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.”
Dad, Ky, Jason Hetherington (former Australian rugby league player) – 2012 Young Guns Pony Riding Champion, Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton – courtesy
Ky at the Cassia County Fair & Rodeo in Burley Idaho, August 22, 2020 – Western Edge Photography
Ky & L’Koi- 2002 Mavericks Western Wear, Rockhampton
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.”
Bull riding with daddy, 2002 – courtesy
Buckle cabinet Ky made in Yr10 at high school (2015) – courtesy
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.”
“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.”
Las Cruces, NM – his back number was put on a piece of cloth. 1951 New Mexico State college rodeo. I won the bareback riding (56 entries) and third in the saddle bronc riding (Harley May won the All Around). – courtesy
Donice, Keith Lilley, Roy Lilley, Mark Lilley, Charles Lilley. Roy was was inducted into the Colorado State University Wall of Fame in 2019t. – Rodeo News
“My friend Bill Maudell who got me to wear the hat with the 5 inch brim!” CO A&M Rodeo 1952 – James Cathey
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 Lilley in Belle Fourche, SD in 1955 – Jack Bushbaum on left! – Jim Ross
Roy Lilley – Rodeo News
“Just as I Am” memoir by Roy W. Lilley book cover
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.”
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.”
Malcom riding at New Underwood, SD – Teresa Tople
Malcom – Teresa Tople
he boys on the ranch – courtesy
“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.
The family at the National High School Finals – Acentric Rodeo
Malcom riding at the SDHSRA State Finals – Cowboy Images
Playing basketball – courtesy
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.”
Quincy Sullivan is the second girl to ever win the National High School Finals in team roping..Brend Youtsey Reay was the first in 1986. The odds were totally against Quincy Sullivan and Luis Mendiaz, team ropers from New Mexico, that won the National High School Team Roping title for 2020. The last New Mexico high school rodeo was in October, 2019. 17 year old heeler, Luis Mendiaz, from Santa Fe, ended the fall season in 5th place. Header Quincy Sullivan, age 16, was in 6th place. The New Mexico first place team was unable to go to Nationals, and Luis was next in line. When his header couldn’t go Quincy was next in line. Quincy and Luis had only roped together once before making the trip to the National High School Finals in Guthrie, Oklahoma. “We each drove 80 miles to rope together before heading to the Finals,” explained Quincy.
“In the first round, we did pretty good,” she continued. “I didn’t rope the first one as good as I should and we ended up 8th in the round. The second round we drew a stronger steer – Luis pulled off an incredible heel shot!” In the short go, which eliminated all earlier scores, there were four teams ahead of Quincy and Luis, including another New Mexico team. Quincy continued: “I really didn’t think we were as fast as we were. But we did it in 9 seconds and took the lead.” After the first place team missed. —– We won it!”
Quincy & Luis team roping at the 2020 National High School Finals Rodeo – Acentric Rodeo
Luis Mendiaz with his father & brother in front of the Dodge Ram that he won at the NTR in Wickenburg in 2019 – AndersenC-C
: Quincy & Luis team roping at the 2020 National High School Finals Rodeo
Quincy grew up in rodeo, both parents competed. She began by competing in all events – barrels, poles, goat tying, team roping and breakaway. Finally settling on team roping and breakaway roping. She works every day on her events. “I have 15 horses now and I ride them all. My head horse, Hondo, is amazing. He tries his hardest every time and even if a steer is slow or fast, he’s solid. My dad’s team roping partner sold him to us, and he’s worth every penny we paid for him,” she proudly reported, adding: “I hang out with the boys more, because most of the girls don’t rope as much as I do. I’m not your average high school girl.” She will be team roping with Hadley Oder this year and Luis is team roping with her cousin, Weslynn Reno.
With two more years of high school, Quincy is setting her sights on Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. “I want to be a lawyer,” she explained. “I took mock trial last year in school and really enjoyed it. I’m pretty passionate about it!” She is also running for president of the student council at her school which has 100 students. She added, “I want to make some changes to our school and have a voice.”
When Quincy was in the 7th and 8th grades she qualified in both the team roping and breakaway roping for Junior High National Finals. She has made the National High School Finals both her freshman year and this past year in both events again. She also qualified for the Junior World finals last year in both the ’15 and under’ as well as the ‘19 and under’ breakaway roping. She won the ’15 and under breakaway roping’.
Quincy with her family – courtesy
Quincy & Luis – Courtesy
Luis with the Dodge Ram that he won at the NTR in Wickenburg in 2019 – Andersen C-C
Quincy’s mother, Shacey, grew up in rodeo, competing in speed and roping events in high school. She said of daughter, Quincy, “She works hard at her rodeo events and I’m glad she’s getting recognition for it.” Quincy’s dad, Russell, competed in calf roping and team roping in high school and won 2nd in team roping as a heeler. He went to the college finals in both events from 1996 through 1999.
Heeler, Luis Mendiaz, rode a quarter horse, Sus Beetle, his dad’s friend sold him. He’s a head and heel horse. “I won a truck on him heeling. He’s a good horse,” said Luis. He let’s his dad drive the Dodge Ram truck he won because it is standard shift. Luis admits he’s not good driving a standard shift vehicle. “My dad works construction, and didn’t rodeo until he came to New Mexico in 1999 and started watching roping. He began roping in 2005. He taught me to rope.” In 2010 his dad roped in the USTRC Finals at Guthrie and Luis watched him win 10th place in the #8 Division. “I like to rope the dummy during the day, before I practice on my horse,” Luis explained. His parents don’t speak English but we asked him to ask his mother how she felt about her son winning the world. He said, “She feels really happy for me and for her – that she had a son that won the world and how far I’ve gone in roping.” Luis will be a senior and when he finished he plans to go to college and learn to shoe horses. He said, “I want to thank my parents for supporting me and Quincy and her family.”
Quincy, with the support and rodeo experience from her parents, and the fact that Luis has his dad’s roping history to aid him, and with their hard work and determination we are sure tol continue to hear about their successes in the arena for years to come.
Gauge McBride has found success in the rodeo arena as well as the wrestling floor. He finished his senior year at Kearney High School as the Class A 152 pound state wrestling champion for Nebraska. He also finished his four years of high school rodeo as state champion in the bareback and bull riding, third in saddle bronc riding as well as the All Around title. He headed to the National High School Finals in Guthrie in all three events. Gauge was born without his 7th cranial facial nerve. The congenital defect affects the muscles that control facial expression and eye movement. “Just one side works – my left eye’s not great either. I can’t see out of it very well. I’ll wear my contacts for wrestling and sometimes for riding too.” He admits getting made fun of growing up. “I got in a couple fights about it, other than that, I try to find a good come back … it’s never been something that’s impacted me that much with friends or rodeo; it hasn’t stopped me from doing what I want.”
“From the second that Gauge was involved in high school wrestling it was apparent that he was a tough kid,” said his wrestling coach, Ty Swarm. “He brought a level of toughness and grit to him that helped our wrestling room and program for the four years he was at Kearney High School. He’s super coachable and driven, so if you tell him why and what he exceeds expectations. I’m not surprised he made a state champion. He is just a good competitor and has the mind-set of how to win and find success. If he knows something is going to benefit him, he’s into it full on. He’s a kid that has flourished under everything he’s done. He’s lighthearted and fun to be around.”
A picture Guage drew in art class his junior year
Gauge and Jacque at his graduation – Gary Lewis
Bow hunting hunting with Cooper at his Uncle Justin’s place. – Jacque McBride
2016 NJHSRA State Champion Boys All Around, plus all three rough stock champion. – JJJ Photo
Gauge has had plenty of coaching on the rodeo side from his dad, Cooper, a 7x NSRA saddle bronc champion, as well as his Uncle Justin McBride, 2x PBR champion. “I was pretty little when he was winning, so I never went to Vegas. But I learned a bunch from him. I used to go down there every summer for a week.”
Justin made the finals ten times, winning the world twice (2005, 2007). “From the time I was 19 until I was 29,” said Justin, who went from riding to the analyzing side of bull riding for CBS sports and regular CBS. The 40-year-old got his permit when he was 18 and made the finals the next year. “Gauge is a really tough kid; in fact I think that’s his best attribute. A lot of that toughness comes from his dad. Wrestling really translates in rough stock and that gives him an advantage.” Justin is ready to help again and sees ways to help him improve in the bull riding. “They’ve got to believe what they are saying. Even taking away that he’s my nephew, Gauge never looks for a shortcut, and he’s willing to do the work to get there.”
There are others that have given Gauge guidance and advice. “A bunch of us have,” said his dad. “Steven Dent has helped us a lot too – it’s a group effort.” Cooper thinks his son is “doing real good; he’s got a lot of good things ahead of him if he just takes care of business,” and gives him this advice: “Don’t be scared, scared gets you hurt.” Cooper started riding broncs after high school and went on to win the NSRA in the saddle bronc riding from 1998-2004. He quit riding in 2007 after breaking his leg. “I was going to the circuit finals and amateur finals one more year, but I broke my leg and hung it up.”
Cooper and Gauge ride to work together every day. Gauge works on gas lines for the Natural Gas Company. “I’m out there with dad; it’s not a bad gig. I’m a welding helper – when they make a well, I use the grinder and clean it off, or I’ll hand them a welding rod when they are finished with their last one. I run the shovel a lot, when they dig up the holes, I have to go in there and clean it up and find the pipe. Eventually I want to be welding for the pipeline. It’s fun and I’m learning a lot right now. It helps me stay in shape running the shovel.” Gauge is going to pursue a welding degree at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. “I really like the coach, Jeff Collins; his attitude and how he goes about business – he was really adamant that you stay in shape, on the right path, doing your schoolwork and things that a guy needs to do to be good at what he wants to be good at. They’ve got a good team; it’s the perfect spot for me … and it’s warmer than Nebraska.”
“I’m going to agree with Gauge – he’s going to be a blessing for our team,” said Jeff Collins, rodeo coach for six years at Panola. Panola College, known for its vocational degrees, is home to 2,500 students, with 35 on the rodeo team. “I’ve had really good luck with wrestling athletes; they are disciplined, in shape, and willing to give and do a lot of things other guys aren’t. Gauge told me he wants to ride all three like Ty Murray, and there hasn’t been a guy as talented in all three in a long time. When I say Ty Murray – at 51 he’s still one of my heroes to this day. I’ve got great expectations of Gauge.”Gauge will take 14 years of training, and success with him to college. He started muttin’ busting and wrestling when he was four. “When I was little I tried every sport and I really liked wrestling. I played soccer, football, and baseball but they were during rodeo season.” He moved from sheep to calves, to steers, and then mini bulls. “In junior high, I did goat tying, and breakaway roped, team roped, and rode all the rough stock.” Gauge admits he wasn’t that great at the timed event end. “I could have been, but getting on three every day and then to the timed event it was getting to where I wasn’t prepared for each event, and it cost me in the long run.”
2016 NJHSRA State Champion Boys All Around, plus all three rough stock champion. – JJJ Photo
Gauge and Carsyn, first day of school – his senior year, her sixth grade year – Jacque McBride
Riding in Valentine, NE, his junior year – Cathy Sandall
The 2020 Class A 152 pound state wrestling champion for Nebraska – Jacob Oertle, Assistant wrestling coach at Kearney
Preparing for each rough stock event is different, but they all include stretching and praying. He can’t choose one event he likes better. “Somedays the bareback goes good, sometimes the bull riding; I’ve been riding bulls the longest, but I think I’m better at the bareback; the bronc riding is a rough story.” He’s having a hard time getting the hang of it. “For some people it clicks, but there’s a lot of moving parts. In the bareback and bulls, you grit your teeth and hold on … in the bronc riding you’ve got to move your feet and when you’re in all three, it’s a different way of lifting with your body and it’s hard to get it. I end up lifting like I’m in the bareback and it ends up getting me out of there or getting me drilled.” The combination of wrestling and rough stock has worked well for Gauge. “Wrestling helps with roughstock a lot; being in shape and helping me in the way I land and flexibility.” It has also helped his mental game. “It’s helped me be mentally tough – never show you’re tired, never give up – it gets tiring getting on three every day, but having a tough mind keeps you from weakening.”
He prepared for the National High School finals by working out every day and riding the spur board. “Along with bench squat and curls, I run around the track at the YMCA and I’ve got intervals, sprint for 30, jog for a minute, then sprint for a minute and jog for a minute.” His experience last year at the NHSFR wasn’t the best. “I got bucked off in the first round of the bareback and both runs in the bull riding. Second round I was 72. This year I’m better mentality, last year I got worked up on wanting to win win win … it’s hasn’t changed, I still want to win, but I was so focused on winning I wasn’t thinking about how I was riding.”
His family, along with grandparents, and younger sister, Carsyn, 12 were in Guthrie to cheer him on. “He is extremely humble,” said his mom, Jacque, who competed in all the events in high school except cutting and team roping. “He can light up any room.” Gauge put on dances for all the high school rodeos. “He’s got Party Rockers; and he puts a party on at all the rodeos. He loves to dance.”
Along with Party Rockers, both Gauge and Cooper are guitar players. He’s been playing for about three years and plays any songs he can figure out. “I play a little country and a lot of rock and roll as long as I can crank the volume and not annoy mom and dad. Dad plays too, playing a lot longer than I have.”
Gauge finished seventh at the high school finals and he’ll be home one night and he’s off to his first PRCA rodeo in Deadwood, SD. After that it’s Phillipsburg on the 30th.
“Finals was a lot of fun,” he said. “I got bucked off my saddle bronc. I rode my second one for a 64 and I opted for a reride. I ended up getting three rerides and bucking off.” In the bull riding, he bucked off both of them.
“I have a short memory – I keep going and get ready for the next one.”
“I’ll make a shot for Resistol Rookie maybe next year. I’m just going to a couple this year and dip my feet in the water and hopefully not end up with my head in the ground. Next year when I have a little more time, I’ll get to a few more. I think college will be a big step up and I’m excited to see where that goes.”
“I don’t think I would be able to handle your situation like you do.” This is a statement I’ve heard a lot since September, 2018. Although, this is meant to be compliment, to me it raises questions and wonders on why people think this. What do I do that makes people think this? Why does everyone think so down on themselves? What do I do that makes me be able to handle this situation the way I do?
Being made children of God and being blessed to live in the United States we all have free choices every moment that we are awake. We choose what to wear, whether to go to work or not, where to live, what vehicle to buy, and my favorite choice, how many cups of coffee to drink in the morning before doing chores. For me, I choose a lot of coffee before starting the day. With these free choices we also get to choose what to think, what to believe, and how much effort we want to put in.
I grew up wrestling from a young age. From the time I was five until I graduated high school, I endured long seasons of grueling practices, tough competitions, tournaments, and weight cutting. I would spend the off seasons at training camps to better my skills. I traveled all over the country to regionals, nationals, and every big tournament there was. I would spend time before practice working on drills and stay after practice to get more conditioning. I learned fast, the harder you worked the more reward you received from it. All the blood, sweat, and tears shed from my wrestling career carried over into my rodeo career.
I began riding bareback horses going into my freshman year of high school. Through high school and college I competed in all three rough stock events. To compete in the three most physically demanding sports in the world I knew I would have to train harder than everyone else. I trained in the gym before school. Then I would come home after school and ride my spur board and drop barrel for hours. I went to every practice I could and got on as many animals as they would run under me. Sometimes, between the three events I would get on upwards of fifteen animals in one practice.
I knew that to go to the National Finals Rodeo someday and be a World Champion I was going to have to be the best. They don’t just hand out gold buckles and I knew that. I put in the time when I was young and it catapulted me into my professional career. By the time I was eighteen and graduated high school I was ready. I was ready to compete against the big dogs. I had the skills to compete but I learned fast that I needed more skills then I had. I had to learn how to travel smart. How to enter rodeos correctly to utilize time and money. I had to learn how to battle through slumps. How to keep a positive mind when everything seemed to be going wrong. But, from wrestling I had learned at an early age how to train like a champion, and how to fight like a warrior.
After the paralyzing wreck in 2018, I decided to fight this battle the same way. Train like a champion and fight like a warrior!
How does a warrior fight? By being prepared before he goes to battle. You see, I grew up in a spiritual family, I accepted Christ and was baptized at nine years old. I was steered in the right direction from a young age. Although, I took some back roads growing up, and veered off course, I always ventured back to my faith that started young. I learned at a young age to trust God’s plan. How to search the Word. And, how to seek the father in prayer for my needs and wants with thanksgiving. I learned that when we battle with Christ on our sides nothing can stop us!
How do we battle with Christ? Just like any warrior does. We put on our armor and face the battle with courage. Our armor can be found in Ephesians. “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:14-17
As warriors we must put on God’s armor. The belt of truth is the centerpiece of the armor, it holds everything together. The belt of truth is Jesus. We must first and foremost make Jesus the absolute unequivocal Lord of our lives.
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Putting on God’s armor starts by giving our lives to Jesus daily. Reading our Bibles, spending time alone in prayer, humbly laying down ourselves and worshipping him are all ways we can give our lives to Jesus. Turn off the TV. Get off Facebook and Instagram. Spend time with Jesus laying out our worries, cares, needs and wants at his feet.
Next, is the body armor of God’s righteousness. This is the breast plate which is similar to our rodeo vests or a bullet proof vest. The vest protects against internal damage from bulls feet when you get stepped on, or horses flipping in the chutes. Or, like a bullet proof vest that protects our military and police force from bullets entering the chest cavity. The breastplate of righteousness is what protects our hearts. “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NLT. We have to be sure that our hearts are protected and filled with Jesus. By daily pouring God’s word into our hearts we can have confidence that we are being led in the right direction and apply it to our lives so that we steer away from sin.
The next piece of armor is the shoes of peace. The shoes of peace come from the Good News. The Good news is that God sent his only son to die for us on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins and a promise of eternity with him in heaven if we accept him as our savior (John 3:16). The shoes of peace keep us moving forward no matter what our circumstances are because we know we aren’t staying here. No matter how bad it seems nothing can keep us down when we know we are going to heaven. The shoes of peace keep us moving, and it’s hard for the enemy to hit a moving target. The shoes keep us prepared to do God’s work wherever we are and whatever situation we are in. We can always be thankful for something and we should all be prepared to share the good news with others at anytime.
The shield of faith comes next. This is what stops the flaming arrows of the enemy. Our faith is so important. When the enemy attacks physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, our shield is what stops his attacks. Our shield is what keeps us in the game. Our belief in God’s promises are what give us hope for a better future. Our belief in Jesus as our savior is what gives us a hope for eternal life in heaven. Our belief in God’s word reminds us that he can do the impossible, we can face anything through him who gives us strength, and that no matter what our current circumstances are, he alone can give us a breakthrough. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NLT
The helmet of salvation is like our bull riding helmets, or a helmet of any kind. It is what protects our brains from head to head collision with a bull, or wreck in any other action sport. The helmet of salvation is what guards our minds. Just like it is important to guard our hearts it is also important to take control and guard our minds and our thoughts. If the enemy can’t crack us with a physical blow he often tries a more subtle approach and it can often be heard as a voice in our heads. “You’re not good enough. You can’t. God won’t heal you.” These are all voices we may hear. It is important to take control of what goes in our minds. What we dwell upon. And what we think about.
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8 NLT. What we think and believe of a situation often times is what becomes. If you think you can’t, you won’t. If you think you can you will. Engrave God’s promises and words in your mind to often reflect on and let his word guide your thoughts.
Lastly, is the sword of the spirit. The rest of the armor has been defensive and offers protection. The sword of the spirit is how we fight back. This is our weapon.This is how we attack. This is like the spurs on our boots as we prepare to nod our heads and challenge the beast that we sit upon. The sword of the spirit is the Word of God. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” Hebrews 4:12 NLT.
When we read God’s word, bury it in our hearts, and apply it to our lives it changes everything. John 1:1 tells us that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. So, since the word of God is Jesus when we use the word against the enemy we allow Jesus to fight our battles for us. We don’t have to take them on ourselves. We can stand by God and let him do the fighting for us. “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Romans 8:31 NLT.
In this time of chaos and turmoil. Whatever battle you face whether financial, physical, or mental. Whenever you feel like you can’t keep going, when life is hard or unfair. Whenever you feel like there is no way, put on your armor and fight back with the promises from the word of God. Don’t give up and keep fighting. Be courageous. Be a WARRIOR!
“I don’t know many people do what we do – all for one.” Bobby Steiner
Bobby Steiner won his gold buckle when becoming the World Champion Bull Rider in 1973. “It was really something being born into a rodeo family that owned a rodeo company,” said Bobby. “The bull riders were my heroes from the time I was a kid. I dreamed of being in the Gold Buckle Club. I wasn’t just thrilled for me when I won it. I was happy for my wife, Joleen, my mom and dad, and all the people that had so much to do with my accomplishment. Everybody put so much into it.” Bobby was 22 when he won the world. He quit competing to help his dad, Tommy, with the Steiner Rodeo Company. “I had accomplished what I dreamed about,” he said.
The legacy of Steiner Rodeo Company began with Buck Steiner, an early day entrepreneur in many areas, including saddle making and rodeo. Buck helped Tommy run the Rodeo Company. “My dad, Tommy, was a great showman in the rodeo business,” said Bobby. “I can remember he had big entertainers at our rodeos, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans . . the crew from Gunsmoke and Bonanza television programs, and so many more big stars. As a kid I didn’t know how special that was.”
Bobby riding on 17 General Ismo – Jerry Gustafson
Tommy and Bobby ran the Rodeo Company together for the next nine years. Joleen also helped time and secretary when rodeos overlapped. She had seen success in barrel racing, qualifying for the NFR in 1970 and 1971. When they sold the Rodeo Company in 1982, Bobby and Joleen spent their time raising their sons, Sid and Shane, and ranching.
“When we sold the Rodeo Company, the boys were 6 and 7 years old. I never wore my gold buckle, and never talked about rodeo. About a year later the boys asked me if they could ride the calves that were in the pens,” he recalled. “I agreed to let them ride. I’d put on rodeo schools before – but I had no equipment for them to use. It was going to be like the farm boys getting on. They rode to the back of the arena, got off, and never talked about it again. I did coach baseball and football,” Bobby recalled.
Before Sid started steer wrestling, the family took to the water – courtesy
Sid doesn’t remember much about the Rodeo Company. He remembers growing up playing football and baseball. He and his brother are 14 months apart. “When we grew up on the ranch we were all we had, we played together and fought together. But we took different paths – we’ve both had success, and it was really a neat time. Rodeo wasn’t talked about — and there were no rodeo photos in the house.” Then Sid went to Ranger College, in Ranger, Texas, to play football. “That was the first time I’d been away from home, in Austin, and I wasn’t happy so I came home and worked on the ranch. A long-time friend and I started team roping in 1994. We would go to the arena and I’d borrow a horse. I didn’t really know how to saddle a horse, but we decided to team rope. I don’t think I even told my dad that I was roping, at first,” said Sid.
“A guy that was hauling cattle for us was a bulldogger and asked me to his house in 1995 to throw some steers down. I went and just kept working at it and getting better, but rodeo was the furthest from my mind. Joe Morris had some practice steers — I practiced with him for a month. Then I bought my permit and started going to pro rodeos. My mom entered me in Greeley in 1995 and I was off! Two months later I filled my PRCA permit.” Sid finished 18th in the PRCA Steer Wrestling in 1997 and that was a heart-breaker for him. “It took me three more years to get to the NFR,” recalled Sid. “My daughter, Steely, was born in 2001, and I decided not to rodeo any more.” Sid came home and watched the NFR from home. “That lit the fire under me again. I came out fresh in 2002 and knew exactly what I wanted out of it. I think everyone’s goal when they rodeo is to win the big title – that’s what we work for. I like to think I ‘outworked’ everybody. I was focused on what I wanted – I practiced hard, lifted a lot of weight and really tried. Sid won the gold buckle in steer wrestling in 2002. Like his father, that was it when he won, and he quit competing.
Jamie barrel racing at NFR 2000 – Hubbell
Sid met his wife, Jamie, at a rodeo in Caldwell, Idaho. Jamie grew up on the race track where her father was a jockey. “They didn’t want me to be a jockey so I ran barrels instead,” Jamie said. Sid and Jamie got engaged in December, 1999. She made the NFR the same year as Sid, in 2000. They got married in April of 2001. Steely, their daughter, was 11 months old at the 2002 National Finals when Sid won the world. “I’ve always been a stay-at-home mom,” Jamie explained. “Sid does real estate, buying places, fixing them up and selling them — I think we’ve moved seven times so far.”
“Every time we’ve moved it’s been exciting,” said Sid. “I like to buy places and improve them, then I find something else I want to go do. Our place here near Weatherford works really well for us – everybody is happy here. I’m fortunate to spend most of my days with my wife and kids. Steely rides horses, everybody’s got the things they like to do here, and we’re always trying to get better every day.”
Sid at the 2002 NFR – Hubbell
While the kids were young, they lived near Lake Austin and the family spent many hours on the lake, waterskiing. “Rocker started wakeboarding when he was three,” said Sid. “Steely wasn’t in to the water — horses were her way. She still wakeboards, but prefers her horses.”
“I’ve been riding since I was way little,” said 18 year-old Steely. “I got my first pony when I was three and rode it around like a banshee.” Steely just graduated from Brock High School. Her goal for this year was to fill her WPRA barrel racing permit. “The plan was to go out and rodeo a little bit, but there’s nothing to go to,” she said, “So I’ll wait until next season to go.” She’s spending her time riding and practicing. “I have a few young horses and it’s fun to bring them along.” She is hoping to start down the rodeo road next year and then consider an online college to study business and accounting to help the family. She was Reserve Champion at the Junior American in 2018 in barrel racing, as well as the short round at the International Finals Youth rodeo. “I’m grateful for my family – we want to win and we work real hard and always put in the effort. We are there for each other,” stated Steely.
Taking his celebration lap – Hubbell
Her younger brother, Rocker, has lived up to his name. “He’s been a rock star from the time he was able to walk,” said granddad Bobby. “He thinks different – he was 8 when he tried a flip on the wakeboard and landed it. Rocker had competed all over the nation in wakeboarding. Rocker wasn’t raised in a family that was actively rodeoing but he decided he wanted to try rodeo. We put him on some bareback horses and he loved it. We’ve gotten him some broncs to practice on. He has a lot of body balance – Ty Murray has worked with him from the start and has even lent him the spurs Larry Mahan gave Ty, both great champions had ridden in them. You can never blame your ride on spurs,”
Bobby admitted, “I disliked being away from home when I was rodeoing. But I appreciate the rodeo world for what it is. I had forgotten the traveling road-show family and I’d forgotten how special that time was with my family.”
Rocker Steiner wakeboarding
“Wakeboarding is something fun to do with friends,” said Rocker. “But being four feet off the ground on a wild animal is an ginormous adrenalin kick. Bareback riding has an adrenalin rush. You can’t even know if you’re going to make it out of the arena alive.” Rocker got on his first bareback horse August 29, 2016 – almost four years ago. “I was pretty certain I was the worst bareback rider ever. I didn’t do very good and I was scared to death,” he admitted. He got on ten horses a week, five at each practice, rode spur board and bucking machine daily. “My grandfather helped me every day. I had to make a deal with myself that I wasn’t going to be scared and the more I got on, the less I was scared,” he discovered.
Rocker at the Riggin Rally – Rodrigo Donoso www.rodrigosnaps.com @rodrigosnaps @rodrigosnaps
Like his grandfather and dad, Rocker has set his goals high. “My main goal is make the Finals my rookie year, and I want that to be when I’m 18, and see if we can’t come home with a gold buckle – or something. I’m going to work every day to get there.”
With very few PRCA rodeos to go to these days, he’s had a couple of PRCA bareback riders staying at his home near Weatherford, Texas. “We (Leighton Berry and Cole Reiner) work out and try to get better every day – been doing that for the last couple of months since they’ve been here,” Rocker reported. They go to a little gym at Tesky’s in Weatherford. Cole is winning rookie this year, and both Leighton and Cole are on the road to the National Finals. “Seeing my buddies go and hit the road is going to push me and make me want to be on their level,” Rocker admitted. Rocker has two more years to go. “I’m not planning on doing any rodeos until I’m 18 – and I am going to keep doing this until I get my PRCA card. I want to be a world champion like my grandfather and dad – I wouldn’t be where I’m at without them – I appreciate that more than they’ll ever know.”
Steeley at the AMERICAN – Skylar Jo Photography
“I try to make my kids the best they can be,” said Sid. “We have a ranch outside Weatherford and we raise bucking horses. My wife, Jamie, and daughter, Steely, raise barrel horses. I do whatever I can do to help my family. I’m just real proud of my family – and that’s what I tried to do with rodeo – being proud of your last name and wanting to add something to it. That’s what keeps pushing us. We only got one shot at this deal, we might as well get after it.”
“I think if you look at the history of the Steiners, we’ve never talked about anything but great – we expect it,” concluded Bobby. “It’s way better watching your kids and grandkids have achievements – it’s a euphoric feeling.”
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the entire world, and the rodeo industry isn’t exempt. From contestants to contractors to committees, they’ve all been forced to adapt, since the nation was shutdown, starting in mid-March. For bareback rider Kaycee Feild, it took a bit to adjust to the new routine before he could switch roles. “I got lost for a few days,” he said. “My (rodeo) goals were unattainable, and I didn’t do a whole lot for about a week.” Then his focus shifted to being home.
At home in Spanish Fork, Utah, the four-time world champion has done projects around he and Stephanie’s house: welding, building, and grilling.
“I started to build a tack shed,” he said. “Growing up as a kid, we had a tack shed, and I spent a lot of time with my dad in it. So, not having one for the last decade, I’m building one and it’s bringing back a lot of memories.”
He’s spent more time with his kids, too. Elder daughter Chaimberlyn, who is seven years old, is always busy with something. “I have to saddle her horse every day,” Feild said. “She likes going on picnics, or doing puzzles or playing with my wife.” The couple’s son, Huxyn, is four, and is all about dirt bikes. “He’s a dirt bike kid. He’s on it all day, every day. He’s worn out two rear tires this spring.” Third child Remi, a daughter, is eighteen months old.
Time at home has also given Feild an opportunity to work with a few of his sponsors, including Power Pro (www.pwrprocbd.com) and Gel Blasters, a toy gun that shoots orbeez.
Feild thinks that when rodeos start back, competition will be tougher than ever. He and a few bareback riding friends are organizing a practice session with money up for grabs, to get in tune for rodeos.
“A lot of guys are on the same playing field right now, so when it opens back up, rodeo will be the best you’ve seen. There’s a limited amount of time to get to the (Wrangler National) Finals so you’ll see who wants it.
The COVID-19 break has been good for him, physically. “This has put two years on the end of my career,” he said, “to be able to give my body a break this time of year, being able to stay home.”
Wyatt and Leslie Casper with their two children – Courtesy
Leslie Casper, wife of Wyatt Casper (OTT in Rodeo News March 2020) had their second child this past December. “We were able to go a little in the winter and spring with him but it just wasn’t a fun time with a month old and a 13 month old,” she said. “It’s pretty nice to have help with the kids every day all day long. Cooper our 18 month old really LOVES having his daddy home, it’s going to be very hard when rodeos finally kick back up.”
For Binion Cervi, the worldwide pandemic is a double whammy. Not only has it forced the cancelation of pro rodeos for the stock contractor and his brother, Chase, but it has devastated the cattle markets.
The Cervis own and operate a feedlot near Greeley, Colo., and with cattle ready to be harvested, JBS Packing was closed due to the virus. (It has since reopened).
Like Feild, Binion is using the unexpected time at home to do projects that don’t get done when rodeos are in full swing.
“We’re doing everything you usually push to the side: upgrading fences, the ranch, headquarters, we’re doing all that.” They’ve been able to keep their rodeo employees working at the ranch. “The people who would normally be on the road, they’re at the ranch helping us, so we can make sure they have a job.”
When rodeos begin again, Cervi thinks things won’t be the same. “This changes people, and there will be caution in the world, even when everything is cleared to go. Some people will be blazing trails, some will go cautiously. I think you’ll see people with masks on at rodeos, and you’ll see people who don’t care. Everybody’s going to react to it differently.
The pandemic has shifted the way Cervi thinks, as it has for a lot of people. “This is such a reality check for every human in the world. It’s a dose of reality, that nobody controls anything in life.
Binion Cervi – ImpulsePhotographyMB.com
“This is the real world, and we all get caught up in going so fast, on a personal level, that it’s like, this tells you what is important in life. It’s like God waking you up. There’s more to life than rodeo, there’s more to life than always building a business. That’s the biggest blessing I’m getting, that our whole family is getting.”
The Franklin (Tenn.) Rodeo, didn’t have a choice when it canceled.
Set to be held May 14-16, executive director Bill Fitzgerald didn’t think the long-running rodeo would be shut down.
“For the longest time, I tried to play it off, to say this was going to go away. Then, as it got closer, the government was changing the way we did things. We couldn’t have our meetings, and I was starting to get nervous, like, how am I going to communicate with my committees, with my volunteers, with my people?”
The rodeo is held at the county-owned Williamson County Ag Expo Center, fifteen miles south of Nashville.
“The county actually shut the facility down, and that made the decision (to cancel),” he said. The building is closed through the end of May.
The cancellation was made on March 23, seven weeks before the start of the rodeo, which meant the committee hadn’t spent much money yet. “We weren’t out a lot, because we hadn’t gotten to that point yet,” Fitzgerald said.
He believes that next year’s crowds will be even better because they missed this year’s rodeo. “I honestly believe that folks love the sport of rodeo, and they’re going to come. The fans in middle Tennessee want to be a part of it. We still have people joining the fan club, knowing the rodeo won’t happen.”
Franklin Rodeo – Tom Thomson
Cheyenne Frontier Days is on the front lines of the time line.
The “Daddy of ‘em All” is set to kick off July 17-26, and, according to CEO Tom Hirsig, at this point, the staff and general committee are working to make it happen, with state and local government officials as part of the decision making process.
He’s spent sleepless nights worrying about all the factors, and believes that time will tell, especially as May rolls on. “The month of May will determine a lot, at least for the July rodeos.”
“We’re on the cusp of being one of the first ones that might get to have their event,” he said.
CFD is on people’s “bucket list, the Kentucky Derby of rodeo,” he said, with fans from all fifty states and 31 countries, which is another aspect to consider. He assumes that international travel won’t be opened yet, which could affect attendance.
The economic influence of canceling CFD is enormous. The last economic study done for CFD showed a financial impact of $28 million to Cheyenne and $40 million for the state of Wyoming. “All rodeos have an economic impact on their community, whether it be Meeteetse (Wyo.) or Cheyenne.”
Rodeos also have bills to pay, whether they hold their event or not.
“We are $2 million into our show now,” spent on it. If we can’t have (the event) we lose that money.” And there is the cost of maintenance as well. “We own our own park and we have ongoing costs. Those utility bills don’t go away and payroll doesn’t go away.”
Annual rodeos and events aren’t like other businesses that are open year-round, Hirsig pointed out. “It’s not just that we are missing out on making that money, but we have ongoing costs like any business. It’s just that we have ten days to make that money. It’s going to be hard on a lot of rodeos to recover from this. I don’t know, when we come out on the other side, how these rodeos will be.”
Hirsig said CFD contracts with about 300 people or entities. “There are 300 individuals or companies out there, hanging on what we’re doing.”
CFD sponsors have been loyal, he said. “I keep hearing that sponsors are pulling out, but we haven’t seen that. Our sponsors have been sticking with us, and are glad we’re making an educated decision. Many of them are local sponsors and they understand the long term effect that if CFD doesn’t take place, that increases the deterioration of their bottom line.”
He’s also very aware that he is not an expert in infectious diseases or healthcare. “We are event planners, and that’s where our expertise is. Our expertise is not in diseases, viruses or healthcare. We have to rely on the experts in those areas at the state and county level, as to what is safe and not safe.”
Hirsig also stressed that the decision to cancel or postpone a rodeo is not necessarily in the hands of the rodeo committee. They are “being advised by their health departments” if they can have an event.
Like Cervi, he believes the COVID-19 pandemic will change events and event planning and marketing. “The world has changed. There will be people with masks on, and some without masks, and when you put a bunch of people in a stadium, everyone’s going to have a different feeling about what social distancing means. You’ll have people with masks, and if you get too close to them, they’re going to feel uncomfortable. Or the people drinking and having fun, there could be another level of discomfort.
“You want people to leave your event saying, that’s so fun. I want to come back. You don’t want them to say, man, there’s a lot of people here, I don’t think we should go.”
The goal of entertainment is to provide a distraction from the “regular world,” Hirsig noted.
“What do you do to your brand if you put your event on, and people don’t have a great time? We’ve worked hard to create this brand where it’s fun, it’s away from the real world. With masks, there will always be that reminder, that there is something else going on in our world that you have to be concerned with. You have to measure that to some degree, too.”
Chancey Williams in Moorcroft, Wyoming helping shearing. – Courtesy
Chancey Williams and his band are staying busy as they wait to hear how to better plan for upcoming shows.
“Our last show was March 13 in Houston and they’ve canceled everything through May, some in June, and some in July,” said Chancey Williams, whose band is usually booked every week. They have had to cancel 9 shows so far. “We are getting a few emails and phone calls for things in June and July but we still don’t know if it’s going to hurt us or not. We have two at the end of May that are still holding on – Craig, Good Old West Days is still planning on it.” The band has been making good use of their time off. We spent the time working on equipment, practicing, and Chancey learning how to do the social media live. “It’s been a learning curve, but we’re getting it.” Chancey has been able to help his family with shearing. “Stay positive and work through it – we want to be ready to play – we’ve got a new set and an album coming out – we’ll be ready to go when they open up.”
“For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
Hebrews 3:14 NLT
When we don’t see the answers we are looking for right away we can begin to wonder. It’s easy to begin to doubt when we don’t see change right away. We may begin to question God when we don’t think he’s listening to our prayers. We may have the tendency to throw the towel in if we keep asking without results. But, what does God tell us to do?
In Hebrews 3:14 we see that when we have faith to the end, trusting God like when we first believed, we will get all the Jesus has. What does Jesus have? I can’t count or list all that we will receive with Christ but I can name a couple big ones.
First of all, he shares a throne with God, in heaven (Ephesians 1:20). He has the power to perform miracles and hand out blessings and he says we will do greater works than he (John 14:12). Another would be the power to resist the devil (James 4:7). Lastly, we get to share God by abiding in Jesus and him in us (John 15:4).
By having faith and trusting God we get to spend eternity in heaven. We get to witness, call, and perform greater works than Jesus did, which we read about in the New Testament. We get the living power to resist temptation and the evil one while we are on this earth. And lastly, since God lives in Jesus, and we invite Jesus to live in us, we get to tap into all that God has to offer us, unlimited, anytime, anywhere!
What’s the catch you may ask? You’ve tried and it doesn’t seem to turn out this easy? Just go back to Hebrews 3:14. We must keep believing, trust God, and stay faithful to the end, just as firmly as when we started believed.
For example, take my story for instance. Sept. 22nd, 2018. Pasadena Rodeo, horse has just flipped on me. I can’t feel my legs and no matter how hard I try to move them they won’t move. My back is broke at t9 and t10 and my spinal cord is damaged leaving me paralyzed from the waist down. I prayed right there, believing for a miracle. I believed I would wake up the next morning and be healed. That night I believed full heartedly that I would walk out of the hospital.
The next morning I wake up. 5 hours of surgery later. Rods and screws put in my back. Fused from t8-t12. Still can’t feel or move my legs. I keep praying and believing. Now I believe in the first 3 months I’m going to walk. 3 months go by. Still hardly any movement.
I start praying and believing in 6 months I will walk. I rehab extensively everyday. 3-5 hours a day 5 days a week. Visualize moving. Visualize walking. Visualize running with my kid. Visualize riding. Sept. 22nd rolls around. I jump a level on all my tests but I’m still bound to this chair. I’m unable to lock my knees and stand on my own yet. I can’t bare my own weight yet. I can crawl but other than that I can hardly move or control any leg movements yet.
It starts to wear on me. Am I ever going to get what I asked for that very first instance after my wreck? Is the hard work I’m doing going to have any results? Here it has been almost 1 ½ years and I’m still trying. Still looking for alternative medicine. Still trying to have an ear to hear God’s calling on my life. Still listening for his guidance on where to go.
I’ve battled wondering. I’ve doubted. I’ve struggled with questioning. There’s been days I wanted to throw the towel in and just get used to life in a chair, move on, and figure out what’s next.
But that’s not the cowboy in me. I still have this burning desire to keep going. Knowing that we receive what we ask for (Matthew 7:7). Knowing that the best is yet to come (Jeremiah 29:11). Knowing that my breakthrough is right around the corner (Psalms 116:1-2).
I’ve decided no matter what I am going to keep believing. Keep trying. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. And keep asking. Sure, some days are hard. That’s alright. We are only human. But, by believing and keeping our faith we have access to a God that is far bigger than our problems. He loves us enough to call us his sons and daughters. No matter how big or how small he wants to be apart of it. And, he wants to give us the miracle we are asking for.
All we have to do is remember how much we believed the very first time we asked. No doubts. No wonders. Full hearted faithfulness. Trusting in God’s timing not our own. And hold on to this belief and trust with firmness until the end.
No matter what we see or don’t see. Hear or don’t hear. Keep your eyes on God. Hold on to your faith, trust, and keep believing knowing that you are going to get your breakthrough!
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
““What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.””
Mark 9:23 NLT
When searching for information about rodeo history, it is not unusual to be diverted in my quest to find a cowgirl or cowboy with unusual and interesting experiences other than rodeo. My attention goes directly to that person. Florence Hughes Randolph is just such a person. Her experiences just have to be re-told!
Cleo Alberta Holmes was born to John and Mary Holmes in Augusta, Georgia in 1898. She didn’t like her name and let it be known. Her father, in jest, called her Florence instead. The name stuck and when she began her career it was Florence, not Cleo or Alberta, that she chose to call herself.
She spent as many days as she could with her grandfather, on his cotton plantation, making rounds. She rode behind him on a mule. When she began riding alone, at age 13, she wasn’t satisfied with the mules. She rode horses instead, and eventually persuaded her mother to let her travel with a circus equestrian family as an apprentice.
She loved the excitement of the Colonel King’s IXL Ranch Wild West. She practiced with tutors, did the hard work she was also asked to do, and watched others, to learn, as they practiced their specialties with horses. She became a trick and Roman rider and a trick roper. A few years later, 1915, the troupe disbanded and Florence was free to do what she wanted.
Florence – Courtesy of granddaughter, Madonna Pumphrey
Florence never grew very big. She was four feet six inches tall and weighed all of 90 pounds, but her experiences had allowed her to gain so much confidence during those years she formed her own show. She named it ‘Princess Mohawk’s Wild West Hippodrome’. The group grew to sixty people, which in addition to the performers, included cooks and crew to set up and tear down. Often they traveled with other shows and carnivals. It lasted several years until a disaster struck in Kentucky. The bleachers collapsed on opening night and numerous spectators were injured. Florence lost everything!
There was no time to waste, she had to earn some money! She joined the Barnum & Bailey Circus. While there Florence learned resinback riding from May Wirth, a well-known specialist in that endeavor. She learned much from this fine lady, including how to turn a backward somersault from one horse to another. Florence’s ability to perform could amaze and excite the audience.
Meanwhile, between circus engagements she began to enter rodeos as a bronc rider and trick rider to try and win money. It took awhile to prove herself in rodeo as she was known as a ‘wild west gal’. In 1919 she heard of the rich purses offered at the Calgary Stampede and hungry for money she headed that way. Florence entered the three mile Roman standing race. The winner would receive the Prince of Wales Trophy and a silver mounted saddle. She was the only woman entered against eight men. When it was over she had won, the only woman to ever win that event. Plus the Prince of Wales trophy she won a silver-mounted saddle worth $1,500. She quickly sold the saddle to Edith Sterling, a silent movie actress. She needed the $1,500 much worse than the saddle.
After this Canadian win she had confidence galore, and began entering all the big rodeos, such as Cheyenne Frontier Days, Pendleton RoundUp, Chicago and Fort Worth. Florence competed under the last name Holmes, Hughes, King, Fenton and Randolph, and occasionally as Princess Mohawk. Florence married a bronc rider named Angelo Hughes who was killed in an automobile accident at Mexia, Texas four months later. Suddenly she had to support herself plus support her mother and two younger sisters.
When a Phoenix rodeo ended she went to Hollywood to visit friends. While there she was encouraged to double for Shirley Mason, a movie star. Florence would get two or three hundred dollars for doing risky horse riding chores, that actors refused to do for movies, such as riding horses over cliffs. She also posed as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty. But the desire to rodeo won out. Back in Texas she threw her saddle behind an open cockpit of a Curtiss bi-wing at Love Field in Dallas and took off in to the air to promote the Dallas Dunbar Rodeo.
Her first New York competition was Tex Austin’s 1923 Championship Rodeo at Yankee Stadium. She entered all three cowgirl events – Bronc Riding, Trick Riding and Relay Racing. Later in life she was quoted as saying, “I didn’t win all the time, but I got my share of the prizes most of the time.”
Florence – Courtesy of granddaughter, Madonna Pumphrey
The rough and tumble world of rodeo did cause Florence to experience some bad spills. In Houston a bronc named ‘Dumbell’ fell on her and she was dragged to safety by world champion Bob Crosby. At the Shrine convention rodeo in Washington D. C. a notorious bronc named ‘School Girl’ turned a somersault and landed on Florence, who was declared dead, but after going to the hospital by ambulance she came back to ride again! Once, when she was taken to the hospital after a serious accident, Ruth Roach went with her. Florence had been unconscious and was coming to when she heard the doctor tell Ruth that she would never walk again. Florence bolted, got up and ran out, heading to the front door, with the doctor and Ruth after her, when she realized she was only wearing a sheet! One of her most embarrassing moments.
In 1924 Florence was asked to go with the Tex Austin entourage to London, England, to compete in Wembley Stadium, the first rodeo ever held in England. It was a 14 day trip by ship with the cowboys and cowgirls, and the stock. The Prince of Wales, who by then was the Duke of Windsor, took a group of competitors to supper after one performance. He had remembered Florence when she won the Prince of Wales Trophy at Calgary five years earlier and was fascinated by her. Later he escorted her to Buckingham Palace to be presented to his parents, George VI and Queen Mary. He also took her to view the crown jewels of Great Britain.
In 1925 she met Floyd Randolph of Ardmore, Oklahoma, who was judging a rodeo at Dewey, Oklahoma. He also furnished stock for the big rodeos, including 200 head of horses and steers for the first Madison Square Garden rodeo. They were married at Newkirk, OK later that year. They went on to the next rodeo since there was no money for a honeymoon. Florence’s desire to win at the Garden caused her to have an arena made, to the same dimensions as Madison Square Garden, at the Randolph ranch near Ardmore, Oklahoma. Regardless of the weather Florence could be found working out in the arena every day of the year.
She also made and designed her own costumes. New ones were made for each season. Sometimes as many as sixteen costumes or more were made yearly. Many were made out of satin and when they wore out she would rip them up and make satin quilts from the fabric.
Florence had several horses she trained for trick riding. The most famous was “Boy” a five year old that she bought completely untrained. During his training Florence lost two teeth to his wild ways, but she and husband Floyd finally got him settled down. “Boy” and Florence were featured at many rodeos. At one of their Madison Square Garden performances a representative of ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’ discovered ‘Boy’ had a clear map of the United States on his right side. Believe it or not, Florence had never noticed it before. In Philadelphia they were invited to a Rotary Club gathering and ‘Boy’ traveled by elevator up sixteen floors in the Bellvue-Stratford Hotel. She had him wear special made rubber boots so he would not slip on the tile floors.
The SesquiCentennial in Philadelphia, 1926, is where she won her first All-Around cowgirl trophy. It was presented to her by Jack Dempsey, the well-known boxer of the era. All together she had won $6,000 there with wins in bronc riding and trick riding. She moved on to the Chicago rodeo and won the same two events there.
Madison Square Garden rodeos were held in late October or November. Through the years the New York rodeo became bigger and bigger, with standing room only at times. Florence was one of the favorite cowgirl competitors and always sought out by various reporters. In 1927 she won the Cowgirl All Around Championship, plus the Cowgirl Trick Riding Championship. She was the first cowgirl to win the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Trophy, valued at $10,000. The trophy would not be given to a cowgirl to keep until someone had three consecutive wins.
During her rodeo years Florence continued to go to the Madison Square Garden Rodeo. She remembered in 1932 when Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Chairman of the Milk Fund, had a luncheon for the cowgirls competing that year. Mrs. Hearst gave each of them a purse for their enthusiastic participation in the rodeo which aided her favorite charity. After the presentation the cowgirls became silent. Florence got to her feet, in behalf of the group, and thanked Mrs. Hearst for her kindness and hospitality. From that time forward Florence became the ‘unofficial’ spokesperson for the cowgirls whenever there was any public speaking required.
Florence – Courtesy of granddaughter, Madonna Pumphrey
Her achievements were amazing. She won the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $10,000 Trophy; the George W. Nixon trophy for World Champion Girl Bronc Rider in Chicago in 1926; the Juergens and Anderson World Champion Cowgirl Trick Rider in 1927 and 1928; and the Champion All-Around Cowgirl at Philadelphia in 1930, plus many more.
In 1939 Florence “Princess Mohawk” Hughes Randolph announced she was hanging up her saddle. “I have done everything in rodeo that I set out to do,” she reported. Her retirement dinner was held at Madison Square Garden, and she was presented a huge bouquet by Paul Whiteman, a popular bandleader of that era.
She did not retire when going home, but began teaching her granddaughter, Madonna, age 5, to trick ride. Floyd’s daughter, Mary Louise had married Jim Eskew, Jr., world champion trick roper, and Madonna was their child. As a teenager Madonna became a well-known trick rider and trick roper. She retired from trick riding at 16, but continued to perform as a trick roper.
Florence did many things during her retirement in Ardmore including assisting her husband politically when becoming sheriff. She was also active in her church. Madonna said, ‘There was never a Sunday that she didn’t have me at Sunday School and Church at the First Christian Church in Ardmore.’ Additionally, she and Floyd also helped start the Ardmore VFW Rodeo in 1946, and worked on it for many years.
Florence was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1968. The only two women to be honored in that Hall of Fame at that time was Florence and Tad Lucas. Many of her trophies she had won during her rodeo career are housed there in the Oklahoma City Hall. Her most treasured were The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Trophy which she won in 1927 as “a tribute to the charm and courage of western womanhood’. The second trophy, also from Madison Square Garden, was from 1933 when she won as the Champion Trick Rider. She was also inducted to the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth in 1994 posthumously. Florence had passed away April 14, 1971.
The cowgirls from the 1920s and 1930s were fiercely driven and it was extremely difficult in those days. Once they honed their rodeo skills, won some prize money, learned how to travel from one rodeo to the next, and became friends with other cowgirls and cowboys, you couldn’t keep them away. It became their life, and some excelled at it, like Florence.
Gail Woerner, rodeo historian, is writing a book about professional rodeo from 1920 to 1959, with an emphasis on the Madison Square Garden rodeos. She has always called the early day Madison Square Garden Rodeos the ‘unofficial’ predecessor to the National Finals.
Wyatt Casper can breathe a little easier after winning $600,000 at the AMERICAN. “When I’m home, I like to be home – and that’s what this money will help with,” said the Pampa, Texas, cowboy. “It’s tough, when I’m gone in the summer and my family can’t go with me. I go with buddies – we bust our butts for three months putting 45,000 miles on our rigs. Thank God for cell phones.” Last year, Wyatt supplemented his income by working for his dad, trucking.
The Casper family (John, Amy and Ty, Clay, and Wyatt) moved from Minnesota to the Panhandle of Oklahoma when Wyatt was 5. “I transferred my trucking company (Casper Express) down there and never looked back or regretted it,” said John, who tried a little bit of everything in rodeo, but when he started raising a family, he settled on team roping when he can. “It was a great move for us – we wanted our boys to grow up rodeoing and cowboying and have more opportunities.” All three boys found success in rodeo from the junior high level to the national level. Clay has gone on to success at the USTRC Finals and Ty has won many Top Hand awards at ranch rodeos. Wyatt qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in team roping in 2010 and for saddle bronc riding in 2014.
Wyatt didn’t get on a saddle bronc until his senior year in high school. “When Oklahoma high school only had two guys entered the first semester and neither one stayed on a horse, the money piled up,” he said. “There were six of us trying for that money by spring. If it weren’t for that, I don’t think I would have set foot on a bronc horse. I went out to OPSU in Goodwell that spring and Robert Etbauer and some of the other college kids helped me out.”
“He’s a great bronc rider and it’s been fun watching him,” said Robert Etbauer, coach at OPSU. Robert qualified for the NFR 12 times; 1988-1992 and 1994-2000 and won the gold buckle in 1990 and 1991. “We’ve got a great facility and we can get those kids started by helping them take care of themselves before they get on – Wyatt had a lot determination.”
Wyatt with his son, Cooper, in front of the AT&T Stadium during The AMERICAN. – Courtesy
Wyatt working for his dad, trucking – Courtesy
Wyatt, after winning The AMERICAN – Kay Miller
After graduating from a class of 15 from Balko (Okla.) High School in 2014, he went on to Clarendon (Texas) College under the coaching of former PRCA bronc rider Bret Frank. He earned an associates in welding. He got his PRCA card in 2015 and last year was the toughest year he’s had. “I only won $3,500 between June 1 and August 31,” he said. “I went through that time just trying to forget about the week and look forward to the next week. It was really tough – I was digging a hole and all I could think about was digging harder to get out of it. I thought I’d been riding good but hadn’t been getting paid.” By the end of August, he started winning money and finished last year in 33rd place.
The other thing that helped Wyatt is changing his riding style. “I shortened the seat of my saddle – 16 ¼, pulled my stirrups up and my binds up and that’s allowed me to expose myself in the back and show off those horses a lot better. I just tried it and ended up loving it.”
“He’s waited a long time for this,” said his mom, Amy, a Special Ed teacher at Balko. “His dad and I have supported him from the beginning and told him to never give up. Financially we were there for him if he ever needed it to keep going down the road and doing what he loves. He’s a great kid and has a beautiful family. He has a huge following up here in Balko, in Minnesota and Pampa – always cheering him on.” Amy has already taken the ten days off for the 2020 NFR.
Wyatt has never been to the NFR. “I said I wasn’t going until I make it.” Since a few rodeos cancelled, Wyatt headed home after the AMERICAN, which he says is now his favorite rodeo. “Hands down that’s my favorite – it’s such a cool place to ride.” Wyatt rode there in 2016, and was 78 points. He’s happy to be heading home to spend time with his family.
Riding in Rock Springs Senior Year – JenningsRodeoPhotography.com
Tie-down roping, 2007
Wyatt and Lesley’s wedding, standing with their parents – Christy Ladd Photography
He met Lesley at college. “I saw her and asked some friends about her. We were entered at the same rodeo, it rained pretty hard and she messaged me on Facebook about the ground. I stayed consistent after that and met her at another rodeo.” They were engaged on March 24, 2016 and married the following May 13. They have two children; Cooper, born November 4, 2018 and Cheyenne, born December 6, 2019.
He is going to seek counsel on the best way to invest his current earnings. “My brother in law bought 12,000 acres in Miama Texas, and wants us to help them so we might go that route. I’m going to talk to some people who have gone through this – I’ve got some people in mind to pick their brains to figure out what is going to be best for me and my family.”
Wyatt’s goal is to earn enough and invest enough that rodeo will carry him into his next venture. “I want stuff in place for me to already be making money when I’m done rodeoing.” His goal for riding is to ride at least 80% of his horses and use them. “I want to go at each horse the same and use them to my ability.” Last year, he rode 78% of his horses and so far this year he until Houston he was 35 for 35, with 30 of those rides being over 80 points. Houston didn’t go so well. “I landed straight on top of my head. I’m good – they say I have a compressed fracture on T1, but stable. I need to take a month off.”
Wyatt started out in the roping pen, team roping and calf roping. He still ropes when he has time. “My wife barrel races and I’m training some of her young horses; hopefully by the time I’m done riding broncs we’ll have some horses going and some colts coming along.”
“I am so proud of Wyatt,” said Lesley. “I have been with Wyatt basically from the start of his bronc riding career and to see him grow so much and come this far is truly amazing. Whatever Wyatt wants, he sets his mind to it and he always reaches that goal. He is a fantastic father and husband.”
For now his priorities remain the same – God first, family second, rodeo third. “We all wouldn’t be here without our Lord and Savior.”
Jon Temple loved his time in the rodeo arena. The retired bullfighter and clown spent more than twenty years in regional and pro rodeos across the nation, protecting bull riders and making fans laugh. Born in Cleburne, Texas in 1937, he saw a rodeo clown for the first time when his granddad took him to the Cleburne rodeo. He was about six years old, and he was fascinated. “I watched that fella real close, and I thought, I believe I could do that someday.”
As a youngster, he rode calves and bulls, but that wasn’t where his dreams were. His bullfighting practice was during the weekends, at the buck outs in Fort Worth. There, he learned his way around an arena and around bucking bulls.
Jon worked regional rodeos till his friend and fellow bullfighter Junior Meeks, who held a Rodeo Cowboys Association card (the predecessor to the PRCA), asked him to come to the RCA’s national convention, held in Denver at the Brown Palace. Jon accepted, but didn’t plan on getting his RCA membership. “I went up there with no intent of buying my card,” he said. Meeks and other friends introduced him to stock contractors and producers. Another friend, Jon Routh, introduced him to stock contractor Harry Vold. The three of them went across the street to a café for a cup of coffee. As they visited, Harry began writing on his placemat. He pushed the paper to Jon. It was a list of 33 of Harry’s rodeos, where he needed a rodeo clown. “You can have any of them or all of them,” he said. Jon took a look. “I didn’t want to look shocked so I looked it over,” he said. “And I said, I think I’ll take them all.” It was 1960, and his pro rodeo career was started.
Jon Routh made sure Harry knew Jon was a good choice. As they walked out of the café, Routh called to Vold, “Harry, if he doesn’t make you a good hand, you call me and I’ll work the rodeos.”
Another bullfighter Carl Doering also helped with his career. He worked with Carl, off and on, for three years. Carl helped him fill in his gaps in his schedule, and Jon loved working with him. “He was a swell guy,” he said.
Jon Temple at his Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame induction in 2001.
Jon and his wife Norma “clown around” at a Rodeo Clown Reunion in Santa Fe, N.M.
Jon Temple spent much of his life in the rodeo arena, as a bullfighter and clown. – Bryant
A bull catches Jon as he jumps in the air.
Each fall, Jon went to the RCA convention, prepared to book shows for the next year. Vold had told him he changed clowns each year. For two years, in the fall of ’60 and ‘63, he got a call from Vold, asking him to return to the rodeos. The committees liked the way he worked and wanted him back.
In addition to Vold, Jon worked for a variety of stock contractors, at rodeos across the nation and Canada: Neal Gay, Reg Kesler, Bernis Johnson, Joe Kelsey, Roland Reid, Jim Shoulders, Beutler and Son, Wayne Vold, and more.
One of his acts was a Model A Ford car. With the top cut out, he painted big flowers on it and called it a “hippie van”. The next year, to have a different act for the rodeos he returned to, he had a different paint job put on it and called it a “Tijuana Taxi.”
Jon also had a mule he called Jenny Lou. Trained by a man from a carnival, she could “count.” In the arena, Jon and the announcer would banter about Jenny Lou’s intelligence, then they would come up with a problem, and she’d answer it. Scratched at a spot on the base of her mane, she’d turn her head up and down. Touched on the left shoulder, she’d turn her head back and forth. Jenny Lou was smart, “a whole lot smarter than I was,” Jon quipped. She could sense when they were about to leave for a rodeo. She wouldn’t eat and would drink just a little. During the travels, when they stopped for a water break, she’d get out, take a sip of water, roll, and jump back in the trailer.
She also loved sweets. Tied to the trailer at a rodeo, the kids gathered around her. Jon would tell them to watch their cotton candy and ice cream because she’d try to eat it. As she moved toward the treat to take a bite, the kid would jump back and she’d keep the treat. One time, she took a bite of someone’s cotton candy and got the whole ball, making a mess all over the trailer.
Jon had few serious injuries. He bruised a kidney once at a rodeo in Missouri when a bull rolled on him, which took a long time to heal. In British Columbia, an indoor rodeo was held on a hockey rink with sawdust and dirt over the ice. A bull got in a corner, facing Jon, and Jon slipped in a pocket of shavings. He fell, sliding between the bull’s front legs “like I was sliding into second base,” he joked. The bull “dropped to his knees and went to thrashing me with his horns,” he remembered. “I tried to grab him by the neck, to pull myself out.” A committee man saved him. “A big, heavyset committee guy in a starched white shirt jumped off the gate. The bull saw the flash and jumped to get it. That’s when I made my getaway.” Medics wrapped Jon’s head in gauze and sent him to his hotel. “My old head was throbbing,” he said. With gauze wrapped around nearly everything but his eyes and mouth, “I looked like a freak.” The next day, before the rodeo, he stopped at the doctor’s office for someone to cut the gauze off and put new wrap on it. And his hat and wig didn’t fit; he went without them for that performance.
Another injury happened in Washington. When a bull rider hung up, Jon came in from the off-side, got him loose, and when the bell on the bull rope fell, it hit the back of his hand. He had seen a blur coming at him and put his hand up to his face for protection. It broke two of his fingers; the injury could have been worse if his hand hadn’t been there. And a broken ankle suffered in Mesquite kept him from working the 1969 National Finals Rodeo.
The injury that propelled him to retirement was in 1969. When a bull rider got hung up, Jon moved in, got him loose, but didn’t get far enough back. The bull “gave me a judo chop” on his right ankle. “They put me in the limo (ambulance) and I went to the hospital,” he said. He had broken his leg, which put him out of commission. The doctor told him, “you’re in the wrong occupation. You won’t be walking when you’re fifty.” Jon decided to rodeo one more year, then retire.
After retiring in 1970, he went to work for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in Ft. Worth. He worked for them till 1999, when he retired from Union Pacific Railroad.
After that, Jon did carpenter work, refurbished houses, and worked with his wife, Norma, who was a real estate agent. He and Norma owned and operated several car washes. He served for twelve years on a local school board and the couple is active in their church.
Now he and Norma, who married in 1998, sell window treatments, and Jon golfs for a hobby.
He has 3 beautiful redheaded daughters: Marla Roper, who lives in San Antonio, Jeana Temple, in Ft. Worth, and Jonelle Luce, who lives in Joshua, Texas. Norma has a daughter, Shelby Lloyd, who lives in Cleburne. Between the two of them, they have 8 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
Jon is a 2001 Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee, and he loves attending the rodeo clown reunions and catching up with old friends. He appreciates the friends he’s made through rodeo. “The friendships over the years have been God’s blessings,” he said. “They connect me to the right things. That’s how my life has gone. I’ve had some good friends.”
