tying. Although it wasn’t her intention to start pole bending or doing the other events she entered so her and her eight year old niece, Jayne could rodeo together. This year Jayne started roping and won a new event to the association which was the dummy sled breakaway roping. ‘I am very excited to see Jayne get her first buckle and even more excited that she won it on Tyler’s old calf horse.’
    Brenda had a minor set this spring after recently getting bucked off “I got bucked off super hard – I fractured my back and ended up with contusions on my liver and lungs. Unfortunately, that put me out for a few weeks. At 18 that isn’t a big deal but at 51 that’s not fun and probably the most disappointing part of being bucked off not once but twice within 8 weeks. However, one thing that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I have lived with epilepsy since I was 16 years old. I figure if I can handle that set back I can handle getting bucked off a couple of times. But in all seriousness, I am grateful I wasn’t hurt worse and extremely grateful my son, Bryan loaned me his good horse so I could rope in the Idaho Girl’s Rodeo Finals last weekend.
    Brenda is still coaching and teaching and most importantly loves sharing her passion for competing, sports and lifetime wellness with her students.
    “I love everything about the rural lifestyle- we are blessed to live in an amazing rodeo heavy neighborhood – My bucket is full of gratitude and continued opportunity to grow as a person. I feel we can all choose our attitude in life and are in complete control of making that happen on a daily basis. From my family, career, to amazing life-long friends as well as ability to follow my dreams I have been a very lucky girl” she concludes. “I’ve very goal driven and that will always be how I am hard wired. I honestly never thought I couldn’t achieve something. At the end of the day, winning the nation never defined who I was but it did pave the road for me to realize how much is within our reach if we simply have the dedication, attitude, and desire to put in the work it takes to reach our goals.’

  • Back When They Bucked with Roy Lilley

    Back When They Bucked with Roy Lilley

    “I’m pretty talkative and used to edit a magazine, so it just made sense to write a book,” said Roy Lilley, the 90 year old rough stock rider from Fort Collins, Colorado, who wrote a 567 page memoir called Just As I Am. The book took three years to complete.
    Born at the Table Mountain Ranch in Virginia Dale, Colorado, Roy was raised on the family ranch with two older brothers. “We had a lot of fun – and did a few ornery things. I followed my older brothers around everywhere.” His dad (Charles W. Lilley, Sr.) managed a family ranch. At the age of 10, the family moved to Fort Collins and his dad went to work for Producers Livestock in Denver and eventually the family moved to Lakewood.
    Roy worked on a dude ranch (Trail Creek Ranch) from the time he was a junior in high school. “As soon as I figured I could ride the milk cow, I entered the Larimer County Fair in the bull riding.” He borrowed his brother’s bull rope, Pete Burns spurs and came real close to riding a good bull. “He bucked me off hard on my shoulder, and I had to ride with my right hand the rest of the summer.” He was determined to rodeo. “My older brothers were doing it and felt like I could do it.”

    The first rodeo he went to, he drew a little bareback horse and won sixth – that was the first bareback horse he got on. He won a little money and that’s what gave him the encouragement to keep on. He had some natural talent.
    He spent the summer working at the dude ranch and rodeoing on the weekends. He started college at Colorado A&M, now Colorado State University and joined the rodeo team. He majored in animal science and joined the livestock club. “I didn’t go to the rodeo club right at first, but my brother managed the college rodeo that spring so I rode a bareback horse at that rodeo.”
    The next year he started riding saddle broncs. “You learned by doing,” he said. “I got my NIRA card the first year they had them (1949) and won the bull riding at the college finals in 1952, my senior year.” Following that, he had the best summer of his career. He won the amateur bronc riding at Cheyenne and the pro rodeo in Loveland. “I had a really good year,” he said. He was second all around and second in all three riding events for the year in the NIRA, getting beat out by Jack Bushbaum. The finals were held in Portland Oregon and he split the bronc riding 3 and 4 with Cotton Rosser. “Cotton Rosser said that I made one of the best college bull rides he had seen at the NIRA Finals Championship rodeo. That meant more to me than anything!” He can remember the ride jump by jump to this day.
    After graduation he went to Korea. “I had just rodeoed that summer just waiting to be drafted – we were deferred if we kept our grades up during college.” He was a supply sergeant for the field artillery of the Army. “I was there when the war ended and we were having a fire mission at the same time – we sat around for 10 months after at the demilitarized zone.”
    He came back to the United States and got out of the Army on June 20, 1954 and was on a bareback horse two days later at Woodland Park, Colorado. “I’d gained 20 pounds and hadn’t been on a horse since I left. I figured I could pick up where I left off. I rode the bareback horse and the saddle bronc in a haze and got bucked off more during the next three months than I had the three years I was rodeoing. I was drawing good and riding bad.”
    He kept at it. “I wanted to get good enough so I could quit with some pride. My problem was I was thinking too much.” He gradually got better and by the time he quit in 1956, he was pretty good. He quit riding bulls when he came back from Korea. “I had an epiphany in Korea,” he said. “All of my injuries came from being stepped on by bulls.”
    He knew he would never be good enough to make a run for the NFR, so he mostly went on the weekends. In 1955, he rode both of his horses in Cheyenne. That’s when there were five big rodeos close by and he made all of them. The further he got from home, the broker he got. “Pulling into Durango, I blew the oil line on my 1955 Chevy. I spent my last few bucks fixing that and borrowed enough money to buy gas. He made it home and kept going for another year. He placed at three out of the last four rodeos he entered before he quit.

    Roy was 26 and living at the farm at home. His dad was working in Denver and got a job as the director of the first school lunch program in Denver. He knew the director of American National Cattlemens Association (now called the Beef Association), and he was looking for an assistant. “I was rodeoing soso and my dad got really sick and I decided to get a job.” He applied for many different jobs and finally got the job as the assistant for $350 a month.
    “It was the best thing I ever did – it was a great job. I worked there for four years,” he said. He met his first wife, Ingrid, at the dude ranch and they dated. “I wanted to impress her, so I entered a rodeo. I hadn’t been on a bucking horse for four years, but I’d broke a few colts. I drew Pretty Sox, the best draw Earl Anderson had – I qualified on him, but Pinto Pete drove my head in the ground.”
    He got offered a job in California as the assistant director for California Cattlemens. He moved out there in August and started riding broncs again in California for the fall. He didn’t like California very much and missed Ingrid. He flew back to Colorado, picked her up, and they were married in Ely, Nevada on their way back to California. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born but the couple didn’t make it and eventually divorced.
    He got a job as the Executive Vice President of the international Brangus Breeders association in Kansas City. His next wife, Maxine, had two kids when they married and they had another one, Jennifer. They moved the office after seven years to San Antonio. The couple lived in Beorne, Texas. He worked there until 1979. After 17 years, he left that job and became executive VP of Nebraska Stock Growers – later Nebraska Cattlemens and stayed there 17 years as well. Maxine passed away in August of 1991. “I owed whatever success I may have had from the fact that I learned from my mistakes.”
    He retired in 1996 and married Donice in 1997. The couple settled in Fort Collins and Roy is active in the community with Larimer County Office of Aging. He is also part of the Alumni of Colorado State University rodeo team. He and Donice are enjoying a quiet time of old age together. “A guy at 90 doesn’t make long range plans. I’ve enjoyed my life.”

  • On The Trail with Malcom Heathershaw

    On The Trail with Malcom Heathershaw

    Malcom Heathershaw will spend the next few months healing up from breaking both bones (ulna and radius) in his left arm. “I drew a pretty wide stud and I was the first one out. I was three seconds and my stirrup on the left side snapped off – it sling-shotted me off the left side. My body weight folded my left arm. I tried getting up – it hit me like a bullet.” He had surgery where they inserted two plates and now is healing.

    The Quinn, South Dakota, cowboy started riding steer saddle broncs in junior high and got on his first saddle bronc in eighth grade. He got his start by his dad (Mike) and other family members. “I have a lot of cousins that do it.” The biggest thing that helped me this year was a new practice that has been set up in New Underwood, SD. Louie Brunson started a weekly practice deal and everyone came down and provided us with a chance to get better. There have been a lot of rough stock coaches and pick-up men that have come to help. It was there that I really made a change for the better last spring. If you stick to it long enough you can always change the outcome of your goal.”

     

    “I can relate that to my dad. His parents weren’t big on rodeo and he grew up learning from his older brother and mainly taught himself. He was very talented in his younger days – went to some pro rodeos – but as he got older he went to amateur rodeos and was in it for the sport of it instead of the world title.”

    “These older guys are giving back to the younger boys,” said Mike, who ranches and raises commercial cattle and Quarter horses. Mike helps several of the boys in his community. “I just liked to ride and they kept paying me for a little while in my younger days. I got to know and helped a lot of the younger boys get started back in the day and now they are giving back to my son. You can’t teach them anything on their back, but once you get them staying on, it’s another level.” Mike hopes that Malcom will pursue college. “We are paying for his tuition on the installment plan. I can throw things at him and he learns. He’s about to go to the next step and take advice from his cousins, who have won many Saddle Bronc Titles themselves, Cash Wilson and Jeremy Meeks.

    Along with a commercial cow herd the family owns Rockin T Quarter Horses. “We raise 15 to 20 baby colts a year,” explains Anita, a Title 1 teacher at Wall School in Wall, South Dakota. “In August, we take the colts up to the shed and spend three or four days halter breaking them. We do it slowly and then we sell them private treaty – we get a lot of repeat customers. My dad used to raise horses, his goal was to raise good looking buckskins.” They raise horses that can be used on the ranch or rodeo. “Our goal is to raise some nice bloodlines and good looking horses.” Malcom gets on the younger horses and gets them going good.

    “It’s a lot of fun,” said Malcom. “It’s a humbling experience doing that – it carries on to people – you’ve got to be able to read stuff to work with animals and it helps me deal with people.” Malcom is a junior and heads to school at 7:30. He used to drive in with his brother, Matthew, but since Mathew plays football, they take separate cars. They both drive older model Cadillacs. His classes include science, English, history, and math. “I’m a history buff, so I like that class.” Matthew and Malcom are a year apart, with their birthdays falling July 18 and 19.

     

    Matthew is a calf roper. Both boys started in steer saddle bronc riding and roping calves. Once they got to high school, they each chose to focus on one event – Matthew stuck with tie down roping and Malcom went with saddle bronc. Riding broncs has become Malcom’s passion – growing up he excelled at football and basketball and is a very good student. “You’ve got to find your passion and he’s developed such a passion and a drive for saddle bronc riding – he thinks about it all the time,” said his mom, Anita. “When he started riding this spring he was really struggling, his dad, who is his main coach and who has mentored many young cowboys worked hard at trying to figure out the problem. He ended up getting a bigger saddle and that seemed to help a lot. His dad and he are so dedicated to get where he wants to be.”

    Malcom ended his year fourth at state finals. His year started out rough – with the help of the practice pen and a new saddle, he got better each time he rode. At Nationals he ended up fourth as well. “I knew I was placing pretty good going into the short round and knew if I I just stayed on, I might get up there because the horses in the short go were tougher. I was ready to do good. My horse was probably one of the better horses I’ve gotten on; nice and smooth and even and I could show him off a little more.” It didn’t sink in that he ended up fourth in the nation for a few hours. “I was in awe that I got that far.” His goals for the future are to get better at rodeo, go to college, and keep performing at a higher level. “I know I want to continue to rodeo and work at the same time but I want a steady job to pay the bills.”

  • Putting in the Effort

    Putting in the Effort

    In my last article I wrote about the importance of our words and the impact they have on every situation. What a man says of him self, so he becomes. If we speak negatively about our situation, negative results is usually what we will get. If we dig into the word and speak life, positivity, and what we want out of the situation, that is what we will see. But it can’t stop with our words.
    “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 NLT
    Another version says to “be a doer of the word.” You see, we can’t just pray for a miracle, speak faith over it, then sit on the couch and wait for it to happen. We can’t just pray for financial help, speak faith that a job will open up, then not put in an application at the next job opening. We can’t just pray for help in our marriage speak faith and pray about for our spouse. But, then not put down our phones to have an actual conversation or make an effort to go on a date night. We, must be doers. We have to put in the effort to get healthy, work physically, and do the rehab to get our healing miracle. We have to commit our work to the Lord, and he will show us where he wants us to get our next job (Proverbs 16:3). We have to work on loving our spouse and serving them, like Christ would have us do.
    Just like the parable of the servants, found in Matthew 25:14-28. The two servants that invested their time, money, and energy on putting what the master had given to better themselves and their situation, received more. The one, who hid his talents, didn’t invest, didn’t better himself and his situation, received nothing. He actually got more taken away from him.
    When, Jesus gives us something we need to to take action on it. When he gives us faith, we need to speak on it, act on it, and believe on it. We need to do everything we can to get better. The more we act on it and work diligently as though working for the Lord, and not humans, we will receive more! More healing, more money, more blessings, more peace in a marriage.
    “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24 NLT
    Whenever we work diligently for the Lord we receive more. So, don’t make excuses. No, “Oh maybe next weeks.” Get up. Get busy. Use what the Lord has given you. Hard work will never cheat us.

  • Featured Athlete: Rylee Howton

    Featured Athlete: Rylee Howton

    Rylee Howton and her horses are a walking advertisement for 5 Star Equine products.
    The Three Rivers, Texas cowgirl is in love with the 5 Star saddle pad, sports leg wraps and sports boots, and they work well for her five horses: Turnpike, Moe, Hildie, Renee, and Lil Mama.
    She loves the softness of the saddle pad and how it molds to her horses’ backs. She thinks the leg wraps are more supportive, and the straps grip better and support in places that other brands don’t. But they’re not stiff, either. “They are flexible so the horse can move,” Rylee said. “They’re more soft, and aren’t as long (as typical boots.)” Being a bit shorter is good, she said. “If a horse was to make a crazy movement, he wouldn’t step on the strap and injure himself.”
    The seventeen-year-old competes in the barrel racing, pole bending and team roping in the Texas High School Rodeo Association, the Texas Youth Rodeo Association, the Better Barrel Races, and the National Barrel Horse Association.
    For the barrels, she rides Bit of Gold Dust, “Turnpike” and Heza Fast Kitty, “Moe”. Turnpike, a seventeen-year-old, is her main horse and “the most consistent horse you’ll ever ride,” she said. “He makes the same run every time.” When Turnpike was injured earlier this year, the family bought Moe and she used him. Turnpike is recovered, so she trades off between the two. “Moe usually outruns Turnpike the first day, and the second day, Turnpike outruns Moe.” Turnpike prefers the big pens and Moe likes the smaller pens.
    Turnpike was the big boss around the ranch, “the grumpy old man, the only boy at our house,” till Moe appeared, Rylee said. Moe has quite a personality. “If he sees you outside, he’ll run up to you and get all in your face,” she said. “If you’re not giving him attention, he’ll throw a fit.”
    For the poles, Rylee rides two horses: Rocking Renee, “Renee”, and NQH Sun Hocks Hilda, “Hildie.” In the team roping, her mounts are Shes A Royal Fletcha “Lil Mama.”
    Rylee is a 2020 graduate of George West High School. Looking back on her high school career, she recognizes how fun high school was. “I didn’t realize it when I was in school, but you see your friends every day and get to play sports every day. You don’t realize it at the time, but it’s a lot more fun to be in school than not.”
    In high school, she participated in FCCLA, FFA, volleyball, basketball and softball. The pitcher for her softball team, the team qualified for districts the last two years.
    In high school, she made it to the Texas State Finals all four years in the barrels and the last two years in the poles.
    She will be a student at Texas A&M in Kingsville this fall, competing in the barrels and possibly the team roping. She plans on majoring in ranch management/ag business and would love to manage a ranch someday. She and her family live on her grandpa’s ranch, and she loves being around animals.
    Her mom, Krystal, loves the 5 Star Equine products as well. “You can’t compare them to any others,” she said. The saddle pads “really reduce soreness in a horse’s back, and are one hundred percent wool, which absorbs sweat.” Krystal and Rylee use the garden hose to clean them. “Most saddle pads, with sweat, turn hard. These don’t do that.” They also have a horse with high withers and before they started with 5 Star Equine, they had trouble finding a pad that fit. “They just lay on the horse’s withers. They are so much softer.”
    The boots also do what they’re supposed to do, Krystal said. “They stay where they’re supposed to be.”
    Rylee’s step-dad is Londie Ruiz; her dad is Magoo Howton. She has a younger sister, Kylie Ruiz, who is six years old.