Happy Trails with Dawni O’Bryan: This World Needs More Cowboys

Chancy Williams and the Younger Brothers Band from Wyoming have a song that resonates with the true persona of the cowboy. The lyrics go something like this: The world needs more cowboys, a few more people who ain’t afraid to make some noise and stand up with that kind of “don’t give up” tough.

So, speaking of tough, the Central Rocky Mountain Region held its last rodeo of the fall season at Lamar. The Lamar Community College rodeo athletes and Coach Travis Greenlee were responsible for putting on the rodeo that was held October 18-20. There were countless things that had to be done and with a fairly small team of 12, all hands were on deck. They did receive additional help from the LCC Ranch Horse team, and the horse program. Well, to make matters even more challenging, southeast Colorado finally received some substantial moisture from the heavens. It started raining Friday evening during the 7 pm performance and dropped probably two inches on the Sand and Sage Fairgrounds over the course of the weekend. It was a stinkin’ muddy mess. The arena had several large puddles of standing water. The cowboys and cowgirls were so tough, the rodeo went on as usual. However, the splashing and lands in the mud left them walking away completely covered in mud. Keep in mind that these are college students either staying in a motel or in their living quarters trailers. Their mommy was not there to do their laundry. Their saddles and tack all needed washed off and ready for the next competition. To compete in conditions such as these, mental toughness is required. It also puts abnormal demands on the physical body. The flanking of the goats in the goat tying and the calves in the tie down roping had the animals getting up in a different color than when they were being flanked. The horses ridden by the rodeo athletes were also asked to dig a little deeper to make it through the mud of the arena at a high rate of speed. The grit and tenacity of these young college-age rodeo athletes competing in horrific conditions was admirable and inspiring. When the going gets tough, the tough get going-it is the cowboy way.

In the professional rodeo side of things, the Chisolm Trail Prairie Circuit Finals were held in Duncan, OK October 17-19. Emerging as the barrel racing champion was Tana Renick of Kingston, OK and her horse “Wild Childs Fling” aka Fonzie. Renick was second in round one behind Emily Beisel, took the win in round two and three, and took the title of the aggregate. She accumulated $9685 over the weekend for her three consistent runs. This win qualifies her for the NFR Open that is to be held in Colorado Springs. What makes this of local interest is that her horse is out of the stallion “Streakin’ Boon Dox” owned by Joe and Carla Spitz of Lamar. Streakin’ Boon Dox stands at Outlaw Equine in Decatur, TX. He has offspring making some noise in both the team roping and the barrel racing events.

Here are a few quotes that will bring out the cowboy in all of us. “Bravery ain’t about being unafraid; it’s about saddling up anyway.” “When life bucks you off, you get back on and ride harder.” “A cowboy’s true strength is shown when the odds are stacked against him.”

Happy Trails.