Category: Rodeo LIFE Cover Feature

When the lights shine down on the grand entry of the 48th Annual International Finals Rodeo this January in Oklahoma City, two cowgirls will have a stronger connection than most in the arena.

Kim and Taycie Matthews, currently ranked no. 4 and no. 5 in the IPRA world standings, are mother and daughter qualifiers in the barrel racing. They’ve had a strong year in the IPRA, with Kim holding steady and Taycie making a late-season surge as a rookie. Did we mention Taycie was only 14?

The Matthews family, from Wynne, Arkansas, has been involved in barrel racing for many years. Kim’s parents trained barrel horses as she was growing up in Caruthersville, Missouri before she went on to college at the University of Tennessee Martin on a rodeo scholarship. After college Kim kept up barrel racing some, but got married in 2000 and quit for eight or nine years to start a business and a family with her husband Terris.
Together they own Matthews Ridgeview Farms, a large sweet potato operation where they supply to many major retailers across the United States.
But when Kim had two young daughters, Jaylie who is 16 and Taycie, who just turned 15 in December, it was practically written in the stars the girls would have horses. Their grandparents were quick to ensure they had ponies as babies and grew up horseback from there.

“They started riding, and that gave me an opportunity to get back in it,” Kim explains adding, “we were going to barrel futurities and big open shows, not really going to any rodeos, and three years ago we decided we were going to go to some rodeos. We went to about three or four with Kindyl Scruggs [the IPRA’s 2016 world champion barrel racer] and then we went back to the barrel races and barrel futurities,” But 2017 would be special Kim describes, “this year Taycie just begged, she said ‘I want to try to make the IFR, so I said ‘okay, if I’m going to have to haul you, I’m going to run too. So we just decided to go this year, and we went… a whole lot…” Kim laughs.

All three Matthews women joined the IPRA’s 2017 season. And though Jaylie didn’t go as hard as Kim and Taycie, she plans to rodeo with them in 2018. Being involved in horses and on the rodeo road together with her daughters has been important to Kim.

“I think it’s awesome. It’s a lot of bonding time and just keeps us having so many things in common. We got to spend a whole lot of time together this summer.” Taycie echoes that sentiment. “It’s fun. It’s just built our relationship more together,” she says.

Going from the barrel racing and futurity world has been a fun change for the girls in particular.

“You’ve got more driving, but a lot of it’s easier because you get there, and you’ve got all day to just rest until your run, and you don’t have as many horses to take care of because you can only run one horse at the rodeo,” Kim says. “We go to the futurities and the derbies, and we may carry 9-10 horses so that’s a whole bunch to take care of,” she laughs and adds of rodeo, “It’s a whole different life. You’ve got a whole different set of people, and you have no idea what the ground is going to be like when you get there. You have no idea what the weather is going to be. You just have to adapt or don’t run, which I did that a few times this year,” she laughs, but adds seriously, “it’s all about your horse. You can’t do it without your horse so you’ve got to take care of them first.”

Being in the IPRA specifically has afforded the girls the opportunity to travel to rodeos internationally and places different than they were used to.

 

“Going to Canada was an amazing experience in itself. We went up there three different times and the culture, the scenery, the hospitality, we loved it all, we really enjoyed the trip and not just that, but it changed my whole view of going north,” Kim says. “I could not believe the hospitality that we received from so many different people in so many different states. It changed my whole view about northerners, because you kind of hear they have that stigma just like we do as southerners, but we just had an awesome summer. As far as IPRA it’d been a long time since I’d been back going to IPRA rodeos, and it was really good. There were a lot of places I was amazed at how good the ground was and just how they treated us, and I was very impressed.”

For Kim and Terris, giving their children a life with horses has a much bigger impact than the adventures. It teaches accountability, responsibility and confidence Kim says. “I just think it helps you be a well-rounded individual. It keeps you out of trouble, because it keeps you busy, and it teaches you. You’re responsible for a life. It’s not a human life, but it’s a horse that’s as important as a human, because you can’t go down the road without it,” Kim assures.

And it’s clear the year has had an impact on Taycie.

“I’ve learned how to ride different horses. It taught me how to be more responsible and to be more grateful for what I can do,” she says.
The year for Taycie did not start off strong, and the Matthews’ stud horse she was riding got hurt, but Taycie rebounded when Kim let Taycie share her horse Feelin’ the Firewater, the newly crowned 2017 IPRA Barrel Racing Horse of the Year. The move to share the horse paid off big time. Taycie broke the arena record at the IPRA’s largest regular-season rodeo, the Festival Western de St. Tite in Quebec.

“The beginning of the year was rough. I was getting ready to quit and just go back to barrel races, and it got better in about June, and it’s been getting better from then on,” Taycie describes, saying of her incredible accomplishment at St. Tite, “I was excited I couldn’t really believe it.”

That win secured Taycie’s qualification to the IFR, and so now mother and daughter will get to share the experience together.

“It means a whole lot to have qualified with my daughter, because she had a slow start to the year. It was just a struggle, because I’ve never seen as many tough barrel horses and as many people going and continuing up until the end as this year,” Kim says adding, “there were a couple of times where she got discouraged, and I almost was discouraged but tried not to let her know it, because things may not have been going her way, and we’re thinking ‘is she going to make it, is she not going to make it,’ and I made the comment, ‘if she doesn’t make it, I don’t want to go. It was just going to be special for both of us to do it.”

Now that they both have done it, it will be exciting to watch them compete together in Oklahoma City Jan. 19-21 at the IFR. Then it’s full steam ahead for 2018.

The Matthews have been expanding their farm business, and Kim is excited for her studs and breeding operation and to bring along some babies. By the end of the year she’ll have some 3-year-old horses ready to start their careers. “That’ll be a huge milestone, and I’m very excited about that,” Kim says.

And as for her girls, Taycie wants to take up breakaway roping in addition to running barrels, and Jaylie plans to hit the trail hard too, so no telling what will happen for IFR49.

 

The Matthews want to thank husband/ father Terris for his support of their endeavors, as well as hauling partners in the IPRA; Kindyl Scruggs, Cayla Fielder, Travis Gardner, Kylie Brueggeman and Sherry Rhea for helping with the driving. They also give credit to their sponsors; B Equine Essentials a therapeutic mud and poultice, Oxy-Gen Products and JHA Saddle and Tack.

Tyson Durfey is making his tenth appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, defending his world champion title from last year in the tie down roping. Tyson grew up in Savannah, Missouri, training horses and ranching with his dad, Roy, and older brothers, Travis and Wes. “It was a miniature boot camp for guys. It was always me, my brothers, dad and at least one or two people there roping with us.,” said the 34 year old, who makes his home in Weatherford Texas with his wife, Shea Fisher, and 14 month old daughter Praise Royal. “We lived in a single wide trailer house – 10 feet wide by 75 feet long, with 75 spare tires holding the tin on the roof.” He remembers waking up to ice in his water glass. “Keeping the fire going was a huge part of life. Dad would wake us up and we would feed, then eat breakfast, then doctor cattle – ropers and feeders. We always said yes ma’am and no ma’am, but it was a bachelor pad. We’d rope from 9am until midnight every day, riding about 25 head of horses. Most Sundays were jackpot days at the Durfey Ranch and everyone would come by – we were the calf roping hub of the Midwest.”

Tyson’s parents divorced when he was 2 and he spent the first five years with his mom. “I was pretty rotten – I would skip school. By the time fourth grade rolled around, I was hanging around with rough kids, riding skate boards. It wasn’t looking so good for me in school, and my dad told mom that we needed to come with him and he would straighten us out. My dad ruled with an iron fist – what he said was the way it was.” Tyson was in every learning disability class, and was getting Ds and Fs. His dad told him he was going to get straight As, and was expected to work as well. “I didn’t believe him, and one night I’d fallen asleep studying, and he gave me a whooping and it put the fire in me. I graduated with honors and it was because I had the motivation to apply myself.” Roy roped in the PRCA and passed that to his boys. At nine, Tyson competed at his first rodeo. “I wasn’t a stand out, but by the time I was 12, I would match people roping for money. I would sell horn knots, and sell pop cans.”

That also gave Tyson a taste of money. “We grew up poor; we would light the hot water heater once a week and all share the same bath water,” he explained. “I wanted the fancy truck and Capri camper.” By the time he was 16, he was making $30,000 a year shoeing horses plus what he was winning. “Dad gave me the resources; cattle, horses, and ability, but never gave me a dime. I kept track of it all through FFA in a notebook.” His life was pretty routine – he’d get up around 4:30, flank and tie calves, go to school, get out and go shoe horses, then go home and rope.

Tyson competed in Missouri High School rodeo, winning state his junior and senior year. “There was no prom or sports or extracurricular activities.” He went to Missouri Valley College in 2003 on a full ride rodeo scholarship. “I stayed in college for two months. I’ve always had a sense of urgency to be the best I can be, and I didn’t like the college atmosphere, so I left and cracked out rodeoing.” At nineteen years old, Tyson hit the rodeo trail, living in the back of his truck, and crisscrossing the country. “That first year was tough for me. My very first pro rodeo was Indianapolis, Indiana. I drove 14 hours to get there and the barrier rope wrapped around the stirrup, ripping it off and I fell off my horse.” He remembers the crowd laughing at him. He drove 45 hours to get to the next rodeo in Portland, Oregon, and broke the barrier. He won second in Spokane, and then drove straight through to Brent Lewis’s house in Arizona where he stayed for a few months working for him and learning from him. “From there it was history, I was off.” His achievements include three Canadian World Championships (the first ever non-Canadian resident to achieve this feat), winning “The American” in 2014, Winning Houston Rodeo in 2015, qualifying ten times for the WNFR, and 2016 world champion with well over one million dollars in PRCA earnings.

 

His dad played another major role in Tyson’s career. “In 2007, before the Reno rodeo, I had a family friend call wanting to sponsor me,” he said. “It was my first sponsorship, and that $10,000 helped propel me to win Reno and another $25,000 over the week. I found out later that my dad had given this guy the $10,000 because he knew I wouldn’t take it from him.”

Tyson met his wife, Australian country music singer, Shea Fisher, at Rodeo Houston in 2010. “I saw her in the hospitality room. For me, I knew I was going to marry her right then, but she didn’t know for a few years. I had gone to a movie after the rodeo, and I saw her in the horse area after the rodeo. I walked up and visited with her again. We sent Facebook messages back and forth for six months. She kindly rejected my request for her phone number nor would she agree to go to dinner with me. I was persistent – she never told me to get lost. I finally got her phone number and we visited for another 9 months on the phone before she went out on a date with me.” He flew to Nashville with roses in a shoe box in his suitcase to spend one day with her. “She told me if we are going to be official, you have to ask my parents. That couldn’t happen for four more months, when I met her parents at the WNFR.” They dated for one year, were engaged for 10 month and were married October 6, 2013 at Vista West Ranch, in Dripping Springs, Texas.
The couple have launched several businesses together including Shea Michelle Buckle Designs which was launched by Shea in 2010. Designs by Shea and Designs by Durfey were launched in 2015. Shea’s dad had started a buckle company in Australia and Shea brought that knowledge to the company.

Shea Baby is the latest launch. “It’s a baby boot line that we designed,” explained Tyson. “We had planned it out a couple years from having kids. My wife is very talented with design and how things come together. I had seen a pair at a store in Brazil, and knew we could make them really cute and neat. As fate would happen, we put a lot of time into it, but we stumbled onto really good manufacturers and sourced a really good leather, so they are all natural.” Praise Royal is a great model for the company.

Tyson has also designed and launched his own line of boots TD Performance through Corral Boots that are available now at Boot Barn. “I like to credit myself as a pretty smart guy because I named all the businesses after my wife! The businesses fit my wife’s personality she is the workforce behind getting things done.”

They travel as a family to all the rodeos. Shea has started entering as well, pocketing just over $20,000 this past year. “Now that I have a family, rodeo is not my main priority anymore,” he said. “At the end of the day I compete because I love to and I love the fans.” They travel in a pickup and Cimarron trailer. Most of the summer, they were traveling with Shea’s parents, who helped with Praise. “I get tired of the road sometimes, but when I get to come back to the trailer and see Praise smiling at me, it makes it all worthwhile.”

 

The family has recently purchased some land in Texas, and Tyson is excited to get back into hunting, something he used to do a lot. “My family has a pheasant and deer hunting property in South Dakota, and deer season opens next week in Texas. I’m looking forward to setting up some feeders on that property in Texas and disappearing after the WNFR for a few weeks.”

Tyson has his sights on one more world title. He is preparing for the NFR by training a lot, working out, spending time in the Bible. “We all go out there expecting to win. The way I train and prepare is to prepare for everything. It’s easy to win when you’re on a hot streak, but after you’ve been cold, it is hard. I’ll envision my emotions and body language if the calf kicks and how do I prepare for the next round. A lot of people will think they have to push … I like to go back to the basics and not push. If you have a bad day and push harder, then you could have a worse day.” He falls asleep listening to audio Bible readings. “It just downloads information in my mind and allows me to handle situations in my flesh. My overall favorite book is Proverbs – there is so much wisdom in there, second is James – I’m Irish, pale skin and have a temper. I’ve known that for a long time, and I have been able to train myself how to act.” James 1:19 is one of his favorite verses. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

“I want to be a motivator for people – I want them to look at me and say that if you can do it, I can do it too. I’ve read or listened to a couple hundred self-help books – Tony Robbins is my all-time favorite, I’m obsessed with processes that can make people better human beings and understanding why people do certain things. “A wise man learns from other people’s mistakes and avoids his own.” Tyson continues to help people wherever he can. “I will always share what I learn and continue to learn about how to become the best reflection of myself. The greatest failure of all is to reach the pinnacle of your career and still be unhappy. I can use my title to motivate and help other people. We are put here to inspire, encourage, and help others.”

Brody Cress ended his 2017 season with the PRCA with an 88 point ride on Dakota Rodeo’s Bartender to win the saddle bronc riding championship at the Wrangler Champions Challenge Finale on September 30 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. “It is an outstanding feeling – the whole year has been. I can’t think of a weekend that I wasn’t able to win some money,” said the 21-year-old cowboy from Hillsdale, Wyoming. “That helps keep it going and keeps it exciting. You can’t ask for a better season. It makes you want to get on a bucking horse every day.” Brody did something that no other cowboy has done – he won Cheyenne, Salinas, and Pendleton in one season. “I didn’t go to any winter rodeos, but I came back to the first one and won and it’s been clicking – I’ve drawn good and it’s been a year of focus and shooting for the finals. I’ve never been this consistent – 90% this year – dang sure knew things were clicking,” he said. “I’ve always shot for going to the NFR. I’ve always thought if that wasn’t a goal, why rodeo. But this year it’s realistic.” Brody will be heading to the Thomas & Mack this December, but not before completing his finals for his Senior year at Tarleton State University where he is majoring in Ag Business. “I won’t be able to walk with the class, but that’s ok.”

 

This year has been a lot better than last year, when Brody had a horse fall on him and injure his ankle at St. Paul. “After Cheyenne I took the rest of the year off; my ankle was hurting. I couldn’t walk for ten minutes after I got off the horses. Taking the rest of the year helped me refocus on getting to the gym.”

Growing up, Brody stayed in the practice pen and didn’t ride a bronc at a rodeo until he was a junior in high school. He rodeoed at junior rodeos from the time he was big enough to steer his own horse, competing at Murray’s arena summer series. He was a member of Mountain States Junior Bull Riders, starting as a mutton buster and stopping with steer riding. He started wrestling at the age of six and concentrated on that, showing pigs and sheep, and being involved in FFA. “My dad was our Ag teacher for freshman year, and then moved into principal. I was around his FFA kids all the time, and I was very big into showing pigs and sheep.” He competed in the Creed his freshman year, as well as sales. FFA taught Brody how to interact with people. “I got put in a lot of situations – when I was practicing for the Creed, my dad would take me to speak in places I was really nervous about. It allowed me to learn how to turn an awkward situation into something I could handle.” FFA also helped Brody learn how to speak in front of large groups. “I built leadership skills – as I got older I liked helping out the younger kids.”

His parents; Tommy and Lannette, both rodeoed when they were younger. “Mom grew up on a ranch, and she was a rodeo queen, and team roped, breakaway roped, ran barrels and poles in high school rodeo.” Tommy college rodeoed for LCCC and the University of Wyoming, as well as pro rodeoed, qualifying for the Mountain States Circuit Finals numerous times. He rode saddle broncs and got on a few bulls in college. Now Tommy is an assistant principal at Cheyenne East High School with 1,500 kids.

“I’m really lucky to be in this system – these kids are great,” said Tommy. “It’s my 21st year, and times have changed, but the kids haven’t. My wife works as an Administrative Assistant for the Wyoming Supreme Court. She has a lot to do with the success of the boys – she’s the one they call for everything still.”

“We did everything we could do to support them all along and the lessons they learned – the biggest one is that life’s not easy – and we never made any excuses for them. He’s done this on his own,” said Lannette. “I’ve helped him get plane tickets and motel rooms, but he tells us when and where. Brody was in the bucking horse sale two years ago and Blaze was in the permit challenge two years ago, and we went to one round, but this year it’s going to be so exciting. It’s a dream of our entire family. I’m really proud of Brody – he’s made this his goal and he got it done.”

“My parents put me in wrestling to get the mental and physical aspects,” said Brody. “I almost wrestled in college. It started when I was six and I won nine state championships growing up. In high school I was the state champion my last three years.” Throughout those years, he would wrestle up to 140 pounds going wherever coach needed him. “I learned how to handle myself. At first when I would lose, I would get frustrated. As I got into high school I learned how to handle my emotions – I had to cut 16 pounds my Sophmore year and I learned how to go through that mentally. Wrestling also helped me learn how to take a loss and not just quit.” Working on the mental and the physical aspects of wrestling really coincides with riding broncs. “You have to give it all you have as long as it takes.”

Brody gained respect for all of his coaches along the way. “I had such amazing coaches that helped me be a great young man as well as a good wrestler.”

Both the boys worked on riding broncs for several years before competing on them. “My dad and Colt Bruegman really started us. We were lucky enough to get great horses from JD Hamaker, the Millers, Morgan and John Forbes. Frank Thompson would come pick up for us; we got help from Rick Griego flanking and my friends, Levi Romsa, Zane Thompson, Dax Cathcart, Anthony Green and Clayton Hanzlik helped on the neck ropes and pulled gates. It was whoever we could get to come help. Sometimes we would practice twice a week – as long as it was warm enough. I know during high school it was twice a week. Up until I was a junior that’s the only bronc riding I could do. I couldn’t go to a rodeo until I was a junior in high school. We had an amazing pen of practice horses, at one time we had nine. It was a great pen of solid horses.”

 

His parents wanted to make sure Blaze and Brody knew what they were doing before they went to a high school rodeo. Tommy’s rule was they couldn’t get on until they were 100 pounds. “They wanted us to learn how to get off, and how to make somewhat of a successful ride – it made it a little more fun. It was still rough – but I won my first rodeo I went to my junior year, so that proved that staying home and learning paid off. Up till this year, there’s been bumps in the road, but I was more successful because I had a good start.”

Brody is in his senior year at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. “I picked TSU for one because it’s warmer. I wanted to be on a rodeo team that would send me places and a bunch of people came here that went on to the NFR. This is a prestigious program and the kids know how to win. My coach knows I am moving up to the next level and he’s there for me. He is awesome – he helps us do more than rodeo, to be respectful and handle ourselves in front of people. He’s taught me not to make excuses – I face the fact of what I did wrong and how to fix it.”

He also chose Tarleton for the academic side. “I didn’t want to waste my time, and this school will let me get it all done – all the way through my masters.” Brody is going for his Masters in Ag consumer science so he can teach. “If I get in situations where I could coach and be able to teach that would be awesome.” Classes start three weeks after the NFR.

Between now and December 7, Brody will get back into the gym and finish up his undergraduate degree. “I’m going to get back to working out and get everything set for Vegas. One of the trainers, Shawn Ready, has put together a workout for me that I’m starting now that I’m home and settled. It’s hard to work out on the road. We stay in shape by getting on so many horses, and I still have college rodeos. I’d like to get on two or three a week to keep things going. I’d like to slow down some, but I want to keep things clicking.”

He will be joined in Vegas by his family, including his brother, Blaze, who is working with Eric Wisehart in California training cutting horses. “Blaze has taken his love of riding colts to another level. He got the opportunity to go to California to ride cutting horses for Eric Wisehart. He’s riding two year olds and is getting to cut. We have different focuses in life and he’s in a great spot. We’re both doing what we want to do.”
For now, Brody is basking in the texts and messages from everyone cheering him on. “It is awesome to be on the road and know there are people watching. It’s great to be a professional rodeo cowboy and know you have fans.” And Brody will warm up the same way in Vegas he has done all year. “I wear my tennis shoes in the locker room, the amount of time I spend jumping around getting ready – this warm up is left over from wrestling, and that makes sure my body is prepared.”

 

Carmen Buckingham, from Bruneau, Idaho, was on the winning team at the first Women’s Ranch Rodeo team at the Western States Ranch Rodeo in 2013. That team, representing Outback Stallion Station, included Katie McFarlane, Kim Grubbs, Carmen Buckingham, and Marcia Eiguren. Her team won again in 2016 representing Miller Livestock from Nevada and included Carmen Buckingham, Katie McFarlane, Kayla Tiegs and Bailey Bachman. In between, she rode the 2014 and 2015 WSRRA National Finals Women’s All-Around Horse and was named the 2016 WSRRA National Finals Women’s Top Hand and was on the 2016 WSRRA Women’s National finals champion team. “I am very proud to win this year because this event is usually for men and there are a lot of really handy women and it really shows that. It is very tough competition and I am very lucky to have such a great team,” she said.

 

Carmen grew up on a ranch in Mountain Home, Idaho. That’s where she learned her grit and the ways of ranch life. “My parents, Felipe and Mary Fran Aguirre, taught myself, my brothers- Richard and Felipe and my sister-Jeannie to do well, work hard and achieve our goals. I was on the swim team in high school, where my mom was the swim coach but I really like 4-H, riding horses and roping better than I did swimming. I decided to work at a feedlot in Grand View, Idaho during my high school days. This is where I really caught the “cowgirl bug,” Carmen states. “I loved working at the feedlot in high school. I learned how to look for sick cattle and how to treat them; I just loved every bit of the feedlot job. This is where I also started riding colts.”

In 1992, when she was 18 years old, Carmen got a job offer in Sacramento, California where she worked on a ranch owned by Dwayne Martin. “I worked for Dwayne for year,” she states. The she moved to Eagleville, California, worked for a ranch owned by Simplot and there her daughters Bailey and Sami where born. After her daughters were born, Carmen moved back to Bruneau, Idaho, where she met Tom Buckingham. They will be celebrating 17 years of marriage this year.

Bailey manages a ranch in Bruneau, Idaho and was also on the 2016 WSRRA National Finals Women’s Champion team. Sami lives in Lucas, Kansas where she keeps busy ranch/farm wife and a new baby boy. “Both of the girls are good hands. They helped us on the ranch,” Carmen says about her two daughters.

Today Carmen and Tom, own a ranch in Bruneau, where they run mother cows and buy/sell horses. “We look for all-around Quarter Horses that are gentle,” she says. Carmen and Tom keep all their horses for a year just to see what they are like. “We like to know them before we sell them. We might event compete on them before we sell them.” A typical day for Tom and Carmen include riding horses, irrigating, hauling hay, branding calves, checking cows and roping. Achieving the balance of ranch life and ranch rodeo life is something that Carmen does very well. “Competing in ranch rodeos on sale horses is really good advertising for us and having a good horse to compete on is the key to success at the ranch rodeos.”

Carmen and her ranch rodeo team have qualified for the 2017 WSRRA National Finals in Winnemucca, Nevada, November 2-5. “We don’t practice together; we just have the same style. You can say we just fit,” Carmen states about her 2017 WSRRA National finals qualified Women’s ranch rodeo team. Carmen also believe that it takes a mental and physical stagey to win such a big event. “We get together before each event and make a plan.”

 

Author’s Note: I have learned a couple of really important lessons from Carmen. Cowgirls have a different touch of nature, you see, it’s a fact that cowgirls aren’t as strong as men but their finesse and teamwork is really inspiring to me. Watching Carmen and her team compete at a national level is a real example of team work; they know what to do and where to be. They finesse their horses and roping abilities to get the job done in fast times. Another thing that I have discovered is that these cowgirls are a true testament to sportsmanship. They are humble and efficient. They encourage each other. They all have class.

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WSRRA Women’s Ranch Rodeo Team

Katie McFarlane, Kim Grubbs, Carmen Buckingham, and Marcia Eiguren

There is a special group of cowgirls that aim to empower women who believe in showcasing their skills and determination in the arena and out.
The world doesn’t seem to know these cowgirls but the ladies that compete in ranch rodeos are changing all of that. You see, these cowgirls have grit and know how to get a job done. They have no problem sorting and roping cattle, they can doctor sick animals, they can load and tie a calf, they can rope and brand calves and can put a handle on a ranch horse. They also have no problem pulling a rig down the highway, pulling a calf, and working right along with cowboys, they include mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmas, and wives who raise families, hold day jobs and help run ranches. They will do whatever it takes to get the ranch work done. The start of their day usually starts at the break of dawn. Whether it’s branding in the spring or fall roundup, these ladies know cattle. On the weekends, your will find them, competing in ranch rodeos-a true western sport that starting in 1900’s, and one that is preserving the heritage of the West.
Women that compete in ranch rodeos have to have strength, good roping and riding skills, and raw courage. The secret of success is the bond that these ladies develop working together. Many of these cowgirls, either come from the same ranch, or neighboring ranches, have known each other for years, through marriage and friends. They trust each. They believe in each other. Take their cowgirl attitude and put it to work on top of a good, athletic horse in an action-packed timed event and you have an event that is worth watching.

“Ranch rodeo really promotes team spirt because if you don’t work together you probably won’t do good.” Carmen, her team and all of the contestants will get to showcase their talents and abilities in authentic ranch events replicated in a competition setting.
Ranch rodeos are team affairs for working cowboys and/or cowgirls, who compete in events that mirror the daily activities of ranch life. These outstanding women are a shining example of the fact that the women’s division of the WSRRA can compete in and expand the sport of ranch rodeo.
The WSRRA National Finals in Winnemucca, Nevada is an entertaining demonstration of traditional cowgirl skills. The contestants showcase their talents and abilities and those of their horses in authentic ranch events replicated in a competition setting. “Ranch rodeo really promotes team spirt because if you don’t work together you probably won’t do good,” stated Carmen.
Fifteen outstanding ladies will be competing in the women’s division of the WSRRA National Finals in Winnemucca, Nevada, November 2 -5. These 4 days will showcase cowboys and cowgirls from across the western states and Canada.

With the flick of a wrist and the twirl of an arm, Cooper Nastri has entertained scores of rodeo audiences up and down the East Coast in the last six years. The 17-year-old trick roper, who alternately makes his home in Ballston Spa, New York, and Screven, Georgia, became one of rodeo’s youngest trick ropers in the country when he started performing at 11. Yet he was no stranger to the roping world before that. Cooper had already been competing in rodeos for several years, and is even named after the Super Looper himself, Roy Cooper, but his decision to become an entertainer was a surprise to his parents, Carmine and Sheri Nastri. “Cooper was real shy when he was little, and when he said he wanted to trick rope, I was impressed that he wanted to get in front of an audience and do something like that,” says Carmine. “His work ethic has always been really good, and when he decided he wanted to trick rope, he practiced seven days a week for hours. It turned him right out of his shell, and he’s not very shy anymore.”

 

Cooper originally wanted to be a rodeo clown and worked with Dusty Barrett as a rodeo clown and helped Hollywood Harris a couple times but he first saw trick roping when Mark Madden came to the Natri’s home and showed him several tricks. He’s also met professional trick ropers including Anthony Lucia, who performed on America’s Got Talent, and Austin Stewart, who also performed on America’s Got Talent, and at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. “Mark Madden helped me a lot with my trick roping. A lot of people don’t understand that it’s very easy once you figure it out, but it takes a lot of time to learn,” explains Cooper. “I was really impressed by it, and you get paid every rodeo. I try to get one of my family members to video me every time I perform so I can watch and see if there’s anything I need to improve. I watch a lot of horse training videos, too.”

Cooper started by performing at open rodeos, then worked his way up to events like the Painted Pony Rodeo in Lake Luzerne, New York, and Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, New Jersey, which his grandfather, Dusty Cleveland, has announced for many years. He also performs in Georgia, and was honored to trick rope at AFR 35 and AFR 39. The materials are simple enough – Cooper buys 100 feet of cotton spot cord and cuts it into the four different lengths he performs with. The shortest is 15 feet, and the longest is 50 feet, which he uses to perform a trick called the wedding ring. “The first trick I do is the butterfly, and some high spirals. The big trick I really like is the Texas Skip, which is the hardest trick in the book to do. That’s where the rope is on one side of you, and you jump back and forth through it. I feed off the crowd, so if I can tell the crowd doesn’t like something, I might stick something new in there. Keeping the tricks tuned up is probably the most challenging. I’m pretty busy riding horses every day, so I don’t get to practice as much as I’d like to. Once I get to a rodeo I might practice before the performance. I try to keep the tricks pretty snappy and tuned up.”

This year alone, Cooper will perform in 45 rodeos, many of which are APRA rodeos that he enters in the team roping with his dad or Robbie Erck. Cooper is also practicing his tie-down roping, but prefers to team rope in the USTRC and APRA. He changes footwear – going from sneakers to boots since sneakers allow him to jump higher during his performances – and often heels for his dad. Carmine is a 24-time PRCA First Frontier Circuit Finals Champion, and he’s won the APRA six times between team roping, tie-down roping, and the all-around. He’s competed in the APRA on and off since the 1980s, and his wife, Sheri, is also a First Frontier Circuit Champion in the barrel racing. She team ropes every October at the USTRC Cruel Girl Championships with her partner, Kim Breyo, and has competed in the APRA in the past. “She backs us 100%,” says Carmine. “She drives, rides horses, and helps keep this whole thing afloat. Whether it’s the four of us here or we have ten cowboys staying with us, she keeps everything going.”

 

Sheri’s grandfather, Harry Cleveland, was the Painted Pony Champion Calf Roper in 1953 when it was part of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association, and he taught many of his generation in the Northeast how to rope. Her dad, Dusty Cleveland, taught her how to rope, and he comes to several Painted Pony Rodeos a year to watch Cooper and his sister, Shelby, compete. Shelby is also an APRA member, competing in breakaway roping and barrel racing, and her senior year of high school, she was the NYSHSRA barrel racing and all-around cowgirl champion. She holds her WPRA card, but primarily competes in the APRA, and her goal is to qualify for the association’s finals in the next few years.

The Nastris put on several roping schools each year with ropers including Speed Williams, Roy Cooper, and Rich Skelton, all friends of Carmine. They also hold weekly roping lessons, and Carmine takes in outside horses to train, along with buying young horses he turns into rope horses. “One of the head horses I made and sold was voted Head Horse of the Bob Feist Invitational this year,” says Carmine. Cooper, who is homeschooled, helps with all of the training and riding, and has become especially passionate about the horsemanship side of roping. “When people come for lessons and have horsemanship questions, Cooper’s a fanatic about it – he’ll spend 15 minutes answering the question.”

Cooper helped finish his own roping horse, Shorty, a bay gelding that stands 14.1 hands high. “He’s a pretty cool little dude. He’s really stout, so I can head on him, heel on him, and rope calves on him,” says Cooper. “He’s got a lot of grit.” Every year since 1987, the Nastris load all of their animals and spend their winters in the southeast corner of Georgia. “We’ve got a pretty good routine, and we know how to get things packed in a hurry and get the trailers organized,” says Carmine. “My mom, Patricia, spends the winter months with us. She’s been a big supporter all my life and pushed us to do whatever our dreams are.

“The nice thing about the summer rodeos up here is that they’re all really close,” Carmine adds. “Painted Pony Ranch does two rodeos a week, and they’re only 27 miles away. My daughter, Shelby, works at a western store in town, and she can come home, practice a little, and go to the rodeo. We live right next to Saratoga, where the big thoroughbred race track is. For Shelby’s birthday, we went to the Saratoga Race Track and took the day off riding and roping.” Sheri adds, “We’re usually all in the arena, but every now and then we take a day off to go to the movies. Our vacation every year is to go to the US Finals, and go to Rich Skelton’s and see Speed Williams.” Cooper plans to continue trick roping, but he has a growing passion for horse training. “One of the biggest things I want to do is go work for a top horse trainer like Bob Avila, Jay Holmes, or other AQHA people,” he finishes. “I’ll still trick rope now and again, but that’s the biggest thing I’m working on.”

 

story by Holly Wilson

 

 

Jordan Driver is the product of seven generations of cattle ranching and rodeo heritage. Jordan is involved in basketball, track, cross country, hunting, fishing, competitive light rifle shooting, and 4-H. However, the majority of her time is split between ranching, rodeo, and school.

 

“It gets hectic sometimes but it is really how we live. There are busy times like branding season that we don’t get to practice as much and I have to do my school work late at night,” Jordan said. “Sometimes we have to drive all night to get to a rodeo and drive all night to get back to school. It all kinda equals out, we do what needs to be done.”

Her parents, Dane and Jennifer Driver, both come from ranching backgrounds and continue the family traditions. “The Driver Ranch was homesteaded in 1878 in West Texas, so Jordan’s dad is a sixth generation rancher on his families working cattle ranch,” Jennifer said. “My family’s cattle ranch in located in Central Texas, where I am the fourth generation. So to say that the western way of life is what we know would be a very true statement.”

“This ranch has been in the family for close to 140 years,” Dane said. The Driver Ranch runs around 1000 head of cattle, depending on the yearly rainfall. Jennifer and Dane pass down their family history and tradition to Jordan, in the hopes that she will continue the western lifestyle.

“Hard work, dedication, and responsibility is something that is learned and cherished in living the western lifestyle,” Jennifer said, “Having Jordan learn and appreciate her family’s history and hoping she will continue to carry on the traditions is something that her father and I truly hope she will want to do.”

This deep appreciation also comes with a set of responsibilities, which Jordan does with pride. “Some of my responsibilities on the ranch or at the barn include getting home from school every day and riding all of my competition horses,” Jordan said. “I make sure everything has blankets, feed, and that [they are] sound before I head to the house.”

Jordan, who started rodeoing at just five years old, is a member of the American Junior Rodeo Association, and the Texas Junior High Rodeo Association Region 2.

 

This year she won the All-Around Cowgirl title in both associations as well as then taking home that coveted title at the Texas Junior High Rodeo Association State Finals where she qualified in six events; barrel racing, pole bending, breakaway roping, ribbon roping, goat tying and team roping. Jordan took home the World Champion Barrel racing title at the 2016 American Quarter Horse Youth World Show on Honors Past Due, then came back in 2017 and defended that title on her horse Ever SoZippy (aka. Sergio). She also qualified two horses last year for the 2017 American Semifinals and has already qualified one so far for the 2018 American Semifinals. Competing in The American as an eighth grader can be a daunting task, “It was overwhelming,” Jordan said of last year’s semi finals. “It wasn’t the best runs I’ve made but I was proud of my horses and myself at the end.”

 

She qualified with her best friend, Karsyn Daniels, last year and this year as well. Jordan and Karsyn met through barrel racing, and became friends while competing. “Since we live a long ways apart we don’t get to see each other unless we are at a rodeo,” Jordan said. “But sometimes Karsyn gets to come out to our ranch, and we hang out and go hunting.”

Jordan attributes a lot of her success to her biggest supporters, her parents.

“My parents have listened to me and know what I like to ride, and they found me some of the toughest rodeo horses,” Jordan said. “I appreciate them taking me to all of my rodeos and helping me succeed more and more as I grow as a competitor.”

Jordan and her family train some of their own horses, although they find most of their horses through other rodeo contestants.These tough horses include; Ever So Zippy “Sergio”, TK Judges Easy Money aka “Price”, VF The Final Design “Final”, and May B Noble “Missy”.

“Finding the right horse is hard. Trying horses is exciting and makes me nervous. My parents know a lot of people because they rodeoed as well, [so] we look for horses all over,” Jordan said. “My mom found Sergio and got to know Billie Ann Harmon, she was showing him for a friend of hers. Angela and Jackie Ganter have helped us find some of our horses and Price was the latest they help us find.”

It takes a team to keep Jordan’s horses ready for competition, but she’s got plenty of help. “I am lucky to get to spend some time with some barrel racing greats Talmadge Green and Dena Kirkpatrick,” Jordan said. Talmadge also helped the Drivers find Final, who is one of Jordan’s barrel horses.
Jennifer and Dane both come from rodeo backgrounds, and rodeoed for Tarleton State University. “Dane qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo five times and was the Student Director for the Southwest Region; he roped calves, team roped, and bulldogged,” Jennifer said. “I went to the College National Finals Rodeo all four years and was the 1999 CNFR Champion Barrel Racer and the 1999 CNFR All-Around Cowgirl.”

 

Jennifer was also inducted into the Tarleton State University Hall of Fame in 2015, and continues to show horses. However, she also enjoys helping Jordan prepare for her competitions, and cheering her on.

“We have a daily schedule for all the horses, as far as what they need, how they need to be worked and when they need to be practiced on. But in addition to the horses, her dad and I split duties in helping Jordan practice,” Jennifer said. “I try to be her number one supporter on and off the road. Keeping everything on track and on schedule helps keep Jordan focused on her event and allows her to be a kid.”

“It has been a true blessing to watch her grow and become the competitor and horseman she is,” Jennifer said. “With her dad and I both being from ranching and rodeo backgrounds, having her to continue the family heritage is a dream come true.”

Jordan and her horses have big goals for the coming years, and she has faith that they will accomplish great things together. “I completed one of my goals this year – competing at the national level in my last year of junior high.” She not only competed, she and her ribbon roping partner, Jacob Walters, won the National title. “Texas is expected to do good – and the second round was a muddy mess – it was a mental game.” They duct taped their boots on so they wouldn’t come off.

Later in her career, she wants to rodeo in college and hopefully pursue her goal of winning the rookie of the year in the WPRA, and then also making a trip to compete in Las Vegas at the WNFR.

Along with all of her rodeo dreams, Jordan also plans to stay involved with the family cattle ranch. “I love it! Being a seventh generation Driver is definitely in my blood,” Jordan said.