Rodeo Life

Category: Archive

  • Roper Review : Chance Schuknecht

    Roper Review : Chance Schuknecht

    Chance Schuknecht was raised and graduated high school in Iowa Falls, Iowa. His love for horses and a rodeo scholarship took him to Rapid City, South Dakota where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Equine Management from National American University.
    Chance, 33, now oversees Sales and Marketing at Silver Lining Herbs, a world leader in natural herbal support for horses and dogs.
    “My brother got me started roping in the 8th grade and I rodeoed through high school and college. I’ve always loved horses and in college thought I wanted to be a trainer,” explains Schuknecht. “I worked for a reining cowhorse trainer and worked for Lisa and Grady Lockhart one summer. I got burned out and realized I would rather ride for pleasure than as a job.”
    A college friend, Dustin Luper, introduced Chance to the owners of Silver Lining Herbs, Mickey and Lori Young. Chance was offered a chance to do his college internship at Silver Lining and has been there since.
    “Going into that experience, I wasn’t a supplement or herbal person, but this was a chance to stay in the industry and not have to ride every day. My internship was a life changing experience. It inspired me to take care of my horses.
    It made me think back to a mare I owned and all the problems she had like pulling back, and how she would dunk her hay in the water. We thought she was half crazy at the time, but after what I learned from Silver Lining, I realized she probably had some physical things going that needed addressing.”
    If we pay close attention, our horses will let us know when something is hurting or bothering them. Recently my head horse was swishing his tail through the corner. Obviously something is bothering him. We can ignore it, or try and figure out what’s wrong. I found my horse had sore kidneys,” explains Chance. “The kidneys are not protected by the structural system and the bars of our saddles sit over the kidneys. Then we’re asking our head horses to put that bend in his back going across the arena while pulling a 400 lb. steer. It’s no wonder they may not finish well, or might leave harder or not pull. A typical reaction for most people is to get after their horse. But we really need to take a minute and ask ourselves why it’s happening. The fact is horses by nature are willing and try to please us.”
    Some horses are more vocal than others. Those horses that hump up or flag their tail are horses that are trying to communicate with us, to let us know something is up. We should always be listening to our horse’s needs, but, now that we are able to rope for the large amount money available, and considering what our horses are worth, I think it’s very important to listen to what your horse is trying to tell you.”
    If we throw a saddle up on a horse and he pins his ears, he’s trying to communicate and we need to listen. I can sit at a team roping and see a 400 lb. guy on a little 14.2-hand horse or see a guy lose his temper and whip his horse these are some of the things that amaze me about horses. These horses show up every day and perform regardless of what they’re having to overcome. I’ve become very sympathetic to horses and realize that they are the coolest animals God has created.”
    Schuknecht’s once college internship has turned into a ten-year career at Silver Lining Herbs. Chance finds the company mantra of ‘do what’s right to help dogs and horses’ rewarding. He also enjoys some of the perks such as going to Speed Williams’ place and roping for the day.
    “Without working for Silver Lining, that probably wouldn’t happen. It’s been a great experience.”
    Chance, a #5+ roper enjoys competing at World Series of Team Roping events. He’s grateful to work in the industry he loves and be surrounded with quality and talented people.
    He and his wife Kyla, have been married nine years and have two children, a daughter, Austyn, 6, and a son, Wade, 3.

    Chance Schuknecht with wife Kyla, daughter Austyn, & son Wade – Jessica Montgomery

     

    COWBOY Q&A
    How much do you practice?
    Three or four days a week.
    Do you make your own horses?
    Yes.
    Who were your roping heroes?
    Speed Williams. I also high school rodeoed with Kollin Von Ahn and admire his ability.
    Who do you respect most in the world?
    My wife.
    Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
    My parents.
    If you had a day off what would you like to do?
    Hang out with my family.
    Favorite movie?
    Braveheart
    What’s the last thing you read?
    The Continual Conversation.
    How would you describe yourself in three words?
    Patient, persistent, hard working.

    What makes you happy?
    My family.
    What makes you angry?
    Laziness.

    If you were given 1 million dollars, how would you spend it?
    I would want to be very generous and help people that need it. And pay off my student loans.
    What is your best quality – your worst?
    My best quality is I am very soft-hearted and have compassion for others. That can also be a hard quality to have.

    Where do you see yourself in ten years?
    I see myself being the best dad and husband I can be, and someone who is still giving horses a voice to help them out. It seems like sometimes you get to help a lot of horses at once, sometimes it’s just one. No matter where I am, I want to help horses.

  • Back When They Bucked with Scott Tucker

    Back When They Bucked with Scott Tucker

    Deep in Scott Tucker’s soul there were seeds of rodeo that drove the Jacksonville, Florida boy towards his destiny, and roots were developed that have entwined family, rodeo, and future generations of cowboys and cowgirls forever. Scott was born in 1946, an only child to his parents, Lucille and Holmes Tucker, but being a cowboy was more in his DNA than it was in his family upbringing. His dad graduated in 1939, from Yale University where he attended on a full-ride boxing and football scholarship; and he went on to work for General Foods, before settling in the automobile business. Although his parents were far more interested in life in the city, Scott was drawn to the Pecan Park horse racing track, where he started jockeying horses when he was just 12-years old. Only destiny knew then, that he was starting down a path that would lead him to become an integral part of one of the most notable rodeo families in North Carolina.
    Scott rode racehorses with Sonny Burris on the brush tracks, helping to start colts and train them to use the starting gates until his weight exceeded the 135-pound maximum allowed. Scott jockeyed the legendary Quarter Horse, Go Dick Go, in brush track races before the horse went on to make history as the winner of the first All American Futurity in 1966. Sonny was a boxer and jockey, that also rode bareback and saddlebronc horses; and he helped 12-year old Scott, step onto his first bareback horse at a Callahan, Florida rodeo. Scott did try following his dad’s path in life, and played football his freshman year of high school, but frustrated that the football schedule conflicted too much with his rodeos, he gave it up.
    Once Scott had his driver’s license, it was only the rodeo road on Scott’s mind. Scott started out entering bareback riding at open rodeos, before getting on bulls, which quickly became his favorite event. In 1962, Scott attended a Jim Shoulders bull riding school and the memory of staying atop the legendary bull “Tornado,” is forever etched in his memory. In 1963, he got his first membership card for the IRA, known as the Interstate Rodeo Association at that time. Scott started working as a rodeo clown, “Scooter,” when he was 15-years old, and quickly became enthralled with the new job he often performed between riding in his events. The challenge of outmaneuvering the bulls, was as exciting as staying on top of them.

    Although Scott’s parents were very proud of Scott’s success, they were far too nervous to come watch their fearless cowboy at the rodeos, so Scott often traveled solo or with rodeo friends that became his rodeo family. At 16-years old, Scott was cruising the interstates between rodeos, in a 1958 four-door Oldsmobile, decked with its giant tailfins, pulling a 13-foot travel trailer to sleep in. Scott thinks that rig is what got 14-year old Vicki Kidd’s attention when they met at the Silver Springs rodeo in Maryland. Meeting Vicki would prove to further cement the path of Scott’s life. Vicki Kidd was a barrel racer, and daughter of C.W. and Helen Kidd of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Kidd family was instrumental in bringing rodeo to North Carolina in the mid-50’s, after C.W. had fallen in love with the sport while he was stationed in Florida, in the Air Force. The Kidd’s started the Rockin’ K Ranch, which was a family commune of sorts, raising future cowboys and cowgirls around a central rodeo arena, and has hosted rodeos for over 60 years now. Not only did Vicki fall for the handsome, blue-eyed cowboy, but her parents did as well, taking the 16-year old in and treating him as their own.
    Scott would travel to rodeos, staying on the road most of the summer, returning to Florida to complete the school year. In 1963, the summer before his senior year, he and Lyle Wiggins made it up to Frontier Town in upstate New York, in the heart of the Adirondacks. “Frontier Town was an old western town theme park that put on three rodeos per day. I got a job there as a stagecoach driver, and later became the arena director for the rodeos.” The rodeos would highlight one or two competitors in each event, plus feature a trick rider, and there are many PRCA cowboys that got their start there. “It was the best place a young person could rodeo, besides the rodeo shows each day, there were a lot of jackpots within about 30-miles of Frontier Town. I was loving it up there, and making about $500 to $600 per week, which was a lot of money back then.”
    Scott graduated from high school in 1964, the year that he earned his first SRA All-Around Champion Cowboy title. He went on to win the title again in 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1973. When he left home for the summer in 1964, the plan was for him to PRCA, and SRA rodeo through the summer, before heading west to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he had a full-ride scholarship to New Mexico State University; but seeing Vicki Kidd again that summer, changed his college plans completely. “I didn’t want to go to New Mexico as planned, I called my dad and told him I wasn’t going. He wasn’t very happy about me giving up the scholarship, but I told him if he’d pay my tuition at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, that I’d cover everything else.” Scott graduated from NCSU in 1966, with a degree in agriculture and livestock management, rooming with Vicki’s brother, Buddy, while they attended school there. “Buddy was such a fine person, always willing to help anyone. He always had good horses, and he would always let anyone that needed a better horse at a rodeo, ride them.”
    In 1966, after Scott left NCSU, and just three days after Vicki graduated from high school, the two soulmates were married, starting a union that would last for over 50 years, before Vicki’s passing on October 12, 2016. Scott also joined the Air National Guard, in 1966, serving for 6 years in the engine shop, as an airplane mechanic.

    The eastern cowboy couple traveled the roads of the rodeo circuit, chasing dreams while being blessed with new friends across the country. Vicki had a passion for horses, barrel racing, and supporting her roughstock riding husband. Vicki was the 1968 SRA Champion Barrel Racer and was crowned as the very 1st SRA All-Around Champion cowgirl in 1971, winning it again in 1974. Scott was doing quite well as a bull rider in the PRCA, ranking #7 in the world standings in June of 1970, but responsibility was beginning to tug on the roaming cowboy, so the couple continued to rodeo but made more of a permanent camp in Charlotte as they laid a foundation for their family. Scott had traded a good horse for some asphalt equipment, the beginnings of his paving business, Scott Tucker Paving and Grading, which he still operates. Scott and Vicki had their first child, daughter Keri, in 1967, and their son Jason was born in 1971. Also, in 1971, Scott dominated in the Coastal Rodeo Association, winning the All-Around Champion Cowboy title. Although Scott continued to find many successes in rodeo arenas across the east, looking back he wishes he would have continued his PRCA run to finish the 1970 season, thinking about the chance he may have had at that world champion gold buckle.
    Scott and Vicki continued to rodeo as they raised a new generation on the Rockin’ K, alongside Vicki’s brothers, Buddy and Jerry, and their budding families. The arena was often filled with champions and celebrities passing through while on their own rodeo circuit travels, and the art of rodeo was being practiced there on a daily basis. Cowboys like Red Duffin, who traveled with groups of cowboys and good horses, often practiced when he came through, and helped anyone interested in improving their steer wrestling skills. Scott served as the president of the SRA in 1979 and 1980 and was the vice-president for six years. Scott was also on the board of directors of the North American Rodeo Commission. Scott was responsible for producing hundreds of rodeos at arenas all over the east, and was the captain of the Southern Rebels, a rodeo team that competed at rodeos such as the Calgary Stampede. In 1983, Scott decided to focus more on the next generation of rodeo stars and he and Vicki stepped into the supportive role for their kids’ and grandkids’ rodeo dreams. Scott was the president of the NCHSRA in 1987 and 1988. Scott has been a pillar in the rodeo community, often stepping up to judge rodeos when needed, turned to when questions arise, and encouraging young rodeo athletes wherever he goes.
    The legacy that has continued from Scott and Vicki Tucker has went on to include their children, grandchildren, as well as many uncles, aunts and cousins that all participate in rodeo competition or production. Inevitably, the passion that Scott felt in his heart for rodeo so many years ago, will burn inside the many that will follow in his footsteps for years to come.

  • A Streak of Fling Sired Horses Take 1st & 2nd in Barrels at the Nebraska High School Finals!

    A Streak of Fling Sired Horses Take 1st & 2nd in Barrels at the Nebraska High School Finals!

    article by Maesa Kummer

    Bailey Witt, Valentine, NE took home the Barrel Racing and All-Around year-end championship titles at the Nebraska State High School Finals aboard StreakinIrishWhiskey (A Streak of Fling x Easy April Whiskey).
    Bailey says, “I love him because he has so much heart and try and he gives me his all every run. He has a goofy personality and is fun to be around. He is all mine! I’ve ridden him since he was six-years old and we have really strong bond. He’s a very solid break-away horse also and he carried me to the All-Around title this year.”
    This A Streak of Fling-sired gelding sold on the 2009 Fulton Sale and was raised at Fulton Ranch. StreakinIrishWhiskey is a full brother to Jake Fulton’s calf roping horse, Streakin Paddy. A full sister to both of these outstanding performance horses will sell at this year’s sale. A Whiskey Fling is a two-year old red roan mare with the genetics to make your next champion!
    Sydney Adamson, Cody, NE took home Reserve Barrel Racing year-end championship honors at the Nebraska State High School Finals aboard Lenas Last Streaker (A Streak of Fling x Easy April Lena). This outstanding mare has already won over $25,000 previously at the barrel futurities with jockey Sam Flannery.
    Lenas Last Streaker is a full sibling to Streakin Easy April (LTE $250,000+), ridden by Kellie Collier and owned by Kathleen Collier, and was the last of Fulton Ranch’s foundation broodmare line, Easy April Lena. Both Lenas Last Streaker and Streakin Easy April sold through the Fulton Sale. There are four 7/8 siblings on the sale this year!
    Fulton Ranch would like to wish both of these talented cowgirls the best of luck at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Rock Springs, WY on July 15-21, 2018! Come find your next winner on Friday, August 17, 2018 in Valentine, NE!

  • On The Trail with Cole Futrell

    On The Trail with Cole Futrell

    Rodeo roots run deep for young North Carolina cowboy, Cole Futrell. The Kidd, Tucker, and Futrell families have had an influence on the sport in the southeast. Cole, a first-year, youth IPRA member, is 16-years-old, and was born in Charlotte, North Carolina where his start in life was on his family’s legendary Rockin’ K Ranch. There aren’t many cowboys or cowgirls of any caliber in North Carolina, that don’t have a story to tell about their rodeo days there at the Rockin’ K, where Cole lived until he moved to their farm in Union Grove when he was in first grade. Cole’s great-grandparents, Helen and C.W. Kidd started the Rockin’ K Arena and were instrumental to the beginnings of the Southern Rodeo Association, and rodeo in North Carolina.

    Cole’s Papaw, Scott Tucker (BWTB on page 22)is an SRA All-Around Champion Cowboy, that won the title multiple times in the 1960’s and 1970’s and had a big influence on Cole’s interest in rodeo. “I love listening to all of his old rodeo stories, especially his bull riding stories, and I want to be able to tell those kinds of stories one day too.” Cole’s late-Nana, Vicki Kidd Tucker, was quite the cowgirl, winning many titles during her rodeo days. Scott and Vicki raised their two children on the Rockin’ K; Cole’s mom, Keri Tucker Futrell, and his uncle, Jason Tucker. Jason competed as a team roper on the pro-level for several years and is an IPRA World Champion team roper. “My Uncle Jason has always helped me at rodeos to know what the start is and gives me advice on what I can improve on as a header.”

     

    Cole is the youngest of Keri and Bart Futrell’s four children; his older siblings are Matt, 29, Paige, 27, and Clay, 19. Keri is a timer at many IPRA and SRA rodeos and has been a supportive rodeo mom to all her children. Cole appreciates that she hauls him anywhere he needs to go, watching most of his runs through the video lens, so that he can watch them later. Bart competed as a bull rider for several years and is a past IFR qualifier. He now owns Bow F Bucking Bulls and is a well-respected IPRA stock contractor and rodeo producer with his partner, Chet Kidd, (Keri’s cousin) as Rafter 3 Rodeo Company. Cole often helps his dad feed and care for bulls, as well as sorting stock and running them through the chutes before events to prepare them for the rodeo. “My dad has always told me to never give up no matter what anyone tells me. He is a hard worker, and I’ve learned from him that if I want something to never give up on it. If my dad puts his mind to something, he’s going to get it done.” Matt has also been an IFR qualifier, and still competes in many IPRA and SRA rodeos, as well as training horses and helping with the family stock contracting business. “When Matt is home, he’s always willing to pull the sled for me and is there to help me anyway he can.” Cole’s sister Paige is a NCHSRA alumni and went on to college rodeo in Texas; she is now a beautician and co-owner of the online boutique, Madeleine Paige. Paige is engaged to PRCA bull rider, Eli Vastbinder, who is currently in the top 15 in the world standings. “I really appreciate all of the help Eli gives me on my mental game; he has always been very motivational and positive.”

    Clay, an IPRA heeler and IFR qualifier; and has been instrumental in Cole’s team roping. Cole watched Clay rope for a few years, while he stayed busy competing in steer riding, ribbon roping, and breakaway roping through junior high. Once Cole started heading, he and Clay spent nearly every day in the practice pen, roping the sled and steers together. Cole has been to several IFYR rodeos to watch Clay compete and last year was Cole’s first year to compete in Shawnee. Clay graduated in 2017, and is currently living in Stephenville, Texas. Cole’s favorite roping win was when he and Clay won the 12 Preliminary roping at the 2017 NTRL Finals in Jacksonville, Florida.

    Besides the many family members, including cousins Cory and Tyler Kidd, that have been down the IPRA and IFR roads before him, Cole credits team roper, Bronc Fanning for much of his success as a header. Bronc competed at his first IFR in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1971, and spent many years competing as a team roper. Bronc started working with Cole about five years ago, after Cole had told his dad he wasn’t ever going to rope, because he just wanted to ride bulls. “His dad called me that day, to see if I’d start working with him. I just started spending time teaching him how to do tricks on the dummy that his brother and cousins couldn’t do, and once he started beating them on the dummy, he got interested in roping steers. I don’t think I’ve ever been around such a kind and big-hearted kid, that has been so dedicated or works as hard at his roping.”

     

    Cole, a homeschooled sophomore, team ropes at rodeos as well as USTRC jackpots. He just finished his second year competing in the NCHSRA, with roping partner, Blake Walker; finishing the season as the Reserve Champion Header. The two are anxious to compete at the 2018 IFYR and high school national finals. Since 7th grade, Cole has headed on a 15-year-old grey gelding he calls Bam Bam, “I like riding him because he is so honest, he never gets too strong and lets me handle the steers however I want.”

    Cole was chosen to be on the Smarty Young Pro Team and has been blessed by the experience. The help he has received from Smarty Pro members, like Kaleb Driggers and family friend, Luke Brown have been invaluable to him. Last March, the Smarty Young Pro Team gathering at Allen Bach’s Smarty training facility in Texas, was a life-changing experience that not only gave him the opportunity to learn from many of the pro team members involved, but also strengthened his walk with the Lord. Trey Johnson leads the ministry and motivational team meetings, and Cole has learned lessons from him about being a winner inside as well as outside the arena. “Trey has really helped to bring me closer to God.”

    With such strong family connections to rodeo, it is not much of a surprise that Cole is also traveling down the rodeo road. Like a rite of passage, it’s now his turn to compete at these events he has spent his life watching. His plans, goals and dreams for his future include moving to Stephenville, Texas and competing in college rodeo before starting a career as a roper; with the ultimate dream of one day, heading steers for his brother Clay at the WNFR. “It’s all I want to do – it’s all I think about and what drives me.”

  • 2018 FULTON SALE

    2018 FULTON SALE

    article by Maesa Kummer

    The 2018 Fulton Family Performance Horse & Production Sale is Friday, August 17, 2018 at the Cherry County Fairgrounds in Valentine, Nebraska! Fulton Ranch has made their mark on the performance horse industry with this annual sale and their ranch stallions, A Streak Of Fling, CS Flashlight, and A Dash Ta Streak. The sale will feature 20 riding two-year olds, 8 weanlings, and 5 broodmares from the Fulton program, as well as several others from their guest consignors.
    This year’s offering will feature some extremely special prospects that represent the best bloodlines in the industry, including these two-year-olds.

    Maternal Siblings:
    A Whiskey Fling (A Streak of Fling x Easy April Whiskey, Paddys Irish Whiskey)
    ’16 Red Roan Mare
    Flashs April Whiskey (CS Flashlight x Easy April Whiskey, Paddys Irish Whiskey) ’16 Gray Mare
    This mare line is one of Fulton Ranch’s most treasured. Easy April Whiskey was a top calf roping performer for Jake Fulton and has since been a huge part of Fulton’s broodmare program. Easy April Whiskey’s dam, Easy April Lena (Doc O Dynamite), has produced Streakin Easy April (LTE $250,000+ and NFR Qualifier) and Lenas Last Streaker (LTE $20,000+). There are several broodmares in the Fulton program out of Easy April Lena, as well as a 2002 Palomino Stallion, Frenchmans Easy Doc, who is owned by 88 Ranch Performance Horses.
    “She truly loves her job and you can see it with her grit and heart.” Kellie Collier, rider of Streakin Easy April (owned by Kathleen Collier), commented in Barrel Racing Report in October of 2017.
    “She runs fast, turns her barrels very square and is very easy to ride. She is kind, humble and always willing to give 110%.” says Sam Flannery, trainer of Lenas Last Streaker (owned by Deloris & Sydney Adamson).

    Flingin Flash (CS Flashlight x KR Flingin Bugs, A Streak of Fling) ’16 Brown Gelding
    This gelding is an outstanding cross of Fulton Ranch’s most proven lines. CS Flashlight (SI 106) is a proven performance horse sire and his get excel in the rodeo arena and on the track. His dam, KR Flingin Bugs, is a full sister to KR Last Fling (LTE $125,000+) and was raised by the Krebs Ranch in Gordon, NE. They not only raise superior Angus cattle but also superior Quarter Horses. Chris & Cathy Hughes of Sulphur, OK bought this mare on the 2008 Fulton sale as a yearling and gave this embryo to Brian Fulton before he passed in 2015.
    “KR Last Fling is the kind of horse that changes your life. I will compare every other horse to her for the rest of my life. With her discipline, focus, and ability, she could have easily been a stand out in any event!” comments Ashley Schafer, trainer and jockey (owned by Joe and Carla Spitz).

    Up-to-date sale information can be found at FultonRanch.com.

  • Back When They Bucked with Dr. Donald Mitchell

    Back When They Bucked with Dr. Donald Mitchell

    Donald was born in a farmhouse west of Mountain View, Oklahoma, in 1939, 35 miles south of where he lives now. He grew up on a family farm, milking cows, and helping his father (Donald) with crops – the least favorite being cotton. “I hated cotton. I used to pull the cotton by hand and it didn’t suit me. After my father retired, I turned the cotton to wheat, then I put it all in grass and have been happy as a lark ever since.”
    There wasn’t much for rodeo around Don, but his interest in livestock started when he would stand on the front porch and watch the neighbors across the road farm with horses. As he grew older, he anxiously awaited the Saturday afternoon matinees featuring Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, or Hopalong Cassidy. “I wanted to rodeo so bad growing up but my dad wouldn’t have horses because he grew up farming with mules.” He remembers going to his first real rodeo held at a football stadium, and knowing he wanted to know more about it.
    It wasn’t until his sophomore year in college that the opportunity arose. “I was in my second year in college and an auctioneer from Texas, Dale Walker, built a cattle sales facility complete with a small roping arena and started having a little Sunday afternoon roping. It got big and they started on Saturdays too. I didn’t have the funds or much experience but I was determined to give it a try. They had the local rodeo there in the summer and I couldn’t do anything so I entered the bareback riding. It was all mud and the horse fell and I got dumped. There was an old cowboy there sitting on the bench – Butch Franklin – who said ‘If you can get over the embarrassment and get cleaned up, come by tomorrow – I want to talk to you.’”

    He gave Don an old rope, instructions for building and swinging a loop, and an old ten gallon cream can to practice on. Don acquired a horse a few months later from his Uncle; he wasn’t fast, but he was the perfect horse for Don to learn on.
    He stayed out of school one semester in order to earn enough money to buy a better horse. He went back and graduated, continuing to rope and started timing some of the National Little Britches rodeos. He continued competing and timing as time allowed, putting his family and job obligations first. He married Thedis and they have three children, Jack, Sonya, and Damon. After several years of teaching and coaching football, including three years at The Riverside Indian School, he accepted a position at his AlmaMater, Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1967, teaching industrial education and technology. He pursued his doctorate, traveling to Stillwater to accomplish that. He also accepted a position as the advisor/coach for the newly formed rodeo team.
    “It was a grass roots movement by some students,” explained Don. “I had just come on board, and I was working in my office the beginning of October and three young students from Southwestern came in that had gone to compete at a rodeo at another school. There were two college associations back then; this was the Central Plains – and they couldn’t enter. In order to enter they had to have a coach, advisor, and apply.” They were allowed to enter provided they produce the eligibility forms by the following Monday. Thanks to Don, that happened. Three years later, Bob Clore engineered a merge of the Central Plains into the NIRA, eventually adding an 11th region and the Central Plains Region of the NIRA was formed.

    The other challenge Don was faced with was securing an arena for the team to practice. “The city of Weatherford did not even have a fairgrounds,” said Don. In 1972, 640 acres was purchased with plans for a golf course, along with several other amenities, including a rodeo arena. The conditions for the arena construction was voluntary labor to match the cost of materials. Don and 20 members from the team and club actually designed and built the arena in time to host Southwestern’s first NIRA rodeo in April of 1972. Beutler & Son produced the third rodeo and that relationship has spanned 46 years. “We were a club until 1975 and Don petitioned the new president to take the club into the athletics – we had 20 kids rodeoing and up to 60 in the club. Being part of athletics allowed for additional funding.”
    Although he enjoyed coaching the rodeo team, his primary focus was teaching. “My emphasis was to prepare young teachers – and I taught those classes.” He took over as chairman of the Industrial Education and Technology department for the last 20 years of his career and admits he missed the teaching aspect. Don retired in 2001, taking over the family farm. He was inducted into the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. He has only missed one performance of the rodeo he started 48 years ago. “I missed my first performance this year due to calving and bad weather.” He brought more than 800 athletes through the rodeo program during his 34 year tenure. 28 have gone on to the NFR with 60 filling their permits. More than 61 have made the IFR – 41 of those becoming world champions. The list of accomplishments is long.
    “The mix of teaching and coaching worked for me. I had time for my kids –they rodeoed, and even though they didn’t rodeo in college, we got to go everywhere. They made the high school and little britches finals, and we traveled all over.” His wife is retired from hospital administration and the couple spend time working on the ranch. “We don’t drive as much as we used to.”
    Rodeo allowed Don to meet some great friends and be part of the sport that he loved since childhood. “It was some of the most enjoyable times of my life.”

  • On The Trail with Justene Hirsig

    On The Trail with Justene Hirsig

    Justene Hirsig from Cheyenne, Wyoming, turned 21 a year ago, and it’s been a great year for her. She won The Wrangler Team Roping Championships All Girl roping with Jimmi Jo Montera as well as second with Lee Sherwood. “I was first, second, and third high call,” she said. She also took third place in the Central Rocky Mountain Region with her partner, Denton Shaw, and is currently sitting ninth in the nation in the college standings and the only woman in the top ten.

    She started roping when she was in eighth grade. “My dad (Tom) let us start chasing calves around the arena when he was still tripping steers. My sister (Jordan) and I started when I was about 8 – that lasted for a summer, but I didn’t get into it until later. I didn’t like it too much – I played basketball.” Justene played point guard and several other positions during her time on the court. “That was my first love.” She did both rodeo and basketball, and was leaning more towards rodeo when she received an offer to play basketball for Casper College. “I wanted to see if I could make it in the basketball world. I knew rodeo would be there forever.” She hurt her knee during practice and had to sit out for the year. After knee surgery in January of her freshman year, she called it quits. “I had another surgery last November.” Basketball played a huge role in what she’s accomplished. “I’ve had some tough coaches and they taught me how to put aside everyone else’s thinking about you and perform well. I took that from playing college basketball to rodeo – it’s the same thing –if you don’t perform well, you don’t get paid. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. I’ve played in a lot of close games and you have to perform when things are tight and you only have a few minutes to pull it off. That’s helped in short rounds. I can talk myself into it’s just another steer.”

     

    The rodeo world is a very familiar place for Justene; she grew up going to Cheyenne Frontier Days. “My dad’s great great uncle (Charles Hirsig) was one of the cofounders of CFD. My family has been in the arena ever since. I’m carrying on the family tradition, picking up flank straps, or shagging cattle. I help where I can; I’m there every day.” Her dad is the CEO and President of Cheyenne Frontier Days. He is also the one Justene attributes her success in rodeo to. “He taught me how to rope and he knows so many people that have helped me – Tyler Magnus, Bobby Harris, JD Yates, Rod and Stephanie Lyman, and Rick and Jimmi Jo Montera – and he puts me on amazing horses.”

    “The thing that always amazes me about Justene is how well she rides. She sits a horse picture perfect. That has always been her best attribute when it comes to improving her skills. Denton Shaw doesnt get the credit he deserves sometimes because he is amazing in his consistency and dedication. They have been partners almost their entire careers and is one of the biggest parts of her success. A great young man,” said Tom Hirsig. She works on her mindset by reading books – one of her favorite authors is Joel Osteen – and one of his that she reads often is ‘You Can, You Will.’ “My mom (Debbie) always gets me set up with books.” Her mom also helps with lots of other things. “Mom hasn’t missed church in more than ten years. Whenever I’m struggling, she encourages me to go to church and pray about it. She’s always praying for me as a person – my mother is the backbone of everything.” She also pulls the machine around, turns out calves for breakaway roping, and does whatever needs doing to help Justene succeed. “Without my mom, none of this would be possible. I’ll ask her to turn calves or steers and anytime of the day she says yes. If a horse needs reshod or hauled to the vet, she does it. Without her, we wouldn’t be able to do this. She sends me books to read and finds churches for me to go to on the weekends.”

     

    “My dad gets me well mounted and I have that – and I’m blessed.” During the six-week long break at the University of Wyoming, after a short vacation, she and her dad headed to Arizona to rope for a few weeks. “My dad and I kept a horse for each of us in Arizona, and they were put on the walker every day and we’d fly back to rope. I think that’s a big part of my improving my roping.”

    She transferred to UW two years ago, pursuing a degree in business financing. “My plan is to get a pretty good degree here so I can have the lifestyle that affords me to go to Arizona in the winters. I wouldn’t want to live there year round.” She has two years left on her rodeo eligibility and plans to make the most of it. “I sold horses when I was heading to basketball, and after two knee surgeries, the last year didn’t go so well. Now I’m roping with Denton Shaw – it’s been great. We roped together in high school for three years and qualified for Nationals, and we decided to rope together this year. We figured we did well in high school and tried it in college and we’ll rope at the CNFR.”

    She sent her horses home so she could finish her finals. When she finished, she headed home to practice. “We have 22 to rope on. I have five head horses to practice on so I should be good.” She is excited to back into the box in Casper for the CNFR. “Making it is an end result of roping well in the college rodeos, and I’m looking at it as another rodeo. It’s going to be cool to make it there, but I’m going to rope like I always do – four more steers. I rope 50 a day if not more so that will be easy.”

    Long term she plans to continue roping. “I want to be one of the best girl headers that’s on the road. I’d like to start getting into horse training and horsemanship – that’s something I want to work on. I don’t know what I want my job to be when I grow up – but I want to be one of the wellknown ropers.”

    “Choose to dwell on thoughts that empower you, inspire you, and encourage you to have faith, hope and joy.”
    “I’m around a lot of the people trying to make it to the NFR and it’s not something I’d be opposed to. If I wanted to try after college, I think it would be cool to do,” she concluded. “I have tons more to improve –and I just got moved to a #6, and I’ve worked hard to get there.”

  • ProFile: Donna Keffeler

    ProFile: Donna Keffeler

    Donna Keffeler is surrounded by clowns, but she loves every minute of it.
    As the marketing arm for one of the PRCA’s national sponsors, she works closely with 45 PRCA barrelmen and with rodeos, providing the right tools to go to retail and increase sales. She administers the Man in the Can program and provides the barrelmen with the buff colored tape and decals for their barrels.
    It all started two days before the 1981 Miss Rodeo South Dakota pageant. Donna grew up rodeoing, breakaway roping, barrel racing and pole bending on a ranch in southwestern South Dakota. She had tried a rodeo queen pageant but was told she was “too cowgirly,” so she didn’t try again.
    But two days before the state pageant, someone asked her to run, and she decided to give it a whirl. She borrowed clothes, a reining horse, and won the pageant.
    No one had told her that as a state queen, she was obligated to run for Miss Rodeo America. She didn’t really want the title; with a semester left of college at Black Hills State University, she wasn’t interested.
    But she ran, with the intent of having fun “I had a blast, the whole pageant,” Donna remembers. “I didn’t want to win, so I was myself.” She ended up winning the 1982 Miss Rodeo America title, and “my whole world changed.”
    Donna spent the year traveling the country as Miss Rodeo America, having a ball. Two months before her reign was over, a national sponsor asked her to work for them. When she was done as queen, she began work for them in Denver.
    She worked for them for three years, then spent four years in California working in the racing industry, for indie cars, off-road, Trans Am and truck racing.
    Then her life took another turn. In 1990, the racing company she was working for declared bankruptcy and she would be out of a job soon. The national sponsor called: would Donna come back to Colorado and work for them again? “I said, I’m there,” she said. She had a job.
    Since then, she’s been the “one-woman” show, putting the right tools in place so that more product can be sold. And as product sells, it sells rodeo tickets, too. “It’s all about rodeo retail and selling rodeo tickets.”
    She works closely with the barrelmen and they are family to her. “They are probably the most loyal and dedicated men in our rodeo industry,” she said. “They live, breath and fight for us.”
    They are her extended family, including their wives and girlfriends. “They call me Mama Donna,” she said. “When they start calling me Grandma Donna, I’m retiring,” she laughed.
    John Harrison, a three-time winner of the Man in the Can award and a four-time PRCA Comedy Act of the Year winner, loves working with Donna. “She’s got our backs,” he said. “When it comes to going to bat for us, she takes care of her guys.”
    Donna takes care of business, too. At the barrelmen’s annual meeting in Las Vegas prior to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, she is in attendance, “telling us what goes on with the national sponsor’s program, what changes are coming our way, or why they’re not selling enough product at a rodeo,” John said. “And she’s not afraid to jump in the middle of you, either. She’ll let you know what you need to do to help her.”
    But when business is over, she’s willing to have fun. “When you walk out of the room, she has said her piece and she doesn’t hold a grudge,” John said. “She’s truly friends with us. She loves us.”
    Donna has two daughters, Monique, age 24, and Gianna, who is 21, and they are her pride and joy. The girls are excelling in their chosen fields. Monique is a microbiologist working for the Jewish National Hospital. Gianna is working on her bachelor’s degree in geology and will study lava in Italy this year. “They’re so successful, and they’re amazing, sweet, beautiful girls,” Donna said. “We don’t go a week without seeing each other. We’re so close.”
    When she started in the rodeo industry in the 1980s, she was the only female representative among the national sponsors. It wasn’t always easy. “I had to break down some doors to gain respect. I couldn’t make a wrong move or say anything wrong. I was very professional in everything I said and did.” She earned the high regard of others. “I did get the respect.” Her advice for other women in fields dominated by women: You have to be respectful.
    She is grateful to her South Dakota rodeo family for the support they gave her when she started out as Miss Rodeo South Dakota, then Miss Rodeo America. “If it wasn’t for the Korkows and the Suttons, I wouldn’t have gotten through Miss Rodeo South Dakota. Those two families wrapped their arms around me and guided me.” Jim Sutton still teases her about the time when, as Miss Rodeo America, she was bored and cleaned out his tack trailer. He said, “Donna, what are you doing? You’re Miss Rodeo America!” She replied, “I know, but I’m still Donna Keffeler.”
    She loves her job. “I’m living a career in the sport I grew up in and love. I get up every day and love what I do. And after 35-plus years, who can say that?”
    Donna was inducted into the Black Hills State University (Spearfish, S.D.) Rodeo Hall of Fame earlier this year.

  • Roper Review: Cody Johnson

    Roper Review: Cody Johnson

    Very few cowboys are able to achieve their rodeo dreams and build a business at the same time. To be successful at either requires significant time and dedication. But that’s exactly what Cody Johnson has done over the last few years.
    At 49, Cody qualified for the PRCA First Frontier Circuit Finals last year, and owns Twisted J, in Stephenville, Texas, with his wife, Luann. Cody and Luann have three children: Bayli, 25, Tori, 23, and Clay, 16.
    Cody grew up on the family ranch in Lingleville, Texas, and as a youngster tried riding bulls and rough stock. He also spent time as a jockey and assistant trainer in Ruidoso, New Mexico.
    Though he had always roped on the ranch, Cody had never team roped and in his early 20’s a friend got him started. He had been playing at it for a couple of years when he met Luann, a successful barrel racer.
    “The first few years we were married, we went pretty hard,” says Cody. “But when you’re raising kids priorities change, so there was about twelve years or so that I really couldn’t afford to pick up a rope.
    “After my dad passed away, we moved back to the ranch. I built an arena because the kids were going to high school rodeos and I started roping in the practice pen. One night when I came in the house Luann said, ‘It’s time for you to put up or shut up. You never go anywhere and I’m tired of hearing how good you are.’”
    Not long after, in January 2012, a nervous Cody entered a Brother-in-Law roping in Glen Rose, Texas.
    “I had been out of it for so long, I was as nervous as a kid on his first day of school. I entered 20 times on a barrel horse reject. He wasn’t great but he was all I had. I didn’t win anything, but felt like I roped pretty good.”
    A few weeks later, a confident Cody and some friends loaded up in the bus they used for high school rodeos and made the trip to Jacksonville, Florida for the NTRL finals.
    “I felt like I was roping good, and was having the time of my life and really enjoying the camaraderie,” says Cody. “Once I got there I didn’t rope well at all. I entered with Speed Williams and he was teasing me a little. It really had an impact on me and I realized I needed to refocus and commit if I was going to get better. I would have to pay my dues again.”
    That year Cody worked at his roping and at a World Series roping in Hugo, OK, secured one of the last available qualifications for the World Series Finals in Las Vegas. During those finals Johnson placed a couple of times and won a little money, but was still dreaming about rodeo.
    Cody knew the importance of surrounding yourself with talent and how it makes you try harder. So, he began been spending time with professional ropers like Dakota Kirchenschlager and Cesar de la Cruz.
    “After learning from those guys and working to emulate their mental and physical training, I told my wife I wanted to get my PRCA card and make a run at the First Frontier Circuit finals. Her reply was, ‘I would rather you go and fail, than to not go at all.’ So, with her blessing, I loaded up and headed north for four months and made the circuit finals last year at the age of 49. I am living proof that dreams do come true if you work hard enough.”
    Unfortunately an old shoulder injury required surgery early this year and Johnson will be out for the remainder of 2018. He plans on coming back bigger and better in 2019.
    “I love the western lifestyle and heritage and like to think I make an impact. I believe America still loves the American cowboy and if it weren’t for the fans rodeo cowboys would not have a job. Rodeo is not always easy and almost impossible without sponsors. I have some great sponsors and believe in being loyal and holding up my end of that relationship.”
    When Johnson started traveling in 2012 he met producers, John Johnson and Troy Shelly, and credits these relationships, among others, in the roping and rodeo industry for the growth Twisted J has enjoyed. Twisted J started as a small boutique and has evolved into a merchandise company that now occupies a 22,000 square foot building in Stephenville, Texas.
    “Initially we got started by acquiring licensing agreements for some major western companies. We now do screen printing and embroidery in house for some of the largest companies in the industry. At Twisted J we focus on quality and customer service and that philosophy has served us well.”
    Several years ago, Twisted J was invited to set up a gifting suite at the Golden Globes in Hollywood, California. Cody and Luann gladly participated and saw this as a prime branding opportunity. Not long after, they received a similar invitation for the Oscars with a request for ‘the cowboy from Texas.’
    The following year Stephen Tyler, front man for Aerosmith, released a country album. He also wanted to align with a western company that would help support his charity for neglected and abused women, Janies Fund. The Johnsons gladly accepted the challenge and have enjoyed a friendship with Tyler as a result.
    A trip to Nashville sparked the idea for their latest successful venture.
    “We were considering opening a location in Nashville. That didn’t work out, but what we saw there were boutiques with small stages where local artists would perform. We bounced a lot of ideas around and eventually built a stage and bar in our building. Now, with Twisted J Live, we have a state of the art music venue where acts from all over the country perform.”
    “If it weren’t for my travels in rodeo and roping, our business wouldn’t be what it is today. Without the relationships and clients like Resistol and Stephen Tyler, Twisted J as it is, would not exist.”
    “I enjoy what I do and realize I am incredibly blessed. But I also know this journey would not be possible without the support of my family, friends, and sponsors.”

    COWBOY Q&A
    How much do you practice?
    When I’m healthy and able, every day.

    Do you make your own horses?
    No.

    Who have been your rodeo or roping heroes?
    Speed Williams, Cesar, Dakota, Russell Cardoza. I admire anyone who has made it to that level because it is not easy.

    Who do you respect most in the world?
    My mother, Linda.

    Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
    My wife, Luann. She has always believed in me and encouraged me.

    If you had a day off what would you like to do?
    Spend it with my family.

    Favorite movie?
    Top Gun.

    What’s the last thing you read?
    Wall Street Journal.

    How would you describe yourself in three words?
    Fun, loyal, generous.

    What makes you happy?
    Life

    What makes you angry?
    Takers – people who take and don’t give back.

    What is your worst quality – your best?
    My best quality is being ethical. My worst quality is I can be hard headed.

  • Timber Moore

    Timber Moore

    “My drive is to prove to myself that I still rope good enough to make the NFR and compete with the best in my event,” says Timber Moore. “It is more of a job, but I think there’s probably a lot worse jobs in life than traveling around with family and friends!” Timber, 32, comes from Aubrey, Texas, and the 6-time WNFR qualifier is no stranger to the arena of the Thomas & Mack Center. He’s competed at the finals consecutively the last five years and finished tenth in the world standings last season.
    Born into a rich heritage that included rodeo athletes and outdoorsmen, Timber’s parents, Gordie and Dianne Moore, roped and ran barrels, and Timber’s grandfather William Holloway was a stock contractor. Many of Timber’s family roots on his dad’s side lead back to Canada, where Gordie worked as a bush pilot and hunting guide, but rodeo was the tradition that Timber chose to continue. He grew up with a rope in hand and started out team roping, later adding tie-down in high school. He competed in both events through his college rodeo career with Tarleton State University in Weatherford, Texas, and when he turned pro in 2007, Timber decided to pool his resources and enter solely in the tie-down roping. “I love everything about it. It’s one of those sports that takes an athlete. There’s lot of hand-eye coordination, timing, and horsemanship. Without a good horse, you don’t have much of a shot of winning at all. The horse has to do so much on their own, and there’s a lot going on in making a good run.”
    Timber found his horses felt their best using 5 Star Equine’s saddle pads, which he learned about four years ago from a 5 Star Equine Products representative that lived nearby. “Their pads are unbelievable. I’m pretty sure I’m riding the same pad on my horse since I started with them four years ago,” says Timber. “They’re super durable and made with the best quality of wool—they’re just outstanding.” The past few years, Timber has signed autographs at 5 Star’s booth during Cowboy Christmas and the WNFR, while his social media posts are sure to have a shout-out to his favorite saddle pad company.
    Colonel, Timber’s rope horse, has been one of the top three finalists of the AQHA/PRCA Tie-Down Roping Horse of the Year the past three years. Timber bought the 13-year-old sorrel gelding in 2012, the same year Timber was recovering from knee surgery. “I’ve pretty much ridden him ever since. I don’t have any others that I would actually take and feel confident about riding. Buying horses that I can take and have a chance to win money on is the best way for me to do it.”
    Colonel travels in the bumper-pull trailer Timber tows behind his bus, which makes it easy for his wife, Valerie, and their 6-year-old daughter, Vaughn, to join him on the road. Tie-down roper Tyler Milligan is also traveling with Timber this season. “We’ve been to Disneyland and Disney World, and we stop and do some things to break it up so we’re not always driving. Vaughn is more into soccer and gymnastics and things like that.” Timber and Valerie met through their siblings, who went to high school together, and they were married in 2007. When they’re home in Aubrey, the husband and wife often work with Valerie’s parents, who run several businesses, including baling hay and selling flatbed and horse trailers.
    Timber and his family and friends have also put on the Gordie Moore Bubblegum Roping the past ten years to honor his dad, who passed away when Timber was 19. In the past, it’s taken place in early May, but since the location it’s normally held at is closing down, Timber hopes to hold the memorial roping this fall instead. Gordie was one of Timber’s greatest supporters in his rodeo career, and he also looks up to Raymond Hollabaugh, a 7-time WNFR qualifier and a Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee. “I stayed with him a lot when I was in high school, and he taught me a lot about roping and rodeo,” says Timber. “We stay in touch and talk all the time.”
    While Timber has competed extensively in Canada in the past, he rodeos primarily in the U.S. now, though the Calgary Stampede is a much-anticipated rodeo in the Moore household. “The Fourth of July is over and you’ve been driving a couple weeks on end, but in Calgary you get to sit still and be there for a week. It’s super neat to go up there and see all your friends,” explains Timber, whose main goal is a seventh qualification to the WNFR this December. “I like the summer in general because you get to rope and run a calf just about every day. You can get on a roll and have some good timing, and have things start going your way.”

  • Back When They Bucked with Elaine Kramer

    Back When They Bucked with Elaine Kramer

    It all started at the Metro Theater in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. That’s where Elaine Kramer saw the horses and maneuvers that would make her famous, to which she would dedicate the next twenty years of her life. The Wisconsin woman was born in 1935 and grew up the middle child of Irvin and Helen Kramer. She and her brothers roamed their farm and the woods, playing cowboys and bank robbers and riding horses. Elaine’s first horse was a pony named Little Beauty, then an American saddle bred, and the farm’s draft horses, which she was able to mount by throwing an ear of corn on the ground. When the horse put his head down to eat it, she’d jump on its neck, then as the horse raised his head, she’d slide down on its back. But it was a chance encounter at the movie theater that determined the course of her life.
    On the big screen, Elaine watched the movie Ride a White Horse and was fascinated. When the credits rolled, she stayed in her seat, reading them, and discovered that the movie was filmed at the White Horse Ranch in Naper, Nebraska.
    Elaine sent a letter to the ranch, asking about it. An invitation came back to come and visit, so she did. It was the summer after her high school graduation, in 1954, and there she learned to roman ride.
    The White Horse Troupe, a group of riders from the White Horse Ranch, performed their act at various events. The Troupe was invited to perform at the American Royal Horse Show in 1954, and when a girl was injured during an act, Elaine was asked to take her place. She was “surprised, excited and scared, and determined to do my very best,” she said. And she did. Her goal became clear: she wanted a horse act of her own.
    She trained her own horses and learned how to roman ride, sometimes with five and even six horses abreast, and often with two jumps. After Sports Illustrated used a photo of her jumping six horses abreast, the Flying Valkyries, a horse act based out of Palm Springs, Calif., saw the picture and asked her to ride with them.
    Elaine performed with them, and also with a troop of performers from Franklin, Indiana, called the Jinks Hogland All Girl Review. The girls jumped horses, roman rode, and had a garland entry. They performed at circuses, wild west shows and horse shows.
    She also worked for two years in Pontiac, Michigan, at John F. Ivory’s ranch, instructing girls on jumping horses and ponies and roman riding. At that time, she jumped and rode a nine horse tandem. Each weekend, Ivory had a horse show and polo games, with hundreds of fans showing up to watch.
    Mr. Ivory helped her start her own roman riding team, and Elaine’s first show was the Dairy Cattle Congress in Waterloo, Iowa. She fell off her horse, but only her pride was hurt. Red Foley, who was performing, came to see if she was OK and gave her a hug.
    Elaine got her Rodeo Cowboys Association membership in 1955, and her career blossomed. She worked for all the major stock contractors of the era: Harry Vold, Bob Barnes, Lynn Beutler, Mike Cervi, Lynn Knight, Rodeos, Inc., and others.

    In 1969, she went to California and worked for Cotton Rosser, spending two years on the West Coast.
    Throughout her career, Elaine had a wonderful time, meeting wonderful people and making memories. One of her more memorable moments, in part because it was a near-accident, came in 1964. She was entertaining at the Toronto Royal Winter Fair, the opening of all winter fairs in Canada, with the queen in attendance. The queen’s rifle battalion was marching out of the arena when someone hollered that she was up. The gate was opened before the soldiers were out of the arena, and as Elaine and her six horses galloped in, she nearly ran over one of the soldiers. He never moved, she remembered, as she maneuvered around him. The next day’s newspapers said that she had made a splash at the Fair, and she was invited to sit with dignitaries in the press box.
    She never had any major accidents, but she recalled a wreck one time in El Paso. She was roman riding a six horse hitch when the right lead horse fell between jumps. The rest of the team landed on each other, and Elaine fell between the wheel horses, the horses she was standing on. She got up, put bridles back on, sorted out the reins, did her act, and got a big ovation.
    Elaine remembers meeting celebrities from all walks of life and doing extraordinary things. She drove the Budweiser hitch, and when Tanya Tucker was in her teens and not yet a big country music star, she sat on Elaine’s lap and told her, “I’m going to buy all your horses.” Elaine had a reply for her: “You don’t have enough money.”
    She usually did her roman riding with a two, four or six horse hitch, going over two jumps, with her trademark act being with the six horse hitch. She trained her own horses, sewed her own costumes, and did a lot of her own driving. Her horses: Flash, Frosty, Flicka, Frisky, Fleet, Fury, Fantasy and Fascination were all sorrels with white faces and four white socks, and if they didn’t have the white socks, she made boots so they looked alike. The horses wore white plumes, white harness, and had white glitter on their hooves.
    Occasionally, her younger brother Keith would help her. Their parents would pull him out of school and send him to the bigger shows and rodeos. He knew how to set the jumps: nine paces between the jumps, and as he got older, he drove truck for her. She taught him how to haul horses, “yelling at me if I took off too fast or hit the brakes,” Keith remembered. Her long-time companion Dan Quinn traveled with her for the majority of the time; they spent 41 years together.
    Throughout her career, she worked the Dallas-Fort Worth Stock Show (where she had a complete wardrobe change for each of the ten performances), Madison Square Gardens, the National Western in Denver, the Cow Palace in San Francisco, was invited to tour Europe, and more. (She didn’t go to Europe; the quarantine for her horses would have taken too long).
    In 1974, she decided to call it quits. One of her horses had passed, and the two wheel horses were getting old. Her knees were bad, and it was time to stay home. Her last performance was in Omaha at Ak-Sar-Ben, where one of her horses came up lame. The veterinarian gave him a shot of cortisone to get him through the show, and the horses were “flawless,” Elaine said. As she styled around the arena for one last round, she got a standing ovation. “My horses pranced out of the arena, as though they knew it was their last performance.” Later, the veterinarian told her if he’d known how dangerous her act was, he wouldn’t have let her ride. She told him, with his help, she had made another safe ride, her last ride.
    “After twenty years of training, feeding, washing and hauling horses and driving many miles, fixing harnesses, sewing sequins on costumes, I concluded I would definitely do it all again,” Elaine said.
    Her career came full circle when, in 1974 at the Metro Theater in Prairie du Chien where it all started, Elaine watched the movie The Great American Cowboy starring Larry Mahan, where a cameo appearance of her act was included.
    After her two decades, she came back to Prairie du Chien to help with her parents’ beef farm. She started a trailer park which she still oversees. Her parents have passed, and now her great-nephew David Kramer runs the farm. The circle may be coming back around; a few months ago, when Elaine was visiting David and his family, she witnessed his two-year-old daughter standing on her rocking horse, just like her great-aunt did years ago.
    Elaine is a 2005 Cowgirl Honoree in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum. Her brothers: Keith and Russell, live in Wisconsin, and she has two nieces and two nephews.
    She doesn’t regret a minute of her career. “I never expected what a satisfying fulfillment it would be.”

  • On The Trail with Frontier Rodeo Company

    On The Trail with Frontier Rodeo Company

    story by Cassandra Robledo

    Jerry Nelson’s love for rodeo began in 1991 when a friend invited Jerry and his family to their ranch in south Texas. As the son of a professional baseball player and raised in the city, he didn’t know a thing about rodeo.

    “The first rodeo I went to, shoot, I didn’t know how you dressed. I was an oilfield guy,” Jerry said. “I wore a short sleeve shirt, a baseball cap and a pair of tennis shoes.”

    Fast forward 27 years later Jerry went from leasing 1,900 acres to owning 8,000 acres and leasing some. Today, his ranch covers a vast 9,000 acres across the prairies near Freedom, Oklahoma, with 400 head of bucking horses, 70 rodeo bulls and about 350 commercial cows.

    During the first few years after being introduced to the rodeo scene, Jerry helped produce amateur rodeos. Jerry said he worked his way from the ground up, doing everything from untying calves to working the back pens. The entrepreneur and rodeo stock contractor credits his success to his work ethic and long hours worked.

    “I’m still having fun,” Jerry said.

    In 1993, Jerry built an indoor arena and bought his first set of bulls. He began taking bulls to local amateur rodeos until 1997 when he bought his first pro rodeo card. That same year, he went to one of Harry Vold’s sales in Colorado to buy cows in order to begin his own breeding program.

    Instead of buying the cows he originally planned to buy, Jerry said he left the sale with 10 mares. These mares began his new venture into the bucking horse business, “and the rest is history.”

     

    Maple Syrup and Big Medicine are two of the most significant horses born out of the mares Jerry bought from Harry Vold. Maple Syrup is one of the first bucking horses he raised. She was talented enough to make multiple trips to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and now serves as a broodmare. Big Medicine is Jerry’s stud horse who has sired some of rodeo’s biggest names such as Medicine Woman and Maple Leaf.

    Jerry began Frontier Rodeo Co. at his home in Beaumont, Texas. In 1998, his friend Dan Mundorf bought 100 acres and moved from south Texas to Freedom, Oklahoma. Not long after Dan moved, he leased 1,900 acres in Freedom and began moving his growing operation, leaving Dan in charge.

    Soon after moving to Oklahoma, Dan decided to get out of the horse business. Dan introduced Jerry to Heath Stewart who was hired on not long after. Growing up in a rodeo family, Heath is no stranger to the rodeo world and happily took the job.

    With the same goals, work ethic and love for the industry in mind, Heath gained Jerry’s trust and respect. In 2005, Heath began running the ranch and is now rodeo manager. Jerry said Heath has made Frontier Rodeo what it is today.

    “Most of the reason we’re successful is because of Heath.”

    Heath and Jerry have created a world-class operation with some of the best and most recognizable bucking horse bloodlines in the country.

    “Heath and Jerry have built together an awesome operation,” said Butch Stewart, Heath’s father and coworker. “We’re so proud of them.”

    The first time Frontier Rodeo Co.’s bucking stock made an appearance at the WNFR was in 2005 when they took one horse and three bulls, Heath said. Last year, Heath took 18 horses and 2 bulls to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 2017 WNFR.

    Frontier starts the rodeo circuit year the second week of January each year. Heath and his staff travel across the U.S. to work up to 25 rodeos a year. For each rodeo, six to eight employees and at least five truckloads of livestock make the trip, Heath explained.

    “The success for Frontier Rodeo Co. is all the people who work for it,” Heath said. “It’s not just me. It’s the people who stay here at the ranch and feed, the pickup men, the guys loading the stock, driving the trucks, announcers and secretaries.”

    The work ethic and professionalism of Heath and his employees quickly gained the respect of many different rodeo organizations throughout the country, said Steven Money, rodeo director for Spanish Fork, Utah’s PRCA Rodeo. Steven commended Heath for the quality of work and livestock he brings each year to Spanish Fork.
    “It’s real exciting to see Frontier come in each year,” Steven said. “We both have the same goals to have the best stock for the contestants.”

    Steven said because Frontier Rodeo helps put on such a great rodeo each year, both Steven and Frontier Rodeo Co. were recognized at the 2017 WNFR. Steven received 2017 Committee Man of the Year and Frontier Rodeo Co. received the 2017 Stock Contractor of the Year award for the third consecutive year.
    Part of Frontier’s success is due to the strategic breeding program set in place to keep new livestock coming each year, said Butch. Selective breeding and training have allowed Frontier to own some of rodeo’s most well known bucking horses such as: Medicine Woman, Full Baggage, Maple Leaf, Show Stomper, Delta Ship and Bad Medicine. Medicine Woman is a 4X PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year. She is second in the PRCA record books for the most wins (2011-2014-2015-2016). Full Baggage is a 2X PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year (2011 & 2013), and Maple Leaf was the 2013 PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year. Frontier Rodeo Company has also been awarded the Remuda Award by the PRCA in 2012 & 2016. This award is given to a PRCA Stock Contractor for providing a high caliber herd of bucking horses.

    Every May, Heath and his employees load 70 to 80 young horses and take them to Guymon, Oklahoma, to buck at Robert Etbauer’s arena for their first trip. During the three-hour drive home, Jerry said his wife, Beverly Nelson, names most of the horses. Both Heath and Beverly come up with unique names for all of the horses they keep each year.

    Butch described the yearly cycle that expands up until a horse turns six. Butch said each year their foals are born, yearlings are weaned, 2 year olds are moved and 3 year olds are bucked. The 3 year olds that make the cut are turned out until they turn 4 then bucked at a few local college rodeos, Heath said. Then they are turned out until they turn 6. At age 6, they are developed enough physically to begin their debut on the rodeo circuit.
    “A lot of people don’t understand that it takes that long to bring a horse along to where you can use them in the rodeo field,” Butch said. “That’s why we have a cycle.”

    Jerry, Heath, and everyone employed at Frontier have all participated in creating one of rodeo’s largest and most successful stock contracting companies in the country.

    “My reason for success in the rodeo company is good family and good employees,” Jerry said. “That’s what makes it work.”

    Donnie Gay, eight-time PRCA World champion bull-rider, and Jerry’s pilot and general manager, also contributes to making Frontier Rodeo what it is today. Donnie has worked for Frontier Rodeo for the past 12 years and is in charge of public relations, sponsorship meetings and commentating events for the company.

    Twenty years ago, Jerry pulled up to Rodeo Houston, his first PRCA rodeo as a stock contractor. A lot has changed in the industry since then, including the quality of rodeos and livestock, said Jerry. One thing that has not changed, however, is Frontier Rodeo.

    “We’ve been doing the same thing and don’t plan on changing,” Jerry said.

    Since their very first rodeo, the Frontier Rodeo Co. team has worked to put on a show and leave a good impression each time they pull into an arena.

    “We try to be as professional as we can, and we try to put on the best rodeo there is,” Heath said. “We try to make it as even for every contestant who enters the rodeo. That’s our goal. When we leave a city after doing the rodeo that year, we want the people in that town to leave talking about it until they’re so excited to come back and buy a ticket for next year,” he said.