DUNCAN, Okla. – Bareback riding is the toughest event in rodeo. The cowboys wedge their hands in a rigging, which is cinched tightly to a horse’s back. They use specially designed gloves that lock their hands onto the rigging, thereby locking themselves on the animal. The ride is meant to be done in rhythm with[...]

DUNCAN, Okla. – For true competitors, losing often is a mountainous motivator. It was certainly the case for breakaway roper Taylor Munsell of Arnett, Oklahoma, on Friday night. Munsell failed to get a time in Thursday’s opening round of the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo at the Stephens County Arena. She turned things[...]

DUNCAN, Okla. – Now in his third qualification to the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo, Jarek VanPetten has learned a thing or two about the Stephens County Arena. “I think the key tonight was getting a good start,” said VanPetten, who knocked his steer to the ground in 4.4 seconds to win the[...]

DUNCAN, Okla. – Just $146 separates Ryan Jarrett, the all-around standings leader in the Prairie Circuit, and the No. 2 man, Paul David Tierney. That means the race for the most coveted title in the region will come down to the three performances of the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo, set for 7:30[...]

Bareback rider hopes to add to college and rookie titles at the NFR Bret Franks had just made his third National Finals Rodeo in four years in December 2000, proving his place as one of the elite saddle bronc riders of the time. His wife, Darla, was pregnant – very pregnant – with their second[...]

DUNCAN, Okla. – When the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals commences later this week, it will be a preview of ProRodeo’s grand championship, the National Finals Rodeo. First and foremost, it’s the regional finale for the Prairie Circuit, which is made up of rodeos and contestants primarily from Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. But there[...]

ALVA, Okla. – Kaden Greenfield was just 3 years old when is father, Shawn, first made the National Finals Rodeo as one of the top 15 steer wrestlers in the PRCA. “I was alive for all of his seven qualifications to the NFR, but the only one I remember was his last year when he[...]

Alberta cowgirl heading to National Finals as the No. 1 roper Shelby Boisjoli had already clinched her second straight qualification to the National Finals Breakaway Roping before the regular season came to an end, but that didn’t stop her from closing out the campaign on a high note. Boisjoli won the ProRodeo Tour Finale in[...]

It was a dry December, not particularly cold, when my wife-to-be and I went to the Lathams’ place near Goodwell, Oklahoma. It was a common visit for longtime friends. My wife had known all the families around Goodwell for a long time, and I’d become acquainted through the newspaper stories I’d written. With Lynette at[...]

ALVA, Okla. – Camden Hoelting and Austin Lampe had been waiting for the moment for quite some time. Both are juniors at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and they’ve gone to more than a dozen rodeos over their first two years of competing in college rodeo; still, they’d never earned an event title until this past[...]