Rodeo Life

Category: Articles

  • Damian Brennan: The Mental Game

    Damian Brennan: The Mental Game

    Although Damian Brennan may be somewhat fresh to the Pro Rodeo trail, he’s no stranger to winning. Sitting at number one in the world standings in saddle bronc riding as of June 7th, Brennan accredits his success to having a good mind and staying positive.

    He cracked out with a bang in his 2023 season, and at 25 won’t be slowing down any time soon. With one NFR qualification under his belt, Brennan has collected multiple professional career highlights, including a round four win in Las Vegas with a 89-point ride on TNT Pro Rodeo’s Cancun Moon. Brennan also won the 2022 PRCA Resistol Rookie of the year award in saddle bronc riding.

    I caught up with Brennan over the phone as he was driving to his next rodeo in Idaho, just a quick thirteen hour jaunt from his previous rodeo in South Dakota. Although an Australian native, he is excited for the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations and to continue his hot streak in 2024.

    In the 2024 season Brennan has already won rodeos such as Houston, Fort Worth, Arcadia, Dixie National Rodeo (Jackson, MS), and the Rocky Mountain Rodeo Challenge (West Valley, UT). With earnings around $126,755, his success is a combination of his physical ability and mental toughness.

    Saddle Bronc Rider Damian Brennan

    “Part of rodeo is 70% mental and 30% ability. A big part of it is to stay positive. That’s when you’re riding the best, when you’re positive and happy.”

    Brennan will travel to multiple rodeo’s during the Cowboy Christmas run including Greeley, Cody, Red Lodge, Mandan, Kill Deer, Livingston, St.Paul, Alberta, and more. “I really like Cody. It’s a pretty part of the world and there’s a lot of money added.”

    The Aussie plans on traveling with bronc riders Brody Wells, Cash WIlson and Cort Scheer will jump in over the fourth. Although the plan is to drive to the numerous rodeos, they may end up flying too. “Mainly over the fourth [we’ll be] driving, we may have to fly to a few.”

    “It’s a pretty fun time of year, a lot of traveling in a short amount of time. It can be tiring on the body. But it’s a lot of fun.”

    What’s the one match-up we all would like to see this year including Brennan? How about Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics Black Tie. He has yet to draw The Black Tie, the 2022 saddle bronc horse of the year.

  • Shaley Ham: The West Desperado Way

    Shaley Ham: The West Desperado Way

    Shaley Ham didn’t initially set out to be a fashion influencer. Though she always loved fashion — as a kid, she carried notebooks that featured her hand-drawn fashion designs — a career as a fashion icon wasn’t at the forefront of her mind during her childhood in Cheney, Washington, just outside of Spokane.

    The daughter of barrel racer Pam Capper, Ham grew up riding horses and attending rodeos on weekends, though she never really caught the competitive bug herself. But she loved traveling to the arenas alongside her mother, developing her love of the Western way of life along the way.

    “That Western lifestyle and those roots have always just been something I’ve connected with,” she says.

    Although her college years would whisk her away from Cheney, she moved back to her hometown after graduating with an accounting degree from the University of Oregon. Her return home sparked a renewed sense of passion for those Western roots.

    “I fell back in love with the romance of the Western way of life,” she says.

    The decision to return to her hometown ultimately changed her trajectory. She met bareback rider Nick Gutzwiler, who she would eventually marry. Around that time, she also began following others who sought to share their best Western-inspired outfits on social media.

    She put her accounting degree to use, cultivating a career in the field. But that job would also lay the foundation for her transition to fashion, which began after her coworkers constantly told her how much they liked her sense of style. Given the praise, she created a social presence exclusively dedicated to showing off her outfits.

    It didn’t take her long to build a community. After a couple of months, she already had a thousand followers.

    “When I hit over a thousand followers, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, like, I’m a rock star!’ It’s funny to tell that story now because I feel like people can get a thousand followers overnight. But it was very different eight years ago,” she says.

    She now has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, not to mention another 100,000 on TikTok. On her pages, you’ll find stylized images and videos of her in cowboy hats and boots, displaying classic Western style with a modern flair.

    While it may seem odd to some to build a Western fashion empire out of an accounting background, it has served her well. Her background in a business-adjacent field has given her an upper hand in terms of her ability to navigate the challenges that come along with being an influential personality, such as networking and maintaining a professional demeanor.

    Western fashion brands quickly identified Ham as someone they wanted to work with. They caught her attention with offers for free clothing—an irresistible perk for someone who was already fashion-obsessed. Something she’d started strictly for fun had suddenly started captivating Western fashion enthusiasts.

    That was 2016, a year her mother qualified for the National Finals Rodeo. She joined her mother in Vegas, where she also first encountered representatives of many of her favorite brands in person at Cowboy Christmas, the Western-themed holiday event that takes place in tandem with NFR festivities. This experience led to more opportunities to work with the brands she already loved.

    She also began receiving invitations to wholesale markets, such as the ones at the Dallas Market Center. These provide an early access opportunity to identify the styles and trends that Western wear brands are banking on for the coming seasons. They’re also a great opportunity to bond with the people behind the brands, which is an essential component of succeeding in the field of content creation.

    Still, even with all her success, it would take several years before she reached a point where she felt comfortable leaving behind the accounting world and transitioning into life as a full-time content creator.

    While her images often tout a carefree Western lifestyle, the truth is that success in this field requires the kind of work ethic only the most dedicated cowgirls can understand. She suggests that her background in the corporate world has proven a major asset, as her professionalism earns her kudos among her brand partners.

    “That’s always my biggest encouragement for other girls when getting started,” she says. “Set those standards because as soon as you release the reins and give some slack in the professionalism department, things can start to go sideways.”

    Presently, Ham has several collaborations with major brands — her four-year partnership with Rock n’ Roll denim stands out as a favorite among many. But Ham doesn’t foresee herself opening her own boutique anytime soon.

    However, after realizing the concho belts that are a staple of her signature style can be challenging for people to find, she wanted to be able to tell her followers how they can get their own. So, she now offers them for sale on the West Desperado website.

    “I wear them all the time. And it’s just super easy to know that I can send people somewhere to find them,” she says.

    And as with any influencer, Ham varies her style based on the season or her vibe.

    “I’m starting to love rosettes and like little accented rosettes. When they first came out, I was not vibing with them, but I’ve been seeing them incorporated in a more Western way. And I think it’s a delicate aspect to add when wearing lots of leather or fringe,” she says.

    She’s also a fan of Lariat neckties, which are becoming increasingly popular.

    “They hit the scene during this last NFR in December. And now girls are wearing them with strapless tops. A little Lariat necktie tied around your neck adds a fun kind of Western accent to any outfit.

    And then, of course, there’s the most classic of all.

    “You can’t go wrong with denim on denim,” she says.

    Follow Shaley Ham on Instagram and TikTok at @westdesperado and visit her website at www.westdesperado.com.

  • Chloé Marie Burk: Building A Life Through Art and Horses

    Chloé Marie Burk: Building A Life Through Art and Horses

    Chloé Marie Burk has centered her life around art and horses. The French-born American artist brings western scenes to life, using movement and vibrant earth tones. Burk didn’t set out to live in the U.S., but a series of opportunities led her to eventually settle in the West. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to study and master her craft. Burk is represented by Parsons Fine Art in Taos, New Mexico. Her showings always sell out quickly, and she is supported by collectors — a serious mark of success for a professional artist. When she isn’t painting, you can find her focused on her other passion, training and racing barrel horses.

    An Artistic Upbringing

    Art has always been in Burk’s life. Growing up, her paternal grandmother was a painter, pianist, and opera director. Horses have always been there too, with her dad working as a jockey rider and farrier, and Burk riding English jumping horses throughout her youth. She first visited the U.S. at 24. “My best friend and I just wanted to visit,” Burk shared. In 2013 she returned, spending her time traveling and painting. On the last week of her trip she met Anthony and Brandi Katagas. Soon she started working for the family to make extra money, and they helped her secure a work visa. Anthony Katagas is an Oscar-winning movie producer, and the family was incredibly supportive of Burk. “They always believed in me and valued my work and who I am,” she recalled.

    Burk spent the next three years living in New York City. Her choice to stay in the U.S. wasn’t calculated, which is a common theme throughout her life. “That’s how I live my whole life. I don’t like to force things,” Burk said. “I didn’t have a goal back then. I was just finding my way through life.” After three years in New York, she was ready to get away from the chaos of the city. With $30 in her pocket and a suitcase, Burk landed in Austin, Texas, quickly finding her way to a more rural area. From there, she moved to New Mexico, where she met her husband, Thom, and started her journey in Western art. The couple has since moved between New Mexico, Montana, and Texas. Thom has worked as a roofing contractor, and most recently, founded Texas Fence and Outdoors — a custom building, deck, and fence company — alongside his best friend, Steve Cowsert.

    While moving to the U.S. wasn’t something Burk set out to do, she believes her journey here didn’t happen by accident. “It was always meant to be,” Burk shared. “It’s just a continuation of the life I started back in France. I found a similar life, just in a different culture.”

    Developing Her Style

    Western art wasn’t Burk’s first focus, but she immediately knew she wanted to pursue it after opening a Frederick Remington book. “For the first 10 years of really becoming a painter, I was doing more folk art,” Burk explained. I was exploring and knew I hadn’t found my subject yet. A friend had a book about Remington. I randomly picked it off the shelf, and I had never seen anything like it before.”
 Having moved to Taos, New Mexico, Burk was also encountering Western art throughout the community. She learned about the Taos Society of Artists, an organization of visual arts established in 1915. The small group of professional artists from the East had made Taos a focus of their work, sending their paintings across the country. This brought new audiences to Western art and made Taos one of the most important art communities in the country. Today, the work of these founding artists can be viewed in museums and through archives. Burk studied these works, and with inspiration surrounding her in the New Mexico landscape, she started to hone in on her style.

    New Mexico also led Burk to a friendship with Ashley Rolshoven-Loveless, the director and co-owner of Parsons Fine Art. “When we met we became friends right away,” Burk recalled. “She loved my studies and told me to take a year and work on it. So that’s what I did, and I became really passionate about it. Living in Taos I was really in the right place to become acquainted with Western art and learn it.” When her first show at Parsons sold out, Burk was both shocked and extremely inspired to move forward. She has continued to hold shows at Parsons, each selling out quickly.

    Style comes naturally to Burk. She studied fashion in school and has worked as a horse-savvy model for various Western brands. Finding a unique style in her art has taken time, and through dedicated work, she has landed on something truly her own. Studying painters like Remington was immensely helpful, but Burk is always conscious of how these studies affect her own painting; she always made sure she wasn’t simply copying someone else’s work. “You have to keep a very cold mind in these studies because otherwise you won’t find your style, but just “a” style.”

    “I worked hard to find my style,” Burk continued. “For years, I went through many phases to finally find it. Around four years ago I really pinned down what I wanted to do, and now I’m just refining it, year after year.”

    Daily life working horses and living in the rural West serve as inspiration for Burk’s paintings. “I am in contact with it every day,” she said. Burk calls on memories and elements of her surroundings to create subjects for her work. “All of my paintings come from my imagination. I don’t have any photo references. I just have an idea and work around it. I don’t really make a plan for each painting. If I’m going to make a series for a show, I’m going to have a larger idea of what I want,” she explained.

    Her medium of choice is oil on linen, and all of these works are sold exclusively through Parsons or select auctions. Burk’s studies, pencil drawings, and watercolors are occasionally available through her website or social media. Her partnership with Parsons has propelled Burk’s career forward and connected her with the fine art world. Many collectors of Burk’s work have become friends. “I’m completely humbled by it,” she said. “When I sold out my first show I was blown away. There are collectors who have walls of my paintings, and it’s incredible. I don’t really know how to describe it, because it makes me speechless.”

    A Passion for Horsemanship

    Burk’s friendship with Rolshoven also led her to barrel racing. Burk jumped in the truck with her for a race and immediately fell in love with the sport. “Not long after, I bought my first barrel horse. I am self-taught and have been blessed to meet a lot of people down that road who gave me pointers,” Burk shared. She has since gone all in on the sport, training her own horses and traveling to races. Currently, she has a young gelding by Corona Cartel called Hawk, and an older rope horse turned barrel horse, named Bartender.

    Burk currently lives in Texas, her husband Thom’s home state, which allows her to ride year-round. Training horses goes hand-in-hand with art, from building her schedule throughout the year to finding inspiration. “With horsemanship, you are never through with learning. Especially if you train your own horses, you are going to learn for your whole life,” she said.

    Horses are a theme in almost all of Burk’s paintings, and being around them every day feeds her work. “When I started training my horses I really enjoyed the process. It became a really strong part of my life, and I can’t see my life without it. Horses complement my art,” she shared.

    Burk is building the life that she wants, forging her own creative, unconventional path. “The main thing I enjoy is the freedom,” she concluded. “I’ve always wanted to work for myself. I get to live on my own schedule and am not dependent on anything else. I get to create my life with my hands, both with art and horses.”

    -Article by Lilly Platts, Photos Courtesy of Chloé Marie Burk

  • American Hat: Bradi Good

    American Hat: Bradi Good

    “A great family friend of ours talked to me about switching hats,” said NFBR qualifier Bradi Good. “After talking with them, I decided to go ahead and switch over to American Hats.

    “Now I only wear American,” she added. “I am so grateful for everything they’ve done for me.”

    Bradi Good was only seventeen when the PRCA hosted the first National Finals Breakaway Roping in Arlington, Texas. The very next year, she began her career in the sport of professional rodeo.

    “I was new to professional rodeo, and so was Breakaway. It was cool to be able to learn at the same time,” she said. “It’s really picked up a lot in the last few years.”

    Good said she sees a bright future for Breakaway in the sport of professional rodeo.

    “I see so many fans and younger girls in the upcoming generation that I hope there is a bigger push for it,” she said. “But we don’t want it handed to us. We have to pay our dues and pave our way.”

    Good qualified for her first National Finals Breakaway Roping in 2023, where she finished 8th in the world. The NFBR is held in conjunction with the NFR but not during the ten rounds in the Thomas and Mac. The ladies run five head, over two days at the South Point Hotel and Casino.

    “I was so excited to go out there [to Las Vegas] and rope,” she said. “It’s a little different because we run five a day, and it’s at the South Point, but I’m used to that because I grew up watching my dad rope at the steer roping finals, and that’s how they run them too.”

    PRCA Breakaway Roper Bradi Good

    Good’s father, Shay Good, has qualified for the National Steer Roping Finals on four occasions. Similar to the NFBR, the steer roping finals run five head a day over the span of two days during the last weekend of November at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, KS.

    “It’s different and not quite the same atmosphere as the Thomas and Mack, but we are still the top 15 in the world,” she said. “We still get a back number, and it’s still the coolest experience.”

    Going into her first finals, Good was sitting 8th in the world, the same spot she would finish out her 2023 year.

    “I was too far back in the standings to win the world because our rounds and averages don’t like the other events,” she said. “But coming in at I gave me the chance to watch some of the other girls go first and kind of get the feel of it all before I went.”

    Good is sitting 8th in the world again, and she said she has won more money this year. She has high hopes going into the bigger summer rodeos.

    “The ones that really come to mind are Reno, Cheyenne, the whole week of Utah rodeos, and my first time up at Calgary this year,” she said. “My horse is set up for a longer score, and that’s the way most of those big outdoor rodeos are.
    From her first year in the WPRA, Good has ridden her main horse, Rango. But she said she recently purchased a 5-year-old from Bailey and Erica Young that she is planning to haul as well.

    “I am super excited about him. They [the Youngs] train an awesome horse,” she said. “I just got him last month, so I am getting ready to start taking him and showing him the ropes.”

    -Article by Charity Pulliam

     

  • Team Cavender’s: Cooper Lane

    Team Cavender’s: Cooper Lane


    Although his time with Team Cavender’s is coming to an end, Cooper Lane said he fulfilled a goal he set for himself when he was invited to join the team.

    “I always wanted to be on Team Cavender’s,” he said. “It was a goal of mine. When I was in junior high, everyone that was a winner was on Team Cavender’s.

    “Everyone I looked up to was on Team Cavender’s,” he said.

    “I got the phone call the week after my freshman year at state [Texas High School Rodeo State Finals] right before my sophomore year,” he said. “I’ve been a member ever since.”

    Cooper described the moment he got the call inviting him onto the team.

    “I’ll never forget it. My best friend John Crimber called me and asked if I had also gotten a message about a meeting with a rep to join the team,” he said. “I hadn’t, and my heart sank.

    “And then, sure enough, the lady called me while we were on the phone,” he said. “I was over the moon because I felt like I really accomplished something big going into high school when I made it on the team.”

    Now that Cooper has graduated from high school, he said he is going to attend Clarendon College to rodeo under Brett Franks, a three-time WNFR qualifier who began coaching at Clarendon in 2013.

    “It’s bittersweet. I’m sad to leave home, but I am stoked to go college rodeo under Brett,” he said.

    “I picked Clarendon because it’s a smaller school that will work with rodeo athletes,” he said. “The weekends I’m not at a college rodeo, I plan to be gone as much as I can going to pro rodeos.”

    Cooper said he plans to rodeo on his PRCA permit until he is closer to the end of his college career. “I’ve been going to a lot of pro rodeos, but I want to wait until closer to my junior year to buy my pro card and then make a run at the NFR,” he said. “I plan to be all online, then I don’t have to worry about going back to class in the middle of the rodeo year.”

    His goals for this year include qualifying for the National High School Rodeo Finals and winning the saddle bronc riding national title. He was close to achieving that goal in his sophomore year of high school when he finished third in the standings. Because he is still entering pro rodeos on his permit, he said his main goal right now in the PRCA is to make the Texas Circuit Finals and the PRCA Permit Finals.

    Cooper said he looks up to three-time PRCA saddle bronc riding champion and seven-time WNFR qualifier Brody Cress in the sport of professional rodeo. He said he recently had the opportunity to ride with Cress to a rodeo.

    “He roomed with my cousin in college, and they were always over at the house,” he said.“Brody has helped me a bunch. I got a new saddle, and I sent it to him, and he fixed it up for me.

    “I called him and told him I didn’t have anyone to go with to a rodeo recently, and he said I could hop in with him,” he said. “That just made my day because it’s a chance to gain knowledge from the guy I look up to going down the road.”

    Cooper spoke very highly of his role model and mentor. “It’s surreal for me. Now that I’m eighteen I’m going to the same rodeos he’s going to. It really opened my eyes,” Laneadded. “He’s helped me learn how pro rodeo works. How to enter, how to stay in the gym while on the road, all those little things. He’s dealt as much knowledge as he can to me.”

     

  • Team Cavender’s: Grace Dubois

    Team Cavender’s: Grace Dubois

    As the second oldest of six siblings, Louisiana cowgirl Grace Dubois said rodeo runs in the family. Following in their
    parents’ footsteps, all of the Dubois kids compete in rodeo. “My dad ropes, and my mom did high school rodeos,” she
    said. “All of us rodeo all the way from youth rodeos to high school.”

    She said her father, Shel Dubois, has had the biggest influence on her rodeo career. “My dad has helped me my
    whole life. He’s taught me everything I know,” she said. “He’s always out there, every day, helping me get better.”
    Dubois said she had never played any sports outside of rodeo. For her, it has always been rodeo and roping. She
    competed in youth, junior high, and high school rodeos. “Rodeo is kind of my whole life,” she said. I don’t do much
    outside of it.”

    Dubois said she is a member of the Catholic Church, and she and her classmates in her church finished confirmation. Confirmation is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. These seven sacraments are baptism,confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, marriage, and holy orders. They are categorized into three groups: sacraments of initiation, sacraments of healing, and sacraments of service.

    “Recently, I did my confirmation, which was my last sacrament I had to do for the church,” she said. She also recently completed the last of her homeschooling curriculum and has now officially graduated from high school. She said she is soon to be 19 years old, and as of right now, she plans to pursue a career that will keep her in the equine workforce.
    “I was looking at going to college, but I think I’ve decided I’m going to learn massage therapy for horses and then go more in-depth with osteopath,” she said. “I’m just going to amateur rodeo for now while I do that.

    “But I also went to a clinic with Jake Barnes a few weeks ago, and he told me I could do well training horses,” she added. “So, I think I want to try out training futurity horses also.”

    The young cowgirl is originally from Church Point, in southern Louisiana, but says she plans to move eventually, though she’s more certain where to. “I’m still trying to figure out where I want to go and what I want to do,” she said. “I maybe am thinking I want to go to Texas.”

    Dubois mentioned she wants to wait to hit the ProRodeo road until she is financially stable enough to handle everything the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association has in store.

    “Since I was 15, I’ve been on my own financially for rodeo,” she said. “I bought my own truck and everything like that, so I have to think about the money in it. Eventually, once I have money and a new trailer and am prepared, I want to do pro rodeo,” she said. “But I think it’ll be a couple of years.”

    She said she has enjoyed being a member of Team Cavender’s for the last three years. She said she will miss the experiences she has had moving forward. She highlighted Cavender’s as her biggest sponsor and supporter.

    “They have supported me and advertised me a lot,” she said. “They’ve gotten my name out there too, not just the other way.”

    She said that she hopes to maintain a relationship with Cavender’s and other team members moving forward.

  • Look Good, Feel Good, Do Good

    Look Good, Feel Good, Do Good

    For Shelby Lovelace, the true essence of Western fashion transcends clothing. The message at the core of her boutique brand, The Good Babes, is that true sophistication emerges from an inner beauty that women can then choose to reflect through what they choose to wear. The Good Babes blend stylish Western fashion with a touch of corporate flair, with a vision rooted in the idea that women of all backgrounds can feel stronger and more confident when they look their best.

    It’s a message that resonates with Western fashion enthusiasts across America. These are women who might work corporate 9-to-5 jobs but quickly shift gears to tend to their horses or help out around the ranch in the evening. The Good Babes celebrate the modern cowgirl, offering a range of affordable options in an aesthetic she calls “cowgirl chic,” with looks that work “from the office to the arena.”

    “The backbone of my reason for starting a boutique was having great quality stuff that makes you feel good at an affordable price,” Lovelace says.

    Her foray into fashion deviates from the life she thought she wanted while studying animal science at Texas A&M. Growing up on a cattle ranch, she always had a deep-seated love of fashion, but she sought an animal science degree to pursue horse husbandry. But life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect, and sometimes, that can be a great thing.

    After college, Lovelace interned at a horse ranch before quickly deciding it wasn’t for her. So, she moved into the corporate world while she built a side business painting furniture for extra cash. However, Lovelace’s roots in the Western lifestyle never faded, and her furniture-painting venture would form the basis for the company that became The Good Babes.

    The brand’s aesthetic aims to mix stylish Western fashion with a bit of a corporate feel, cultivating outfits a gal can wear with heels or boots. It represents an homage to Lovelace’s unconventional journey, offering high-quality, affordable clothing that empowers women to embrace their unique style. Her curated selection of attire caters to the woman who might have to be professional for her job throughout the day but who chips her nails and wears out her jeans training horses the moment she’s off the clock. You’ll find traces of the West in every piece of attire, with patterned linen blouses and a collection of belts that offer a twist on the classic belt buckle.

    “Our main goal is to keep the class in the Western industry,” she says, an ethos that culminates in sophisticated looks that won’t break the bank. Few items cost over $100, and The Good Babes website features a tab for items under $40 with dozens of tops, skirts and accessories to carefully craft a look for any occasion. The company sources inventory from vendors throughout the US, and Lovelace suggests it can be a push-and-pull. But ultimately, she’ll barter and do whatever else it takes to ensure she can sell quality goods at reasonable prices.

    Her idea to bring reasonably priced Western wear to women across America continues to take off. But more so, the brand’s overall essence resonates with the modern cowgirl.

    The Good Babes is named so because it reflects Western values such as kindness, family and faith. A company puts these ideas into action, creating a brand that doesn’t just sell clothing but represents an entire way of life.

    For example, Lovelace donates a portion of company proceeds to animal shelters, an initiative that harkens back to her lifelong love of animals. The company is also committed to supporting and empowering women by donating any clothes it can’t sell to local charities. For example, clothes that get a small amount of makeup on them during photo shoots can’t be sold to customers, so The Good Babes will donate them to battered women’s shelters and organizations that provide support for foster children.

    “The thing that I always say is ‘Look good, feel good, do good,’” she says.

    Lovelace believes that choosing flattering and sophisticated outfits can make a person feel more confident and collected. This can inspire positive interactions, be it a friendly chat with a stranger at the grocery store or feeling more energized to help a friend in need.

    “You can always help people out. And you may not even know you’re helping them out, but you are because you’re trying to spread positivity and being kind,” she says.

    The company’s social media channels often share quotes that inspire women, offering support and encouragement for people who might just be scrolling through Instagram looking for a pick-me-up after a hard day. A recent post reminds you to “be picky with your clothes, friends and time,” which is excellent advice for the busy modern woman.

    But ultimately, it all comes back to the idea that when a person feels good in whatever they’ve chosen to wear, it also allows them to spread that positive energy to others.

    “No matter what size you are, no matter what color your eyes are, no matter what color your hair is, no matter what color your skin is — anything of that nature — if you feel good in what you’re in, you can walk into the room like God sent you there to take on whatever it is, and you can just keep moving forward,” Lovelace says.

    Learn more about The Good Babes by visiting the company website at www.thegoodbabes.com and following on Instagram at @thegoodbabesco.

  • Carrie Ann Sattler – Reno Rodeo’s First Female President

    Carrie Ann Sattler – Reno Rodeo’s First Female President

    Carrie Ann Sattler was only 16 when she knew she wanted to volunteer for the Reno Rodeo, one of the nation’s most revered Western sports events rooted in 105 years of tradition. As a young girl, she went to the rodeo each year with her family and found herself drawn to the excitement of the large crowds and festive atmosphere. “When I turned 16, I called and asked if I could volunteer. They said you had to be 18 if you didn’t have a connection inside the association already. So, I told the gal that I would call back on my 18th birthday,” Sattler says. “I called her back on my birthday in 2004 and became a volunteer. Now I’ve been doing it for 20 years.”

    That sense of unbridled enthusiasm and loyalty to the organization has served her well. Sattler’s hard work and passion led her to become the Reno Rodeo’s first female president—not to mention its youngest-ever president. She now oversees a volunteer base of around 800 people, making up 65 independent committees that work diligently to put on the annual rodeo in Reno, Nevada. The rodeo draws some of the biggest names in the Western world and spectators from all over the country. “In an association like Reno Rodeo, something that’s so special is just the amount of passion that gets poured into creating a single 10-day event,” she says. “I am one of many, many volunteers that contribute a major portion of their lives to the betterment of the association and our initiatives as a rodeo.”

    The Reno Rodeo is ranked seventh among nearly 700 rodeos nationwide. Each year, the organization’s volunteers and committee members donate thousands of hours of their time to produce one of the most elite events in Western sports. To some, it may seem uncanny that so many people would be willing to spend so much time and effort to put on a single event. But for Sattler and the others who keep the show going strong year after year, it’s hard to imagine not being part of such an iconic event. “There’s a quote that, from the outside looking in, you can’t really understand it. But from the inside looking out, you can’t really explain it,” Sattler says, summing up what drives so many people to become dedicated to developing the best event possible. Because of their hard work, the Reno Rodeo has become a must-see event that pays homage to rodeo’s storied history and the legacy of the West. “There’s something so rewarding about seeing the fruits of your labor. Knowing that you’re one small part of such a big machine is incredibly moving,” she says.

    It’s not just the rodeo itself that inspires these volunteers to come out in droves to support the event. Another big part of the Reno Rodeo’s overall mission is community involvement, which includes charitable initiatives that give back to various causes in the region while also helping to ensure that the thousands of visitors who flock to the area for the big event have an incredible guest experience.

    “The event itself is pretty significant in its impact,” she says. “We have about a $50 million economic impact in our region. On average, we donate about $250,000 a year to the Reno Rodeo Foundation, a foundation that was created to be the charitable arm for giving back. Beyond that, we donate hundreds of thousands of dollars back to the community through donations and charitable contributions. And in addition, we’re producing one of the largest attractions and events in our state and our region through the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.”
    And while the local community benefits from tangible effects such as spikes in regional tourism that benefit the local economy, the true beauty of getting involved is that it offers people the chance to be part of something much bigger than the sum of its parts. As has always been the case with the presidents before her, her primary goal is to organize a bigger and better event each year. She takes this mission seriously as the leader of a rodeo with a legacy dating back over a century.

    Adhering to tradition while remaining adaptable to the changes of the modern landscape can be a complicated balancing act. Sattler describes this balance as “incredibly delicate” but is proud of how the Reno Rodeo has come to honor its legacy and tradition while continuing to move the needle in rodeo sports.
    With the organization so profoundly rooted in tradition, Sattler understands the importance of paying it forward to the broader community. That’s why the organization will host its first-ever Reno Rodeo Scalability Conference this year, inviting representatives from rodeos nationwide to learn how to grow their own rodeos bigger and better.
    “We think that in our position, it’s really important to share the formula that we’ve been working on for 105 years and have now grown to feel pretty stable and very successful,” she says. “We want to share some of that industry knowledge with others.”

    Smaller rodeos don’t always have the luxury of massive pots or the inherent prestige associated with longer-running events. Therefore, their organizers must find creative ways to draw the best ropers and riders to their arenas if they want to sell out the grandstands. The conference aims to give the representatives from these rodeos a chance to learn how to scale based on Reno Rodeo’s success in growing to become one of the most revered events in the Western world.
    “I think it’s going to be great, and I’m excited that we’re doing it,” she says.
    Rodeo may be all about the blood, sweat, and tears of an American pastime, but Sattler understands there’s something deeper at the intersection of rodeo sports and the Western world. Since its earliest days, rodeo has been a celebration of Western heritage, honoring the traditions of the West and the cowboys and cowgirls of generations past. She thinks it’s essential to grow rodeo sports to keep those traditions alive by teaching future generations about rodeo’s historical importance and embodiment of that Western spirit.

    “Once you get involved, you just understand that it’s about family. It’s about values. It’s about hard work and tenacity. It’s about grit. It takes a lot of fortitude, both physically and mentally, to live a lifestyle of Western tradition. And I think that’s what makes it so worthwhile, and the juice worth the squeeze,” she says.

     

  • Community Coffee Shad Mayfield

    Community Coffee Shad Mayfield

    Few things in life will always remain constant. However, two things will never change: Community Coffee’s promise to serve their customers with consistency, integrity, and excellence and JoEllen Mayfield’s love for her son.  As the mother of 5x Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Qualifier Shad Mayfield and a schoolteacher in Clovis, New Mexico, JoEllen said she was a typical rodeo mom when her son was growing up.

    “Every weekend, we were going somewhere, traveling to a rodeo. I was the typical rodeo mom,” JoEllen said. “I was with him every step of the way. I packed the clothes and the food and made sure everything was ready to go. 

    We spent hours and hours in the practice pen when he was growing up, and by the time he was in 10th grade, he was entering open jackpots,” she said. “So that year, we started homeschooling.”  “He was such a good kid, and we were always really busy,” she said.  “He didn’t have time to get in trouble.

    JoEllen said Shad is not the only competitive member of the Mayfield family.  “I am competitive too,” she said. “I was always out there coaching and helping where and when I was able to.”

    Shad said that now that he lives in Lipan, Texas, his mother doesn’t get to travel with him and watch as often as she’d like to because of her obligations as a teacher. However, he added that he is thankful she was able to be there to watch him win the American in 2020. “She got to be there on the biggest day for me, which meant a lot,” he said.

    JoEllen said she still messages her son daily and talks to him on the phone frequently throughout the week. “He doesn’t always reply as often as a mom would like, but I know how busy he is,” she said. “When I visit him in Texas, he is always going, and he never sits still.

    “Growing up, he was a momma’s boy,” she added. “He still probably is one, even though he doesn’t talk to me as often as I want him to.”  Shad said he would still consider himself a momma’s boy. He added that he couldn’t do many things without her. “She helps me make sure I’m getting everything taken care of with bills, paying fees at rodeos, anything with my house, and anything with life,” Shad said. “She is my go-to person.”  “She visits and stays with me, and soon, she’ll move to Texas close to me.”

    Shad says, “My mom has impacted my life in so many ways. She taught me the most outside of the arena, and that’s what I’m most grateful for. “It’s not always about what’s going on in the arena. Sometimes, it’s more about what is happening on the outside,” he added. That’s what my mom brought to me.” She also taught me how to be smart so that I could succeed in the arena. 

    Bravo to JoEllen and her many hours of being a rodeo mom, one of the best jobs on the planet. It certainly has paid off in the success of her son Shad and his appreciation and love for his mom. 

  • American Hat T Parker

    American Hat T Parker

    “I went through probably six or seven straw hats before I partnered with American Hat,” T Parker said. “My aunt was bugging me about finding a good hat that would look good every time I got on a bull.”

    “Now, I have a 100x Silver Belly American that I wear all the time,” he added. “I don’t wear anything but American hats now.”

    Winnie, Texas cowboy T Parker took the rodeo world by storm by winning the 2023 Resistol Bull Riding Rookie of the Year Award and qualifying for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo before the age of 20. 

    Parker said he felt he took everyone by surprise during his rookie year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Unlike many young rodeo cowboys, he realized his dream later in life. 

    “I watched the Houston rodeo every year since I was around 10 or 11 years old, and that was the only rodeo I wanted to ride in when I was growing up,” Parker said. “When I finally got to ride at Houston, I just ate it up. I loved every minute of it, and after that, I just wanted to keep on going.”

    “At the start, my mom was kind of against it because, you know, I’m the baby; I am a big momma’s boy,” he said. “But then she saw how much I enjoyed it, and then she just fell right in on the bus.”

    Parker said his permit year was not the smoothest ride. “I think I went to 36 rodeos on my permit and bucked off at all 36 of them, and then I finally rode my 37th to fill my permit, and I bought my card that night.”

    He said that going into his first WNFR, he had an advantage because he felt that a lot of people in the ProRodeo world didn’t know his name yet.

    The young cowboy finished his rookie year 13th in the world standings and won approximately $193,251 during the 2023 rodeo season. However, his 2024 ProRodeo season was recently cut short by a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum in his right arm.

    “I had been fighting my shoulder injury since before the finals, and I just kept pushing it back because I didn’t want to hear what the doctors had to tell me,” Parker said. “But it finally got to the point that I couldn’t hold myself up on my bull rope.

    “It is heartbreaking because I felt like this might be the year to win the world. But I’m going to get fixed up, head back out, and hopefully do better than the time before,” he added. “I’m hoping to come back in September for the end of the 2024 season.”

  • Team Cavender’s: John Crimber

    Team Cavender’s: John Crimber

    If you’ve watched any PBR action this year, you’ve undoubtedly experienced rookie sensation John Crimber. Currently sitting at number two in the Unleash The Beast Standings, Crimber won his first Professional Bull Riding this year in Jacksonville, Florida, and continues to dominate in the bull riding. 

    Crimber is no stranger to bull riding. His Dad, Paulo Crimber, is the Florida Freedom Head Coach and a 10-time PBR World Finals qualifier. Paulo also won the average at the 2004 National Finals Rodeo. When asked what helps him stay focused on the road, he attributes his success to his Dad. “My Dad is the one that kind of keeps me in line,” Crimber says. He remembers watching his Dad ride at the NFR in 2004 and wanting to be like him.

    “I always wanted to be a bull rider. I grew up watching my Dad, and I wanted to be like him.”

    Now, at only the young age of eighteen, Crimber is taking the sport of bull riding by storm. Going into the weekend at Billings, Montana, he has won six round wins in the 2024 season and is 589.33 points ahead of world No. 3 Dalton Kasel. He continues to work out and gets on practice bulls to stay consistent. “That’s what I’ve been doing, just trying to get better every week and every day. I bought a couple [practice bulls] after I won Jacksonville.”

    In addition to working out and getting on practice bulls, Crimber credits much of his success to opportunities such as being on Team Cavender’s. “It’s helped me a lot, just introducing us to new opportunities.” He has been on Team Cavender’s for three years now.

    “We get to go to the summit every year. And last year, actually, it was the day before I went to my first PBR. Joe Beaver went over there and spoke to us, and he kind of motivated me.”

    If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be at the top as a teenager in the PBR, Crimber has this to say, “Being so young and doing it at 18 years old has been just a blessing. It’s crazy to think I’m 18, doing what I always dreamed of, and being on the run for a world title.” Although fans may poke fun at him, saying he looks like a baby, he remains confident and has big goals for the future. 

    Crimber continues to talk with Beaver and hopes he will get drafted after the World Finals. “Hopefully, I’ll get drafted to a team and be riding for one of those teams for the rest of the season.” In the meantime, we’ll be cheering on this young gun and following his future in the sport of rodeo. 

  • Scott Knudsen Joins Rodeo Life Magazine as Contributing Writer

    Scott Knudsen Joins Rodeo Life Magazine as Contributing Writer

    Rodeo Life Magazine is proud to announce the addition of Scott Knudsen to its roster of contributing writers. Scott, a fifth-generation Texas cowboy with a unique journey, brings his storytelling prowess and entrepreneurial insights to the esteemed publication’s pages.

    Hailing from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, Scott’s path has been marked by extraordinary experiences. Surviving a lightning strike that left an indelible mark on him, he embodies resilience and a determination to share his remarkable story with the world.

    Scott is known to many as the host of the popular podcast Cowboy Entrepreneur, which is available on leading platforms like Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Apple Podcasts. In his engaging episodes, he seamlessly blends the cowboy way of life with entrepreneurial wisdom.

    In addition to his podcasting ventures, Scott is no stranger to the screen, having hosted the series “On The Road with the Cowboy Entrepreneur” and gearing up for a new show on Knekt TV. His foray into writing has also seen success, with his debut book, “Sovereign Rein,” already published by Leadership Books, and his upcoming release, “You Can’t Crack That Egg Twice,” scheduled for the summer of 2024.

    Scott’s storytelling prowess extends to his contributions to “Rodeo Life Magazine,” where readers can expect to be captivated by his passion for the rodeo lifestyle and beyond.

    Audiences can look forward to the summer of 2024 for the release of “Lightning Cowboy: A True American Love Story,” a feature film that delves into Scott’s journey of survival, faith, and family, defining his life’s narrative.

    Beyond his creative pursuits, Scott is a sought-after keynote speaker, captivating crowds nationwide with his inspirational journey. His emcee and brand ambassador skills have seen him connect with diverse audiences across various platforms.

    Scott has been featured on podcasts in over seven countries, and his global impact transcends borders. He has garnered attention from esteemed media outlets such as Fox News, BBC, and The Guardian. His commitment to giving back led him to co-found the Cowboy Entrepreneur Foundation, furthering his mission to empower individuals through his story of resilience and passion.

    For more on Scott Knudsen’s contributions to “Rodeo Life Magazine” and his upcoming projects, stay tuned to the pages of the publication and follow Scott on IG @