EAGLE, Colo. – Brian Bain admits he likes to test his talents against rank bucking horses. “I like bigger-, stronger-type horses,” said Bain, a 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bareback rider from Culver, Ore. He got his wish with Carr Pro Rodeo’s Real Deal, and it worked just fine. The two great athletes matched moves[...]

SILVERTON, Texas – A great bull ride is equal parts bucking beast, equal parts athletic cowboy. When it comes together, fans walk away from the arena mesmerized, and they’ll talk about it for weeks to come. That’s what fans expect when they get to Silverton’s Buck Wild Days Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug.[...]

LOVINGTON, N.M. – When Jimmy Wheeler walks into the barn at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo this year, it won’t be much different than the first time. Oh, sure, the times have changed. There are more modern conveniences than he experienced that first year. But the reality is, he’ll be inside that show barn,[...]

LOVINGTON, N.M. – On a warm July evening in the Navajo Nation, Austin Foss got to see first-hand what all the fuss is about with Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dirty Jacket. It paid off quite handsomely for Foss, of Terrebonne, Ore., who posted an 89-point ride on Dirty Jacket to win the rodeo in Window Rock,[...]

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work with some talented people. Here’s a video produced by a company now called Advantage Pro, whose technicians did an awesome job with this particular spot for the 2006 Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I enjoy reflecting on it. Oh,[...]

I was in Jefferson City, Mo., Saturday on a little family get-away before I take a two-week rodeo trip to Dodge City, Kan., and Lovington, N.M. Nine of us were enjoying time together in the state’s capitol when the texts about Broc Cresta’s death began coming in. The 25-year-old cowboy, who had qualified for the[...]

LOVINGTON, N.M. – Jacob O’Mara found Morning After to be more tonic than toxic. It happened July 6 in Window Rock, Ariz., when O’Mara prepared to test his skills on the young Carr Pro Rodeo bull. He’d never seen the bull buck, nor had any of his buddies, but O’Mara grasped a sense of good[...]

LOVINGTON, N.M. – For Clint Cooper, it’s very simple. “Even though I was born in Texas, I’m a Lea County boy,” said Cooper, a four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier who graduated from Lovington High School. “I think it’s more than Jake McClure’s arena. I know my dad and my uncles all roped in that[...]

Thumbing through old issues of ProRodeo Sports News has become a fascinating hobby of mine recently. Yeah, I’m nostalgic, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Just the other day, I remember that I was quoted in one of the stories published in the May 16, 2001, issue. There, on Page 14 in Troy Schwindt’s[...]

NEOSHO, Mo. – D.V. Fennell knows what it takes to win. From a high level of competitiveness to having the right friends in the right places, Fennell has been getting it done on the rodeo trail. A two-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the Oklahoma cowboy leads the bareback riding standings in the[...]