Rodeo News

Heith DeMoss, a baby-faced saddle bronc rider who could pass for Brad Pitt’s little brother, leans against the wall of a hallway on the west end of the Mississippi Coliseum.

On this night at the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, he has drawn a horse that no cowboy has ever conquered for the required eight seconds. “But that’s the kind I usually do real well on – one that bucks hard,” DeMoss says, a likeable confidence oozing from the 5-foot-8, 165-pound native of Crowville, La.

And why shouldn’t it? DeMoss is a three-time participant in the National Finals Rodeo, his sport’s Super Bowl, held each December in Las Vegas.

“Last year I broke my back after my first ride,” he says nonchalantly.

“That’s a tough way to go out of the NFR,” I respond.

“Naw, man, I rode the next day,” he says. “Didn’t do too good, but … ”

“Whoa. You rode with a broken back?”

“Yeah. Can’t say I remember a whole lot about it I was hurtin’ so bad. But I gave it a go.”

This is why I look forward every year to covering the Dixie National. Where else can you interview somebody who one day after breaking his back climbs onto another 1,000-plus pound horse whose instinct is to throw the rider 40 rows into the stands?

And the best stories usually aren’t in the arena, where the public is treated to one faceless cowboy after another trying to make a living. The real life stories are out of the spotlight, in the nooks and cran

nies of this old, cold Coliseum that has served Jackson since 1962.

Stories like Heith DeMoss, who is about to give it another go using the same saddle he has owned since his junior year in high school.

“Bought it off a cowboy in Oil City, La. for $200,” DeMoss says, reaching down and peeling away a piece of its leather covering. “All fiberglass. It’s worth a lot more than I paid for it. And it’s helped win me about $635,000 since I started (professionally) in 2004.”

DeMoss is 25 years old, married and has a 10-year-old son. (read more)

Utah bareback rider Jessy Davis needed some luck drawing a good bucking horse at the San Antonio rodeo.

He slid up behind Canadian champion Dusty LaValley and started pawing at him in the dressing room of the AT&T Centre, home of the NBA’s Spurs.

“I didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” said a startled LaValley. “He said, laughing and explained he was trying to rub some good luck off me.”

The Canadian couldn’t have hand-picked four better bucking horses to get on in the opening 12-man bracket of the $1.18 million rodeo, the only sanctioned million dollar stop on the American pro rodeo calendar.

LaValley drew horses called Hot Coffee, Real Deal, Alberta Child and Grass Dancer, cashed first once, placed second twice and earned a bracket-best $5,186 to advance to the semifinal round on Feb. 17.

Hot Coffee is a new young horse that has established a big reputation in the early going of the 2011 season and the same thing applies to the Alberta-bred Alberta Child. Real Deal was a world champion in 2005 and Grass Dancer has been a solid draw the last couple of years.

There were two hiccups along the way.

LaValley had to turn out Hot Coffee in the rodeo’s opening performance on Friday night of last week because he was stranded on a plane in Calgary.

“I was flying to Houston and then on to San Antonio,” he explained. “But Texas was socked in with bad weather; they couldn’t land at Houston, San Antonio, Dallas or even Austin. I finally got to my hotel in San Antonio at one in the morning on Saturday.” (read more)

An uncommon ability helped, as did the support of his two brothers, even though they all competed in the same event — saddle-bronc riding.

“We had a joint bank account, and everything we won went into it,” Billy Etbauer said. “That way, we always had enough money to get down the road and compete in the next rodeo.”

Twenty-three years later, Robert and Dan are retired, but their brother is still riding and competing at the highest level.

Now 48, Billy Etbauer is a five-time world champion and one of the most recognized names on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association tour.

In 2010, he had his streak of 21 consecutive National Finals Rodeo appearances snapped, but he became the first PRCA cowboy to reach $3 million in career earnings in a single event.

The only other cowboy to make that much money was Trevor Brazile, who competes in three events.

“I wish I could come up with that $3 million today and say that I have ‘er in the bank,” Etbauer said. “But I’ve been blessed. I’ve had an awesome career.” (read more)

The 9-year-old cried when she saw her house burned to the ground.

All her clothes, all her pretty things, gone.

But Gannyn Gower would have to wait for her mother’s comfort. After Gannyn and her family arrived back at the ranch Saturday from a rodeo, Toni Gower stood in the cold January dusk and looked at the smoldering ruins and could think only of her son.

Cody Stephens had died a year ago at age 23. A rodeo bull rider, his championship buckles and saddles and his mother’s scrapbooks had taken up a prime spot in the 109-year-old ranch house.

“As long as I had those things, I still had a piece of Cody,” Toni Gower said Monday. “They’re all gone now. It was like losing him all over again.”

A story in January last year in The Kansas City Star told about Cody’s crush on a pretty barrel racer named Lindsay Sears, whom he had never actually met because she was older and a world champion and lived in Texas and he was just a young bull rider from Cherryvale, Kan.

But three days before Cody died, Lindsay came to him. She walked into his room at University of Kansas Hospital, and the two talked deep into the night about their love for horses and life on the rodeo circuit. (read more)

By day, Justin Ungeheuer is the stereotypical elementary school principal.

Clad in a cardigan sweater, slacks and dress shoes, the 39-year-old walks through the halls of East Memorial Elementary School laughing with students and teachers, focused on his opportunity to improve the lives of hundreds of kindergarteners through fifth-graders.

But by night, there is a side of Ungeheuer that even some of his closest colleagues in Greeley-Evans School District 6 aren’t aware of. It’s a side, however, that Ungeheuer says is closely related to his day job.

“There is a lot of carry-over between students and horses,” said Ungeheuer, who spends his free time on the rodeo circuit as half of a team-roping duo. “They both learn with consistency, patience and kindness. To see the hard work staff and I do here pay off by seeing kids learn something they didn’t think they could is rewarding, and when you put in all that time and effort — when a horse learns something and wants to do something to help me — it is rewarding. A student and a horse can both look at you and tell what kind of mood you’re in and know how to react to you.”

In team roping, two participants on horses chase a steer into an arena, with one participant on each side. The “header” tries to lasso the steer by the horns at the same time the “heeler” lassos the hind feet of the animal. The fastest team to accomplish the feat wins the pot. Ungeheuer is a “header.”

Since he was big enough to crawl up on a horse, Ungeheuer has made rodeo his life. There was a time in Ungeheuer’s life where rodeo was all he knew. But 17 years ago, he traded in his lasso for a ruler. He’s glad he did.

“Some call it a hobby, but it’s more of a habit,” he said of his rodeo life. “Hobbies are much cheaper.”

It didn’t stop him completely, however. Although he used to make three to five rodeos a week, he’s down to about two a month, just enough to keep the drive in him alive.  (read more)

Hello OTRR Fans! We are at the end of 2010!  Can you believe it?? I can’t believe that in a couple of days we will be starting 2011!  When a New Year is upon us, it seems that we each like to take a moment to reflect on the past and start to set goals for the future. In honor of that little ritual, lets look back on the Top 3 entries from 2010.

Nellie Williams and Blue Duck making their very FIRST NFR! 

Troy Brandenburg

Troy Brandenburg from Brandenburg Equine Therapy does several interviews to talk about the importance of taking care of your performance horse.

Tana Poppino Checks in after her fall in Round 4! Totally Motivational!

The PRCA Xtreme Bulls tour is changing TV broadcasters and one local official says that’s good for Cody.

Dan Miller, who provides commentary on the Xtreme Bulls broadcasts and is on the Wyoming Tourism and Travel Board, says the change from ESPN to Great American Country will benefit Cody.

“The switch to GAC will give the events more air time and we’ll have more chances to show off Cody,” he told the Park County Travel Council on Dec. 16. “They will expand the broadcast from 60 minutes currently on ESPN to 90 minutes, and the short videos we use to promote Cody will play more.”

Miller says the Xtreme Bulls broadcasts will be at 7 p.m. on Sundays on GAC.

Currently the broadcasts are played at various times on ESPN and ESPN2.

“By having a more set time in prime time for the shows we’ll have more viewership,” Miller says. “It was difficult to attract a steady audience when no one knew when the shows might be on.”

The Xtreme Bulls Tour became part of the July 4th Stampede Rodeo in 2007 and Powell’s Kanin Asay won the event that year.

Great American Television is available in 60 million households.

Along with all 10 rounds of the National Finals Rodeo, GAC will produce and broadcast pre- and post-rodeo programming.

GAC also will televise the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, the Justin Boots playoffs in Puyallup, Wash., Justin Boots Championships in Omaha, Neb., and the All-American ProRodeo Finals in Waco, Texas…(read more)

Kelly Timberman had to work a little harder than most for his money, but he didn’t mind if it means that history will repeat itself.

Timberman, of Mills, Wyo., became the first three-time champion of the Chase Hawks Memorial Roughstock Rodeo, winning the bareback title at the MetraPark Expo Center Saturday night. He also became the first competitor to win an event two years in a row.

“Every time I’ve won here, I’ve gone on to have my best season,” said Timberman.

Timberman won the Chase Hawks in 2003 and less than 12 months later, won the 2004 world bareback title. After winning the event again in Billings last year, he finished third in the 2010 world bareback standings. Timberman won $100,505 at this year’s NFR.

“This means a lot,” Timberman said of his third Chase Hawks victory. “It’s a great benefit rodeo and I really believe in the cause.”

Timberman was one of two world champions to win at the invitation-only event. Cody Wright, who won his second PRCA world saddle bronc title a week ago, won his second Chase Hawks championship. Wright, of Milford, Utah, also won in 2007.

Will Farrell, of Thermopolis, Wyo., won the bull riding.

Timberman had to ride not one, not two, but three horses to earn a third Chase Hawks buckle.

And the third horse, Thunder Monkey of Sankey Rodeo, made him work for every one of his 86 points.

“He was good. He’s an electric horse,” said Timberman of Thunder Monkey, which was at the NFR in Las Vegas last week. “I really had to hustle. I wanted this horse at the Finals. He’s as good as he looks, trust me.” (read more)

LAS VEGAS — There are plenty of good reasons not to be a rodeo cowboy.

The travel is relentless, requiring countless days away from home and thousands of miles on the road. The money isn’t great, and what money there is goes only to those who excel. If you don’t win, you don’t get paid.

The costs are significant, primarily because of the extensive travel. And then there is the danger of the profession, with the threat of serious injury lurking every night, particularly for those cowboys who climb aboard a 1,500-pound bucking horse or 2,000-pound bull.

But there is an allure for the men and women of the sport that is undeniable and manages to overshadow the pitfalls. It stems not only from the thrill of competition, but from the culture of the sport itself, rooted as it is in the western farming and ranching lifestyle of regular, hard-working people, wide-open spaces and unlocked front doors.

That culture might be fading in many aspects of American life, but it lives on in professional rodeo.

“For the most part these guys are just great, great guys,” rodeo announcer Randy Corley said at the National Finals Rodeo, where the best cowboys are competing this week in their sport’s Super Bowl. “A lot of them are ranch raised, country raised at least. You hate to be melodramatic or anything else, but mom and apple pie, God and country mean a lot.”

‘A PRETTY GOOD WAY OF LIFE’
If you think that’s an exaggeration, spending a few days around a rodeo will change your mind. Most of  the cowboys come from ranching or farming backgrounds, a tradition passed down from one generation to the next. They grow up around horses and cattle, and rodeos are simply an extension of that life.

The life is tough, but ranchers and farmers know all about that, and to them there is nothing wrong with a little hard work. The reward comes from that hard work, from exploring the country, from seeking adventure….(read more)