LOVINGTON, N.M. – Producers of the Lea County Fair and Rodeo aren’t ones rest on their laurels. The annual rodeo has been a big-time draw for fans in southeastern New Mexico, featuring the very best the sport has to offer, like great animal athletes, from the two-time tie-down roping horse of the year, Sweetness, owned[...]

DODGE CITY, Kan. – Steer wrestler Billy Bugenig was never so happy to see Aug. 1 come. “I had a really slow month of July, so yesterday in Phillipsburg, I told my traveling buddies that July was over, so we can start doing better tomorrow,” Bugenig said Wednesday after posting runs of 3.7 seconds and[...]

SILVERTON, Texas – Every cowboy knows he needs a good horse underneath him if he is to be successful. The members of the Buck Wild Days Rodeo committee know that, too, which is why Pete Carr and his staff from Carr Pro Rodeo are producing the Silverton event for the third straight year. “All the[...]

The first portion of competition at the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup Rodeo is complete. Chance Kelton of Mayer, Ariz., won the steer roping average championship in Dodge City, roping and tying down three steers in 37.0 seconds. He won $3,832. The first performance begins at 7:45 Wednesday, Aug. 1. Dodge City Roundup Rodeo July 31-Aug.[...]

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[...]