<![CDATA[Gail Hughbanks Woerner<br />​ - Way Out West Blog]]>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:06:07 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[April 06th, 2026]]>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:25:43 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/april-06th-2026It was only ninety years ago that rodeo finally made the right move to improve the sport and allow competitors to have a say in what was happening in the sport of rodeo.

Yes, this year we are celebrating the 90th year of professional rodeo!  From meager winnings in rodeo’s earliest days, the world of rodeo has become one of the country’s great sports.  The PRCA National Finals held in Las Vegas had a purse of $17,551,956 in 2025.  $13,501,505 went to the contestants and $4,050,451 to the stock contractors.  There is a planned increase of $1 million, so this year, 2026, it will be $18.5 million!

The Cowboys’ Turtle Association (CTA) was established on November 6th, 1936.  It took a long time for cowboys who liked to compete in rodeos to get the job done.  They had been complaining about the small purses and felt it was such a simple way to improve the purse – just put the entry fees into the purse and make it a worthwhile amount!  But rodeo producers had been doing it without adding entry fees for years, so why change?

The competing cowboys also were not satisfied with the judging at some of the rodeos.  Local men, such as a doctor, a sheriff, or someone respected in the community, were often chosen to serve as judges.  How much did that doctor or sheriff know about the rules of rodeo and what made a good ride or roping?  How often did one of the hometown cowboys win the events when it was evident to the more seasoned cowboys that they had spurred harder, or roped better?

On March 16, 1945, the Cowboys’ Turtle Association changed its name to Rodeo Cowboys Association, which they knew represented them better than ‘Cowboys’ Turtle Association.  In 1975, the association added ‘Professional’ to its name, and since then, it has been known as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).  

The 75th anniversary of the Turtles was in 2011, and the year before, a group of us decided we should try to get as many still-living Turtles as we could to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.  They were also guests and received recognition at the Cowboy Reunion, headed by Liz Kesler.  Twelve men were introduced in the arena during one of the Finals performances in Las Vegas, NV. They were also briefly interviewed on video about their days as CTA members. 

​I wrote a book about it, “The Cowboys’ Turtle Association: The Birth of Professional Rodeo,” and it was published in 2011 because the CTA was celebrating its 75th anniversary, and although everyone knew something about how the cowboys struck at the Boston rodeo in 1936, the details and the full story had never been told.  The importance of the CTA is that when this group formed a unit, they could deal with the Rodeo Association of America, an organization of the best rodeos in the country, but one run primarily by businessmen, not cowboys.  No one listened to one cowboy’s complaint, but now, as a group of the best cowboys in the country, they made sure they were heard!  All they were trying to do was make rodeo more professional and fairer.

I had been researching the history of rodeo for 23 years and had learned a lot about how important the formation of the Turtles was to the competing cowboys, because before that, they actually had no say in how rodeos were run.  This wasn’t a spontaneous decision when they formed the CTA because cowboys who followed the rodeo road and competed regularly had been complaining about the small purses and lousy judging for over 20 years.  They had been talking about it among themselves at the rodeos they attended, and even formed a group (in 1915) to decide how they thought rodeo could be better. But when they left that rodeo, those cowboys headed various directions and didn’t see each other for months; they never got anything done.

The book could not have been written without Walter Dennis's help.  He was just a kid when the Turtles were formed, but he and his mother were neighbors of Hugh Bennett and his wife, Josie, just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Hugh was the very first secretary-treasurer of the CTA, and they initially handled their responsibilities out of their vehicle.  In 1992, in his late life, Hugh asked Walter to look at all the paperwork he had kept on the CTA from its inception until he resigned.  He wanted to know what Walter thought he should give to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.  Walter did go through all the papers; he made copies of many of the pages. As they were so old (it had been over 50 years), they would crumble or tear easily.  He encouraged Hugh to give it all to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.  Bennett failed to ‘get around to giving it to the Hall’ and died in 1994. 

Fortunately, Walter’s mother, Millie, was Hugh’s nurse prior to his passing.  Since they knew Hugh wanted the ProRodeo Hall of Fame to have his box of information on the early days of the CTA, Walter took it to the Hall in 1995, when Hugh was inducted.  Rex Bennett, Hugh’s nephew, also gave the ledger of all the members of CTA to the Hall at that time.  Fortunately, Walter had kept a copy of what he had copied, and he offered to let me use it when I was working on and writing the book.

People like Walter Dennis were forward-thinking, and thank goodness we do have the information he shared with me and took to the Hall for Hugh.  If it hadn’t been for these cowboys who worked so hard to make rodeo better by improving the purses, the judging, and so much more, we wouldn’t have the exciting purses like the National Finals purse, which was $17.5 million for 2025.

In the beginning of rodeo, all the competitors were cowboys who worked for a living doing exactly what they did in the rodeo, but the pay for doing it on a ranch was much less than what they got at a rodeo, IF they could beat the other contestants.  Rodeo definitely expanded a cowboy's life to so much more than ranch work, although they liked ranch work, but at a rodeo, they could meet others with the same interests and travel more than they ever would as a ranch cowboy.  

In 1935, the year before the CTA was organized, during the Fort Worth rodeo, the cowboys and cowgirls got together and told the ‘powers’ of the rodeo that if they didn’t put their entry fees in the purse, they wouldn’t ride in their parade (that kicked off the beginning of the Fort Worth rodeo every year).  The ‘powers’ said that it was not possible.  The cowboys and cowgirls continued to say they would not ride in the parade.  The time for the parade to start arrived, and the streets were full of people and lots of children waiting to see the cowboys & cowgirls ride by.  Nothing happened.  The ‘powers’ threatened the cowboys and cowgirls, saying, “If you don’t ride in the parade, you can’t compete in the rodeo”.  The cowboys and cowgirls just sat there, not moving.  Finally, 45 minutes after the parade was to start, the ‘powers’ put all the entry fees into the purse!!  Cowboys and cowgirls got up, got on their horses, and rode in the parade.  The rodeo went on as planned, no one but the cowboys and cowgirls and the rodeo people knew, but the purses were bigger! 

This was the catalyst that encouraged the cowboys to prepare the following year while at the Madison Square Garden rodeo which lasted for weeks and they had plenty of time to get their petition signed, and make their plans for the ‘strike’ at the Boston rodeo, with Colonel W. T. Johnson, the most successful and largest rodeo producer at that time period putting the Boston rodeo on.  The Cowboys knew that if they could get Johnson to put the entry fees into the purse, all the other producers and rodeo committees would do the same.

The rest is history!

To Purchase Gail's  The Cowboys' Turtle Association: The Birth of Professional Rodeo, Click here.

]]><![CDATA[Well Worth The Read]]>Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:37:25 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/well-worth-the-readClyde Edward Longfellow, Jr.  March 7, 1942 – July 15, 2025
The following was written by Clyde Longfellow's  daughter, Crystal, when he passed away recently.  I have gotten permission to print this because it was well done, and it is the story of 95% of the rodeo cowboys on the rodeo road today. Didn’t make the National Finals, but had some wins and some losses, but enjoyed what he did and continued doing it for a long time.  Enjoy!

The mold wasn’t just broke, it was shattered – on March 7, 1942, with the birth of Clyde Edward Longfellow, Jr.  The world would never be the same!  And it shattered again, on July 15, 2025,  with his passing.

Clyde was born in Lewiston, Idaho, he joined four sisters. His dad was a career Air Force man, stationed in Okinawa during the 1950s.  The family traveled to Japan aboard a military transport ship, a multi-day voyage across the Pacific that sparked Clyde Jr.’s lifelong love of sailing.  He also worked for his golf-pro Uncle Ping at the Lewiston Country Club as a golf caddy. Golf and sailing remained lifelong hobbies for Clyde.

Clyde attended Lewiston schools and soon found his calling:  horses!  As soon as he could, Clyde started working at the Old Lewiston Round Up Grounds in North Lewiston.  Doing whatever job he could just to ride.  It was there he met and learned from Idaho rodeo legends, Clint Roberts and Jack Carson. They both became mentors and ignited his rodeo dreams. Clyde started getting on broncs and riding colts.

While pursuing his dreams, he crossed paths with Edie Gottschalk. Edie boarded her horse at the Round Up Grounds. They married in 1965 and moved out to the Grand Ronde country to work on the ranch of Shirly Bothum.  When Shirly told Clyde he had to choose between working or rodeoing, Clyde didn’t hesitate – he loaded up and headed to Cheyenne, where he won the 1965 Cheyenne Frontier Days Amateur Saddle Bronc competition.

Clyde and Edie spent the early years of their marriage on the Rodeo Trail. Heading to the Texas indoor winter rodeos, then coming back to the Northwest and Canada for the summer run. Their first daughter, Crystal, was born in 1967, and the family lived much of the year in a travel trailer. In 1972, they settled in Kendrick, Idaho, and welcomed their second daughter, Kelly, in 1973. With a growing family and house payments, Clyde began driving a truck for Star Motor Freight in Lewiston.  

His nephew, Jodi Johnson, who shared Clyde’s love for ranching and rodeo, lived with the family during high school and competed in High School rodeo.  During his trucking travels, Clyde met and welcomed foster son, Paul Bass, into the family.
Clyde continued to rodeo, with wins at major rodeos like Lewiston Round Up (twice); Columbia Basin Rodeo (Moses Lake, WA) four times; Chief Joseph Days, five times. In the late 1970s, he bought a semi-truck and started hauling cattle to provide for his family. Everyone loved his big black trucks with the donkey on the doors; Haul Ass Trucking! He earned multiple trips to the Columbia Circuit Finals before stepping back from competition around 1985 to focus on trucking and supporting his kids in junior and high school rodeos.

Clyde and Edie moved to Hermiston, Oregon, in 1993.  Soon after in 1994, Clyde was entering rodeos again – and winning!  He was now riding against the sons of the men he once competed with.  He earned more trips to the Columbia River Circuit Finals. In 1995, his first grandson was born. And he was still riding and winning – the younger cowboys called him the Viagra Vaquero!  In 1998, Clyde won the saddle bronc riding at Colville, Washington, and took grandson, Rylen, on the victory lap!

Clyde also became a hobby ostrich rancher and began entering Senior Pro Rodeos on the side. In 1998, he qualified for the Senior Pro Finals and finished second in the world. He returned home determined to win the world title in 1999 – but tragedy struck.  While hauling cattle, he was hit head-on by another semi, totaling his dream truck and severely injuring him. At 57, Clyde was forced to retire from both bronc riding and trucking.

After a long recovery, Clyde took up golf to stay active and eventually returned to riding saddle horses. He even bought a sailboat and sailed it from San Diego o Portland. He spent weeks each year sailing the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean, often reaching the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island, Canada. Thanks to his nephew Brien DeAtley, Clyde fulfilled a lifelong dream of playing golf at Pebble Beach.

Clyde served as the rodeo director for the Eastern Livestock Show in Union, Oregon for about ten years.  Under him, the rodeo grew and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008!  In 2019, Clyde received the honor of serving as the Grand Marshal for the Lewiston RoundUp, recognizing his impact on the rodeo community. Later that same year, Clyde and Edie were both inducted into the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame, solidifying their lasting legacy on the sport. Being chosen for induction into the Chief Joseph Days Hall of Fame Class of 2024 was an unexpected thrill for Clyde, Edie, and the family.  Chief Joseph Days held a treasured spot in his heart – where he competed, consistently won, and made lasting memories with family and friends. Clyde was especially proud of Edie, his wife of 60 years, when she was presented the 2024 PRCA Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award, for her 57 dedicated years as a PRCA Rodeo Secretary.

Clyde passed away in his sleep aboard his beloved sailboat, No Fences, on July 15, 2025 in Scappoose, Oregon.
 
A Celebration of Life for Clyde was held September 7, 10:59 AM at the Lewiston Round Up Grounds Arena, with Reception following in the She’s Wild Saloon.  A 10” x 5 ½” of a picture of Clyde, with a big grin, leaning on his saddle was handed out.  On the back was the heading “The Last Bronc Ride by Clyde Longfellow, 9-7-2025 with the National Anthem, Prayer and Opening Remarks by Marty Campbell and Will Rasmussen, the reading of his life written by and read by Crystal, his daughter, a memorial video by granddaughter, Makayla McCabe.  The bronc ride listed his friends as flankman, chute boss, saddling crew, pickup man, chute gate crew, out gate and closing remarks.  Below his picture were the words:  “Life is worth the ride, The ride is worth the fall.”

]]><![CDATA[WHAT A MEMORY — MY VISITS WITH LARRY CLAYMAN]]>Tue, 18 Nov 2025 23:35:55 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/what-a-memory-my-visits-with-larry-claymanPicture
Often talks with Larry Clayman prove he’s a gem for a rodeo historian like me. He is easy with whom to talk and has a wonderful memory of his days in the rodeo arena being a third-generation rodeo clown. We usually have a specific reason for calling each other, but once we get on the phone it seems one story leads to another and easily an hour can go by before we hang up. He tells me of experiences he has had, and I tell him of stories I have been told by old cowboys which always brings to Larry’s mind another story.  

Larry was born July 11, 1941, in Highlandville, Missouri. Both his grandfather, Stanley Clayman and father, William Clayman, were rodeo clowns and he often traveled with them. The Clayman’s lived in southern Missouri. Larry said he thought his granddad was the consummate clown whether in the arena or out! He worked with his grandpa breaking colts.  They only worked with teams in the fields at home.  

Larry laughingly relayed, “The first automated vehicle ever on the Clayman spread was an old Willy’s jeep.  It ran OK, but you had to manually operate the windshield wipers. Grandpa and I were on our way to Calico Rock, Arkansas, to work the rodeo. The roads were winding and we were pulling his old mare in a trailer. The rodeo committee requested Grandpa to bring the old mare for his act.  (It was so funny!) Well, it started to rain and he had me leaning over the windshield operating the wipers.  He kept saying, ‘Keep those windshields clean, Larry, so we won’t run into the trailer!’”

Grandpa Stanley wore bib overalls in which to clown.  He asked Larry to clown with him at Mansfield, Missouri. Larry remembered he was 12 or 13 (1954).  Grandpa Stanley was good with a bullwhip.  He even used it to move cows at home, but at the rodeo he could open a pop bottle if the cap was loosened.  He had Larry put a paper target between his legs and bend over sideways and Grandpa never missed.  Larry couldn’t remember if he got paid, but Grandpa got $20.  Most of the rodeos Larry’s grandpa and dad worked were in Arkansas and Missouri.

In addition to helping his dad or grandpa or being hired to clown an amateur rodeo Larry competed in five events; saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, steer wrestling and team roping.  But his first love was bullfighting and being a rodeo clown.  His years in rodeo were from 1954 to 1980, with smatterings of rodeo after that – producing, announcing, training, or going to Rodeo Clown Reunions.

Larry joined the Marine Corp in 1961, and he was still doing some ‘clowning’ during that time.  In Okemulgee, OK, at an amateur rodeo, he took his mule, ‘Sorghum,’ who was trained to do a lot of tricks. 

 “Gene Autry was there as the star of the rodeo,” Larry told, “we helped him get on his horse, I remember, and the bulls really worked good. After the rodeo Jim Shoulders walked up and introduced himself.  I knew who Jim Shoulders was – everybody knew who he was.  He told me he liked the way I worked and he’d like to hire me. I explained I was flattered but I was in the Marines, and they were shipping me off to Boot Camp at Camp Pendleton.  Shoulders told me to find Colonel Ace Bowen, that he ran the rodeo on Camp Pendleton.  

I was in infantry training when I got there. I entered the rodeo in the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and the bull riding, and my first wife, Rogenia, entered the barrel race. When the rodeo was over Staff Sargeant Johnson came to me and said, "The Colonel wants to meet you.’"

My wife and I followed him and the Colonel was just turning his horse out in the pasture.  He was in jeans and a western shirt and I thought he looked like a giant  – I had never met a Colonel before.  When Staff Sargeant Johnson introduced us I said, "Nice to meet you, Mister Bowen." 

With that said,  Bowen’s face got red and I thought he was going to choke on his tobacco. He said, ‘You’re going to work for me and don’t ever call me Mister again!’  I went to work clowning that rodeo at Camp Pendleton.  In fact, a lot of my Marine responsibilities, at that time was actually cowboy work with the Colonel.  We baled hay, taught other Marines to ride broncs, and all kinds of ‘western’ activities.” 

Not too long after that Larry met Lex Connelly, who occasionally announced the Camp Pendleton rodeo.  Connelly was involved with the Cow Palace rodeo at the time also.  “I also met Andy Jauregui, who furnished the stock for the Camp rodeo,” said Larry, “Jauregui asked me to clown the Bishop, California, rodeo in 1962, which I enjoyed because I worked it with Slim Pickens.” 

 That was Clayman’s first professional rodeo job, but he was still serving in the Marine Corp.  He qualified with his military identification for the RCA sanctioned event.  From there, he worked rodeos as often as possible while still in the Marines.  Larry was transferred later to Washington DC where he had a ‘desk job.' But he was there to serve his country and did what he was asked to do.  

One day he heard that Jim Shoulders was providing the stock for the Leesburg, Virginia, rodeo.  Larry called Shoulders and told him he was living in Leesburg and could he help Jim.  Jim had him report to Graham Fenton, an Australian cattleman, that was putting the rodeo on.  During the Leesburg rodeo Larry met Howard Harris, from the Cowtown New Jersey rodeo.  Harris would take a group of cowboys down to the Leesburg event, and after seeing Larry work, he hired Larry to work Saturday nights at Cowtown New Jersey.

When Larry was discharged he got his RCA card and began his professional rodeo career in earnest, rodeoing north, south, east and west.  He used many different animals in his comedy routines.  He trained his own animals, including dogs, horses, a mule named ‘Sorghum’, ducks and a lion cub.    

He met Bob Prewitt, at Chicago, who had a chimp with him.  They visited him for sometime.  The chimp with him was 4 years old, named Coco. Prewitt was to meet a delegate with the Mexican circus and give them Coco, who was all ready purchased by them. Clayman not realizing t chimp was all ready purchased told Prewitt if they didn’t show up he’d buy Coco.  But Prewitt told Larry he didn’t want one that was that old. He said Larry should get one just as it quit nursing it’s mother, about six months old because they were easier to train at that age.  Prewitt said he’d have a young chimpanzee for Larry the following year. 

In 1967 Larry got Todo, his chimpanzee. Clayman said he learned a lot from reading Jane Goodall’s book ‘My Life With The Chimpanzees’ (she lived with them for eleven years).  He also did a tremendous amount of research before Todo arrived. He taught him a variety of acts including Roman Riding two horses, Blaze and Thunder. He also had acts with Todo and realized Todo was having fun and learned very quickly.  Larry said, “I realized Todo was having fun in these acts, he was a real ‘clown’.”  

Larry admits having a side-kick like Todo gave him many opportunities in his rodeo career to meet important people.  He and Todo traveled to Europe with Rodeo Far West, under the direction of Buster Ivory.  They were gone three and a half months and went to Italy, Switzerland and France.  His wife Rogenia and son, Stan, also went with him.  Some of the other cowboys that were on this trip were Shawn Davis, Larry Jordan and Kelly Riley.

​Ivory had made arrangements for Ford Motor Company to make trucks and trailers large enough to move the rodeo stock from one location to the next.  The trucks were being made at Ford’s Holland location.  Unfortunately, when they arrived the trucks and trailers were not ready as the company had a strike!  The next dilemma was that El Italia, the Italian airline, was one of Far West’s sponsors, and they gave permission that Todo could sit in a seat next to Larry.  Unfortunately, when Larry was asked to go from Turin, Italy to Rome to do an interview to promote the rodeo coming to Rome later, the pilot would not allow Todo to sit in a seat.  The pilot insisted he be caged, like all other animals that flew with him.  However, Larry did not have a cage.  They got a large cardboard box, sat it next to the stewardess’ seat, put Todo in it, and tied string all around it, thinking this would keep the chimpanzee in the box.  Todo had a small opening in the box so he could see Larry.  After they were in the air Larry motioned to Todo to come to him. Todo tore that box to shreds and sat next to Larry all the way to Rome!  No one said a thing and Todo was a perfect ‘chimp gentleman.'

Larry said the most important experience he had on the trip was when they went to the Normandy beaches near Rouen, where Joan of Arc was killed, and saw where the U. S. military landed, which was such an important happening in World War II.

When Larry took Todo to Vatican City, he was in a throng of people, so he put Todo on his shoulders.  Soon they were invited inside the cathedral and the Pope waved to them. At the Calgary Stampede, he was invited to bring Todo and meet Queen Elizabeth.  In the queen’s salon,  Todo sat next to her and was fascinated by her jewelry. Meanwhile Larry discussed Jane Goodall’s wonderful advice about raising Todo with the her. The Queen had met Ms. Goodall and was fascinated by how well trained Todo was and complimented Larry.

​During Clayman’s rodeo career he worked the National Finals Rodeo as a bullfighter in 1973, the Canadian Rodeo Finals in 1973, ’74 and ‘75, the Indian Rodeo Finals IN  1976, ’77 and ‘78, National Intercollegiate Rodeo Finals in 1968, and the High School Rodeo Finals in 1970 and ‘71. He, Clem McSpadden an announcer, and Jon Taylor another bullfighter, were the first non-Canadians to work the Canadian National Finals. Larry may also be the only rodeo clown/bullfighter to wear high-top football cleats, as part of his footwear in the arena.

Clayman was chosen for the first Wrangler Bullfights, held in Rapid City by Jim Sutton. Clayman ended his rodeo clown/bullfighting career in 1977, but didn’t stop rodeoing. He opened a nightly RCA rodeo (during June, July and August) in Branson, Missouri. It was called Heart of America Championship Rodeo and produced by him for three years and thousands of fans attended.  Todo, his special companion, died in 1980.

When Larry closed the Branson rodeo he did a variety of things including assisting his nephews, Dusty and Toby Essick, in learning how to be bullfighters.  He also announced the Clayman Rodeo held in Georgetown, Texas, under the auspices of Kelly’s Kids, an equestrian training program for youngsters, held once a year.  He performed as a bullfighter in the movie, J.W. Coop, and also appeared in the television series, Streets of San Francisco.  He was featured on ABC Wide World of Sports with Curt Gowdy while at Calgary, Canada.

Today Larry lives what he calls “a charmed life” in retirement with his wife, Renee, near Florence, Texas, and spends his time working in the First Baptist Church there.  He has been inducted in to various Halls of Fame, including the Rodeo Historical Society Rodeo Hall of Fame in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City in their 2025 Induction Class.  He has never left the world of rodeo and also attends Rodeo Clown Reunions, as well as other rodeo events.  His ability to remember names and rodeos and events in the rodeo world for the last 71 years is amazing and a great help to a rodeo historian like me. 
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]]><![CDATA[Duel at the Dunes]]>Tue, 14 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/duel-at-the-dunesThe Cervi Championship Rodeo was at it again.  On September 30th, (the last day of the 2025 PRCA season, they had a Roughstock Rodeo with the top 20 contestants in each event.  The rodeo was held in conjunction with Dream Golf which opened a new golf course that day.  The land for the golf course was very near the Cervi Home Ranch near Roggen, Colorado.  The day was full and was also sold out.  It started with golf by the Founders, and and ribbon opening, tours were taken of the course, then at 4:30 the rodeo was held in a Preifert arena and chutes, with bleachers on two sides of the arena.

The day was a typical Colorado day with lots of sunshine, a slight breeze and the sky was full of clouds.  It rained the day before and everything was perfect.  I attended with a Media Pass as I always like to go home to Colorado, where I was raised on the Hughbanks Turkey Ranch, and a rodeo is just the icing on the cake.  I had attended the Cervi Championship Rodeo five years ago when they did the same thing with Barebacks and Saddle Broncs on the last day of the season.  My friends Gary and Connie Sandstead met me at the airport and I stayed with them, and Connie and I attended.  

Most of the top 20 were there, but I think some were missing because of the Govenor’s Cup that was held the weekend before and the 30th was on Tuesday.
            
Those attending and their scores were:  
Bareback Riding:  Jesse Pope - 85, Rocker Steiner - 85, Bradlee Miller – 80 1/2, Garrett Shadbolt – 78, Kade Sonnier – 83 ½, Dean Thompson – 81, Jacek Frost – 74, Jayco Roper -  82 ½, Waylon Bourgeois – 87 ½, Mason Clements – 85 ½, Tilden Hooper – 79, Orin Larsen – 87, Jacob Lees – 86, Richmond Champion – 80 ½, Tanner Aus – 73, Kashton Ford – 81 ½, Donnie Proffet -8?.  
The Finals: Jacob Lees had 88 (on Womanizer); Orin Larson was 2nd with 87 ½ and Waylon Bourgeois 3rd with 84.

Saddle Bronc Riding:  Ryder Wright – 85, Damon Brennan – 84, Kade Bruno – 83 ½, Sage Newman – 86, Statler Wright – 84, Weston Patterson – 86 ½, Wyatt Casper – 83 ½, Ben Anderson – (reride) 81, Lety Holman – 86, Chase Brooks – 81 ½, Q Taylor – 82 ½, Jake Finley – 80, Ira Dickinson – 0, Waitley Sharron – 82, Gus Gallard – 85, Cavy Pennington – 0, Coleman Shalbetter – 84.
The Finals:  Weston Patterson, on Triple Threat – 89;  Sage Newman on Hitman – 87;  Lefty Holman on Steak Sauce – 84 ½.
 
Bull Riding:  Hudson Bolton – 81, Mason Moody – 0, Rawley Johnson – 0, Bryce Jensen – 0, Luke Mackey – 81, Luke Mast – 0, Clayton Sellers – 84, Scott Wells – 0, Jason Petri – 79, Trevo Reiste – 0, Mason Spain – 0, Ethan Skoquist – 0, Colton Coffman – 0, Wade Tuni – 0, Eliza Mora – 86.
The Finals:  Hudson Bolton on Ringling Road– 92, Luke Mackey – 0, Eliza Mora – 0.
 
The Final count at the PRCA on all events doesn’t come out until the middle of October so who is going to go to the National Finals will be announced then.  I think this ‘last ditch effort’ on the part of Cervi Championship Rodeo is important to the guys who have worked so hard and give their events all they have to give.  If it works for anyone of those guys, I’m delighted.  But for those who won’t make the PRCA National Finals – there is always next year!]]><![CDATA[The World of Rodeo Has Become a Top-Rated Sport]]>Wed, 06 Aug 2025 20:13:26 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/the-world-of-rodeo-has-become-a-top-rated-sportI can’t tell you how many rodeos are happening today, but as a historian it is far more than were happening 100 years ago.  There was nothing called ‘Cowboy Christmas’ on the 4th of July a century ago.  Today those dedicated cowboys that are trying to reach that ‘top fifteen’ in the world, in their event, can get to three rodeos in one day if the logistics allow it.  And ‘Cowboy Christmas’ isn’t just the 4th of July but starts at least a week or more before it, and continues through the next week or more!  In fact, the entire rodeo season is jammed crammed with rodeos.  There is no time for jackpots or matched competitions today, those dedicated cowboys and cowgirls don’t have the time.  And once the season is over, the next day the new season begins!

It was the hope of those running the new sport 100 years ago that their results would be found on the Sports Pages of major newspapers.  But it didn’t happen.  Why?  Rodeo came on the heels of the Wild West Shows which were promoted as a theatrical event.  When rodeo started being held they fell in to using similar words such as ‘Wild’  ‘Show’ in fact the book written by Shirley Flynn about Cheyenne Frontier Days and produced in 1986 has the title “Let’s Go!  Let’s Show!  Let’s Rodeo!  But it is my belief that not only was the early words used to promote rodeo, it was also that most sports writers knew very little or nothing about rodeo.  I have stood and listened to sport writers from newspapers interview cowboys and they run out of questions quickly because they don’t know Rodeo.  Rodeo today consists of eight different events.  Knowing the rules of barrel racing, isn’t going to give a reporter the knowledge to interview a bronc rider, or a tie down competitor.  

Rodeo has finally arrived!  As a historian I have talked to cowboys that competed long ago.  They said if they heard about a rodeo within horseback riding distance they’d take off for it and when they got there it may not even be happening.  How discouraging!  But not to a cowboy who really was committed to rodeo competition.  He’d do it again and again, hoping there was a chance to compete in his event.  Sometimes those rodeos back in 1925 didn’t have all the events we have in rodeo today.  It might be bronc riding and steer wrestling only.  Or calf roping, steer roping and horse racing.  The bull riding that we have it today wasn’t even in it’s infancy – if it was held at all it was ‘steer riding’ and once the rider fell off or finished the ride the steer just ran off.  Brahma’s with their bad attitudes wasn’t even introduced to rodeo until the early 1920s. 

Today’s competitors are juggling problems very different than their early rodeo predecessors.  Back then it was finding a rodeo – anywhere within a distance they could get to and hoping they had their events.  Now it is which rodeo should they go to, what does it pay, who has the stock, what is the entry fee, and more?

​In the early days, if a cowboy got hurt, he got along the best he could.  If he was bleeding, he’d get it stopped, if possible.  If he was hurting because he was badly bruised or worse , he acted as if he could ‘handle it’.  If it was an injury that put him out of commission – he just had to ‘grin and bear it’.  It’ll heal – eventually -- maybe.  Today Justin Healers are at most all rodeos and the minute they see an accident happen they are there to do what can be done to keep that cowboy able to compete.  

When Dr. J. Pat Evans was asked to help rodeo cowboys, because he was the doctor for the Dallas Cowboy football team and kept them on the football field even with some injuries someone got him to attend.  He was very willing to go to the rodeo and be prepared to help cowboys in need.  What happened?  Dr. J. Pat was at the rodeo in Fort Worth.  He had a room and all his ‘medical wares’ to help keep cowboys healthy.  NO ONE SHOWED UP!!   The cowboys said – ‘It Wasn’t the Cowboy Way! ‘But cleverly, someone suggested Donnie Gay, who was leading the bull riding and became a World Champion eight years, and was every cowboy’s hero should go see Dr. Evans.  Donnie understood the need the cowboys had and went to Dr. J. Pat – when the other cowboys saw him getting help one by one they started to go see the doctor.  Today no one thinks anything but great to be helped with an injury by medically trained people at the rodeo.  But it took a while.  ‘The Cowboy Way has gotten Smarter’ and is staying in the game longer.

I just finished a Rodeo Clown Reunion at a rodeo 1,400+ miles from my home, with 30 honorees, their wives, daughters, sons, or girlfriends who came with them.  The Reunion is an opportunity for the retired rodeo clown to put back on their face makeup and baggy britches, or cut off britches with the bandanas hanging from them, and visit with the spectators and fans at a rodeo.  They also were part of the Mandan Rodeo Days parade, did their old acts for the audience, and were introduced in the arena during the rodeo while the announcer told where they were from.  This small addition to an annual rodeo is a shot in the arm for the community where it is held, as well as the honorees who may never have visited Mandan or the area before.  They love helping with the mutton busting, the exceptional rodeo held for kids and adults with medical needs, signing autographs and so much more.  As one wife told me, “The Reunion has given my husband a part of his life back he’d thought was gone forever.” 

I plan to be at the Gold Card Room during the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December.  The Gold Card Room is on the ground level of Thomas & Mack, and is for seniors that have their Gold Cards with PRCA.  To get a Gold Card requires 20 years of rodeo competition plus be over 40 years old.  When I was just a starting to research rodeo history a mentor brought me to the Gold Card Room and I met and interviewed a number of old-timers, including many world champions, who told me so much about their early life in rodeo.  Now I’m there as a hostess, giving back, for all the information I received early in my career of writing books and articles on rodeo.  The cowboys and cowgirls that enter our doors are the greatest cowboys and cowgirls in the world and we have so much fun.  The Gold Card Room is just two hours long, prior to the rodeo but we do a lot in that short time.  I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

I still am having so much fun gathering and researching and adding interesting things about rodeo as it was 100 years ago and what it has come to be.  In fact, the publisher has my most recent book on rodeo in the works, and hopefully it will be out soon.  It is the early days of rodeo held in Madison Square Garden in New York City.  The first rodeo was in 1922 and continued to be held yearly until the National Finals Rodeo started in 1959.  The things that happened and how they were handled and those that were competing and performing in those days are all in the book.  I think you’ll like it.

I wish there were ten of me, because there is so much history of rodeo I’ll never have enough time to write about all of it.  I was called “a walking encyclopedia of rodeo history” the other day. I’m not a rodeo encyclopedia, there’s so much more I don’t know.  But I’m still trying to do my best and capture as many of those long lost interesting important stories in rodeo as I can. Until next time . . . 
]]><![CDATA[March 13th, 2024]]>Wed, 13 Mar 2024 16:02:36 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/pat-ommert-horsewoman-extraordinaireOn February 26, 2024, Pat Ommert dressed in a bright red blazer and white cowboy hat, arriving by carriage to the Opening of the Pat Ommert Trail in Temecula, California.  She has worked to maintain a connected network of safe equestrian trails for over 40 years.  She was honored by the trail being named for her.  Making trails available and safe for equestrians has been on her bucket list for many years.  has also conducted her own personal clinics to introduce youngsters to horses.  

Pat was born in Southern California to Bob and Vera North in 1929.  Bob started a hardware store in Bell, California during the Depression.  Vera was taught how to train ‘high school’ horses – circus-type, and became a well-known performer with her black horse ‘Gypsy’, and also did stunt work in the movies.  The North’s had two girls, and they grew up horseback.  Pat learned trick riding from her mom when a young teenager.  She practiced on the Los Angeles River bed and as she practiced, running her horse back and forth in the sand, her mom was there to coach.

Back in those days horses did it all – trick riding, Roman riding.  Pat had ‘Shortcake’ and ‘Cupcake’ the longest.  She went to gymkhanas, showed horses, but also jockeyed at the Agua Caliente in Mexico in their ‘Powder Puff races.  She was featured at All-Girl Rodeos as “Patsy North and her Trick Horse Rex”.  performed for Cotton Rosser, as well as other producers all over California, Arizona, Utah, Mexico City and more.  

Since she nor her mother sewed, she had her performing outfits designed by a woman her mother knew.  The biggest problem was to keep an outfit that could withstand the action of a trick rider, without tearing or pulling out the seams.  Eventually she was referred to two women who made costumes - for strippers.  They understood Pat’s problems with her costumes needing to withstand lots of gyrations and such.  Pat remembers the outfits they made for her were beautiful.  

​In 1953 she was invited to trick ride at the Madison Square Garden Rodeo.  She also was hired for the Boston Garden rodeo that followed New York.  During her stay the gals that performed at the rodeo had a race yearly at Rockingham Park, a nearby racetrack in Salem, New Hampshire, which Pat won that year.

Pat married Willard Ommert, a veterinarian, and they raised two daughters.  They lived in Temecula, California, where Will had a clinic.  However, Pat continued to rodeo as a contract performer.  She admitted she could have made better money in the moving picture business, but Pat said the movie business was a “Hurry up and wait” business.  But she did work as an extra for $25 a day, as it wasn’t far from where she lived.  But her family was more important.  She occasionally went with Will on a medical emergency at night, but otherwise concentrated on her two daughters.

Trick riding was her first rodeo performances, and because she was short she didn’t do many ground tricks.  She did the hippodrome stand and went into a one foot stand while still be running.  She said, “I did the best one-foot stand of anyone, and I called it a ‘flyaway’ and I did it with one hand.”  She finally gave up trick riding, but continued to Roman ride.  But when her girls were 12 and 8 she quit and they began going with them to horse shows.

After Will died in 2004 she spent time with the Rancho California Horsemen’s Association as a founder and leader conducting clinics.  She and Will received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.  Pat was also  involved in trail riding and enjoyed it immensely.  She not only went on trail rides locally, but also went in Arizona to Las Damas trail ride in Skull Valley, Arizona, in 2006.  When she lived near Griffith Park in Los Angeles she rode the trails, but they had to share the trails with walkers, runners and bicyclists.  

She was honored by being inducted in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth in 2016, and was the recipient of the Tad Lucas Memorial Award in 2020, which is in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.  It’s not unusual to see Pat attending various trick riding, Roman riding or rodeo gatherings, and visiting with friends she has made along the way as well as making new friends.  


]]><![CDATA[The Well Never Runs Dry]]>Fri, 05 May 2023 13:32:21 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/the-well-never-runs-dryI often wonder how some people can continue to do amazing things year after year and never get tired of doing it or run out of steam.  I think I’ve found the reason.  It’s because they love what they do.  It isn’t work, it’s fun, it’s what sustains them.  On the other hand, what causes people to be brilliant or highly successful in some avenue and then never be heard of again in that same avenue.  In rodeo, I hear it called ‘the adrenalin rush’ or ‘it’s the fire in their belly’ that keeps them going.  The ones that you never hear of again – the rodeo definition is usually their ‘egg’ busted’ or ‘they just don’t have enough heart’ or ‘get excited about it anymore’.

I have been amazed at the rodeo world for my entire life, but I do believe that in the last ten years 2013 to 2023, there have been so many changes in the sport that have allowed it to grow to what it is today.  There are cowboys and cowgirls that can earn over a million dollars in the sport alone, and that was seldom heard until recently.  Rodeo is not just a sport you do when you are growing up like football or soccer, and then you have to find ‘a real job’.  You can be a professional in rodeo.  If you practice enough and improve as you practice, it can be your real job.

 As a rodeo historian,  I have researched and read about people from the 19th century in the very early years of rodeo, when it really wasn’t called rodeo, tot a spontaneous challenge between two cowboys.  If money was involved,  it was done privately between the men watching or the cowboys themselves.

​Look what has happened to rodeo today.  Professional rodeo, ProRodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) has become a sport of million dollar day rodeos, a $13,000,000 National Finals plus more options to win more depending on the event.  Cowboys and cowgirls are continuing to stay in rodeo with numerous jobs that weren’t available a century ago. Some become stock contractors, announcers, breeders of quality timed event horses, barrel horses and more.  

Today rodeo has their own television channels – The Cowboy Channel and the Cowgirl Channel, where rodeos can be seen every day, without leaving your favorite arm chair.  Plus they have all types of other shows including Wild Rides, for bucking horse fans, training of timed event horses by proven trainer, and so much more.

The world of rodeo has received a fan base that is so much  larger than it was ten years ago, due to all of these wonderful improvements.  I am doing my best to also spread the word of the history of rodeo.  I write articles, and my books on the history of various events, as well as the beginning of professional rodeo, The Cowboy Turtle Association.  I am presently writing a book on the early day rodeos at Madison Square Garden, which I have always called “the unofficial predecessor of the PRCA National Finals”, 1922 through 1959, the first National Finals.  I am willing to work with anyone interested in the history of the sport.

I was asked once to be on the Rodeo Queen judge team, for a local rodeo.  I feel the beautiful young girl that is chosen should know the history of the sport she is representing.  Apparently my questions regarding rodeo history were too difficult.  I was never asked by that rodeo to help judge the choosing of their rodeo queen again!  But I still believe rodeo queens can promote rodeo so much better if they know the history.

​I still have the‘adrenalin rush for researching and finding new information about the history of rodeo.  I work on it every day in some way.  I don’t travel as much as I used to, but I use the telephone a great deal, the computer even more, and never get tired of going through old Hoofs & Horns, old RCA Sports News, The Buckboard which was the predecessor to the RCA Sports News, and so many more magazines from the early 1900s.  I still answer every email I get asking me if I can help in  some way about rodeo.  I certainly don’t know all the history, but I sure the well won’t run dry.  I look forward to each day and each new history challenge in the world of rodeo!]]><![CDATA[Some People Just Don't Toot Their Own Horn]]>Wed, 25 May 2022 15:48:48 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/some-people-just-dont-toot-their-own-hornAfter spending many hours researching, writing, visiting with cowboys and cowgirls from the past, and I always run across names from the distant past in rodeo who have really made a mark in rodeo.  They often win their event or events, they do things for rodeo that others don’t think to do, they have an ability to put together rodeos that everyone enjoys, or they even have an extra-special sense of picking the best stock for roughstock events, and even roping stock.

Those names most often are on the lists of cowboys and cowgirls inducted in to the major halls of fame in our country which include the Rodeo Historical Society Rodeo Hall of Fame located in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, or the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs.   Some have even been inducted since I have been writing about the history of rodeo and those that made it the great sport it is today.

There is one name, however, that has not been inducted in either of these halls, but should be.  His traveling partners, and good friends, have been honored by induction and he certainly should be, as well.  He has the credentials, longevity in rodeo, and successes in the sport.  I wonder if he has been overlooked because he had too many talents, and spread himself across the rodeo world in competing, assisting in putting on rodeos, leading those in his events, and being responsible for improving the equipment used in rodeo.  Therefore, he never was a world champion, he didn’t ‘toot his own horn’ and just faded into the past.
This is his story:

Alvin “Alvie” Gordon was born January 9, 1910 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Loretta and Elmer Gordon.  He began riding horses to go to school in 1915, in Athena, Ore.  That same year he went to the Pendleton RoundUp to watch his mother ride bucking horses.  Whether watching his mother on bucking horses was the catalyst to Alvie making a career as a saddle bronc rider will never be determined.  Alvie died February 28, 2004.

Loretta and Elmer separated early in Alvie’s life and he went to live with his dad in Montana.  In 1924 Loretta and her husband, Frank Butler, picked fourteen-year-old Alvie up on their way to Belle Fourche, S.D., where he rode his first bareback horses and steers.  After that rodeo, they traveled to Wolf Point, Mont., Cheyenne Frontier Days, Colorado Springs and Monte Vista, Colo., then on to Oklahoma and Texas rodeos.  By the time he was sixteen, he struck out on his own and traveled with Leonard Stroud, an all-event cowboy.  They went to Mexico where Alvie started steer wrestling.  In 1926, they were in Fort Worth where he rode his first Brahma bull.  

Alvie tried all events and found he liked saddle bronc riding the best, and made the most money in it.  “My first saddle bronc was in Seymour, Texas,” Alvie remembered.  In 1927 he went to Chicago to a Tex Austin rodeo held at Soldiers Field.  There he met Oral Zumwalt, a bronc rider who also entered most events, and eventually became a stock contractor.  They traveled together for several years to rodeos in the Northwest, including Montana and Idaho.  By 1930, Alvie was traveling with Paddy Ryan and Turk Greenough, two well-known bronc riders.  It was Alvie’s first trip to the important Madison Square Garden rodeo.  Paddy Ryan and Bob Askin, also a bronc rider, drove back to Montana with him.  Other well-known cowboys that traveled with Alvie were Burel Mulkey and Nick Knight.  

Leo Cremer, a stock contractor and rodeo producer from Big Timber, Mont., hired Alvie to run the bucking chutes, in the early 1930s, but it didn’t interfere with his competing.  His first big win in bronc riding was the Portland, Ore., International Livestock Show & Rodeo, 1932.  He married Alice Neilson that year and they wintered in Burbank, Calif., where Alvie worked out of Fat Jones’s Stables in western movies.  The movie studios knew Jones had a group of rodeo cowboys that hung around his stables during the off-season for rodeo.  Alvie worked as a stuntman, an extra and an all-around hand on a movie set.  He also worked Andy Jauregui rodeos and Alice worked in the office while Alvie ran the chutes.  Then they were off to the rodeo at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, where Alvie rode bareback horses and saddle broncs, twice a day, for thirty-seven days.  He won day monies in the saddle bronc event, and ended up sixth in the bareback riding finals.  The Saint Louis rodeo followed and Alvie’s saddle bronc rared up and turned over landing on top him.  He stayed in the saddle but broke his hip and pelvis.

“My wife had never driven a car before and, of course, I couldn’t drive, but we had to get back to my dad’s place in Yakima, Wash.,.  We had a half gallon of moonshine.  I’d drink some for pain, and give her a drink.  This went on until we got home in fine shape.” He chuckled.

Alvie’s first rodeo after his injury was Tex Austin’s 1934 rodeo in London, England.  Competing against a strong field of riders including Pete Knight, Turk Greenough, Herman Linder, Floyd Stillings and Eddie Woods, he won the International Championship Saddle Bronc Riding title as well as a gold and silver belt buckle.  Turk Greenough said, in the book about Leo Cremer, Mr Rodeo, “I was the first guy to ride Midnight, in London that year.  Alvie Gordon won the bronc riding and he’s the last guy to ride Midnight.”
  
When the Cowboys' Turtle Association was formed at the Boston rodeo in 1936, Alvie was clear across the nation in Portland, Ore., but rodeo news traveled fast.  He was sorry to have missed the strike and joined the ‘Turtles’ as soon as he could, during the Chandler, Ariz., rodeo.  He held CTA number 45.  The state of Montana chose a picture of Alvie on a bucking horse, taken at the Livingston Rodeo, for the cover of their tourist magazine given to all travelers that visited the state.  The same photo was used for the cover of Ketch Pen magazine, August 1989 issue.  Alvie also joined the Screen Actors Guild and Teamsters to be able to continue working on western movies as they moved back to California in 1936.  He also contested at rodeos and ran Andy Jauregui’s J Spear Stock Company.  

The following year he went to Australia as one of the United States’ competing cowboys for the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, where the U.S., and Canadian cowboys competed against the Australians.  They had to qualify to be all-around cowboys to represent their countries and had to compete in several events, including wild cow milking and steer wrestling, once they arrived.  Alvie was the captain of the American team at the Royal Easter Show in 1938 and 1939.  The American team won the bronc riding in 1938. In 1939, a fourth competing team from New Zealand also attended.  The Cowboys' Turtle Association selected Alvie to be the Bronc Riding representative for 1939 and 1940.

In 1939, Alvie and family were living at Autry’s ranch in Placerita Canyon, Calif., and he was asked to be in a brief movie, on horseback, for Chevrolet.  It was filmed on the Andy Jauregui ranch with Red Lamerell and some think this film might be considered the first commercial ever made.

World War II took many of the rodeo cowboys away from their beloved sport to defend and represent our country.  Alvie was competing at the Madison Square Garden rodeo when his draft notice arrived.  Gene Autry, the western movie actor and singer had also joined the Army.  He had a great deal of respect for Alvie and arranged a deferment with Alvie’s draft board back in California so he could finish the Garden rodeo, then on to Boston and Detroit rodeos.  In fact, once Alvie joined the U. S. Army Autry got him assigned to Luke Air Field, in Arizona, where Autry was assigned, and the two worked together.  

Alvie excelled at being a first class chute boss in rodeos and he was in big demand with the top rodeo producers.  He said, “I used to flank the broncs in the chute, back when the flank strap had a buckle.  When the pickup men picked up the rider they had to unbuckle the flank strap, which took time.  When I was at Luke Field I saw the ‘quick release’ on parachutes and immediately thought it was exactly what the flank strap needed.  I wrote a letter to Hamley Saddle Shop, up in Pendleton, who made the original association saddles and sent them a drawing of a ‘parachute trip,' you could jerk yourself.  The first thing the pickup man would do is flip that cinch.  Hamley was the first to make them and they made a bunch." 

When Alvie was discharged from the U.S. Army he decided not to compete in rodeo.  He went to work for the World’s Championship Rodeo, under Everett Colborn, and held the position as chute boss from 1944 to 1956.  When the World’s Championship Rodeo was sold by Colborn, Alvie returned to California.  He worked in western movies again, worked in the oil field and eventually retired.  

He was married three times, Alice Neilson, Hilda Kooyman and Helen Winter, and had two sons with Kooyman, James Albert and Charles John Gordon.  He was living with his son, Jim Gordon and wife, in San Diego, Calif., when I was lucky enough to do an audio interview with him in 2003.  He had his PRCA Gold Card #4776 and volunteered at the senior center every day as long as he was able, where he received an award for his help.  He died February 28, 2004, was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Alvin ‘Alvy’ Gordon is still being submitted for consideration to be inducted to the Rodeo Historical Society’s Rodeo Hall of Fame and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.  

If you have someone you feel merits being considered for induction please contact both of these organizations on-line and prepare the requested information for submission.  Be sure you complete the registration forms thoroughly and accurately.  You must be a member of the Rodeo Historical Society to do so.  Remember, these are the top two halls of fame for rodeo in the country, and candidates must have been involved in rodeo for some time, and had a number of accomplishments in the world of rodeo.]]><![CDATA[December 22nd, 2021]]>Wed, 22 Dec 2021 14:17:41 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/december-22nd-20212021 PRCA Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
KUDOS to Everyone who had anything to do with the Wrangler PRCA National Finals Rodeo --- and all the fringe activities that make those ten days, or fifteen days if you include the PRCA Convention, in Las Vegas.  It is a time we avid rodeo people look forward to each December.

The Cowboy Channel, and everyone that works for them, did a great job of covering the rodeo, pre-rodeo interviews with competitors, and post-rodeo developments in each event as it unfolded.  South Point Casino & Hotel, where I stayed, also showed it daily on television in my room – but I went to Las Vegas to see it all.  The trade shows, the Junior World Show, the Benny Binion Bucking Horse Sale, the Gold Card Room prior to each performance, and much more at various locations across the city.  The PRCA Awards Dinner when the animals, rodeos and individuals “of the Year” were announced.  I also attended the Gold Card Luncheon, World of Rodeo Reunion and the Rodeo Cowboy Alumni Gathering.
 
Following the Miss Rodeo America pageant until the new Miss Rodeo America was chosen and seeing the 30-some competitors here and there going through all that is required of them, was interesting and the candidates were delightful.  Miss Rodeo Colorado, Hailey Frederiksen, was finally chosen to represent the sport for 2022.  Runner-ups were Miss Rodeo Idaho – Texas – Nebraska – Oklahoma.  They all were outstanding young ladies and such an asset to the sport of rodeo.  Miss Rodeo America, Jordan Tierney , and Miss Rodeo Canada, Alisha Erickson, for years 2020 and 2021, because the covid pandemic did not allow that much rodeo activity in 2020, were such a delight.  Alisha Erickson spent each night in the Gold Card Room visiting with those attending and helping me with the program.  It was evident why she was chosen as she is such a versatile young lady with a smile that lit up the room as well as a beautiful singing voice .
 
The top fifteen cowboys and cowgirls, in their respective events to compete at this year’s finale were the best!  Their passion and dedication to their sport is amazing.  Their abilities to perform certainly show the many hours they have spent to be the ‘top of the 2021 crop’.  Watching the timed event horses, waiting for their rider’s signal to “go” , without breaking the barrier, is fun to observe.  Their eyes darting here and there, ears pointing toward the sky in anticipation, and an occasional lip quiver certainly made one know they were as passionate and eager to perform as their rider.  The barrel racing horses were just as involved.  It was evident the cowgirl and her steed had spent many hours in preparation for the quick thirteen or fourteen seconds they spent in the arena circling those three barrels.  What speed!  And the broncs, what can I say.   They love to show what they can do and each and every one bucks his or her heart out to do their very best for 8 seconds.  Not only are they as professional as their riders, but their owners take such good care of them they look like show horses.  No one dare say ranchers and stock owners don’t take the very best care of their livelihood.  Common sense.
 
The friends and family that came were such support for the competitors.  The new friends you meet along the way, whether they sat next to you during the performances or your brief encounter in a hotel elevator, make the days so short and fun!  The Casinos during this time have nothing but country and western musical performers from Reba McEntire, who grew up with a competing steer roping father and brother to Shania Twain, and so many more.  Ninety per cent of the people were sporting the western uniform -- cowboy hats, boots, and an array of colorful shirts and Wranglers.  
 
The Trade Shows scattered in numerous places throughout the city that never sleeps, have concessionaires that sell everything from turquoise necklaces to horse trailers with living quarters.  Horse blankets – wild rags – spurs & saddles – all in various colors and finishes.  The aisles were crowded with shoppers, pushing strollers, pulling wagons full of toddlers wearing cowboy hats so large they almost completely shadow their tiny forms.
 
It was a site to behold!  It was exhilarating, exhausting and so much fun – whether you are a ‘died in the wool’ rodeo fan, a real cowboy or cowgirl, or a novice attending your first rodeo and getting your first glimpse of the ‘western way of life’. As a rodeo historian I must say the rodeo world has spent nearly 150 years in the making to get to this level.  It hasn’t happened by luck or chance, it is because thousands of rodeo cowboys and cowgirls have spent countless hours, in numerous capacities, improving and developing the sport to what it is today. I can hardly wait to go back next December!  God Bless Cowboys, Cowgirls, the Western Way of Life and God Bless America!
]]><![CDATA[November 30th, 2021]]>Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:47:52 GMThttp://www.gailwoerner.com/way-out-west-blog/november-30th-20212021 National Finals
I am packed and ready to go to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas for the National Finals.  I leave in a few days and my mind is beginning to race with all the details of the fast paced ten days.  The National Finals is the goal of every contestant that qualifies to become a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association and those WPRA Barrel Racers and Breakaway Ropers.  The fifteen top money-makers this year in each event are doing everything in their power to arrive in Vegas with the right mental attitude, a healthy body, and if horses are involved in their event, that they too have the right stuff and are healthy.  
            
It’s an exciting time, and although I have a very small part in the National Finals when I think about those athletes and what they must be going through preparing for this major finale to their year, I, too, want to be in the right frame of mind, as healthy as I can be, and have all my writing materials, clothes, masks, and necessities ready to go.
           
My job since 2003 is to assist in the Gold Card Room, which is on the street level of Thomas and Mack Stadium on the UNLV campus.  The Gold Card is something most senior cowboys and cowgirls of yesteryear covet because they were the ones doing all the work to make the earlier National Finals Rodeos successful in some way.  They either competed or worked for PRCA in some capacity.  The ProRodeo Hall of Fame is in charge of the Gold Card Room, and Kent Sturman, Director of this very special Hall, has his very stable staff, plus volunteers like me, in place to make each Gold Card member that attends feel welcome and important during the hour and 45 minutes they spend with us before the rodeo starts at 5:45 PM.

It is such a pleasure to welcome these people from across our nation that return to watch the current competitors do their very best for ten performances.  While in the Gold Card Room they enjoy a buffet dinner, which is provided by a very efficient Thomas & Mack staff.  Meanwhile they get a chance to see and visit with some of their old traveling pals, secretaries from the various circuits, and meet people they ‘heard about’ but never had the chance to cross paths when they were competing.

We cram a lot into that hour and 45 minutes.  We offer beverages, a quiz on something that happened at a former National Finals with a chance to win a prize, and we give gifts offered by sponsors like Montana Silversmith and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.  We generally have  Miss Rodeo Canada with us to help hand out these mementos.  Kent lets everyone know what is happening at the Hall back in Colorado Springs, and we also ask people to become members of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, it’s the place where the history of professional rodeo is displayed and is so important to the sport.

Meanwhile I enjoy visiting with contestants from the past and present, as well as their families.  I gather so much information necessary for my work as a rodeo historian during this brief ten day gathering I dare not miss it.  If it weren’t for these people, and others like them that contact me during the year I could never do what I do as a historian.  One of the first things that happens when you are called a ‘historian’ is you realize what you don’t know about your subject – and mine is rodeo.  I learn so much and expand my rodeo world so much at this one event.  I thank everyone who takes the time to talk with me, or contacts me, about the history of rodeo or about a specific cowboy or cowgirl.

Gotta run, I just thought of something else I need to pack . . . . . . . . .see you in Vegas.
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