There’ve been so many times when I’ve wished I could remember an event with a picture.

And the pictures we do have as a family (mostly due to my wife remembering to grab the camera) I deeply cherish.

Recently, I had the opportunity to have a colleague come to one of the cattle leases I have to snap some photos. Abby McDougall is her name, she works for Horse Media Group—which produces MyHorse.com, Spin To Win Rodeo, The Trail Rider and Perfect Horse. She’s a very gifted photographer and she spent a morning with my wife and I snapping some pictures.

We came home with over 200 digital images and I can’t begin to describe how grateful I am to have something like this. I find myself glancing through the pictures she took almost too often. It’s so fun to check out a photo, see how I sit a horse, get a better idea of how he handles himself and remember exactly what was going through my mind as the shutter snapped.

Anyway, since a picture is worth 1000 words, I’ll stop writing and post some pix. But, in the meantime, I’ve come to realize the value of a good camera. So next time you’re doing something you enjoy, have someone take your picture. You’ll be happy you did.



My wife Kristen on Deuce.


Me on Turkey, prowling for the lump jaw.

I’m not much of a cowboy, that’s for sure, but I do feel it’s important to have good solid gear you can count on. Most importantly, in my opinion, is your saddle. About three-and-a-half years ago, through a friend, I found a saddlemaker named Tad Knowles in Elizabeth, Colo. I had a horse that I felt like would be my No. 1 mount for a long time and the saddle I had wasn’t fitting him. Over a few lunches—and not a few hours in he and his father (Tom’s) saddle shop—they made me a saddle I could be excited about. It fit my horse really well, and I have roped lots of cattle in it and rode lots of miles in it and it holds up and gets more comfortable with every track my horse makes.

That brings me to a process that’s been happening since around Christmas. We had a saddle that wasn’t fitting the horse my wife was riding. Turned out, the tree was broken. I’d been wanting to buy her a new saddle for a long time, so this was the perfect excuse. We brought the horse in and Tad looked him over real close and recommended a tree. We took his advice and after my wife agonized over how she wanted it to look, we put the deposit down and the process started.

If you ever order any custom leather work—especially a saddle—be patient. By the time the custom tree was made and everything was finished, we got the saddle in May. That’s actually a pretty good turnaround.

Well, the saddle came and it didn’t fit our horse. We called Tad and immediately he made a house call to check everything out. Turns out, our horse’s left shoulder is quite a bit more developed than his right and it was throwing the saddle off-kilter. We're not sure if it has always been that way and we missed it when he fit the tree, or if was slowly developing that way (he's got some hock issues) and finally became noticeable about the time the saddle was ready. At any rate, Tad made up a special pad for us last weekend my wife rode all afternoon and it fits much better.

When she pulled it off of him, the sweat covered his back evenly. That is why I bought a custom saddle from Tad. The guy knows his stuff, he builds saddles that fit horses, works with you to make every detail right and if that’s not enough his tooling work is beautiful.

Custom saddles are not cheap—and there’s always some little thing that’s not exactly how you had imagined it—but they’re worth every penny. Here’s a picture of my saddle, finished in 2005. It was the 15th saddle Tad ever made. It’s got a Buster Welch tree that’s a little thicker to hold up to roping lots of big stock. He also made the doctoring bags and worked with me to create something that was functional as well as attractive. The conchos were made by Gary Wiggins (www.wigginsbitsandspurs.com), I use a King Rope (www.kingropes.com) and steer string. Tad’s dad, Tom, ties all the cinches I use (you can’t buy the kind I like) and a guy named Billy Albin from Commanche, Texas, made the tapaderos. I used to only use oxbow stirrups, but over the past year, these have really grown on me.




Here’s my wife’s new saddle. He finished it in May, and it was his 39th custom saddle. It’s on a Poco Bueno tree, sometimes called a PW. It’s built for wider-backed horses and requires a little more pad over the withers for a more average-backed horse. All the hardware is Jeremiah Watt (www.ranch2arena.com). Her stirrups are S.A. Walls slanted stirrups (www.sawalls.net) and if you have any knee or ankle pain, you’ll love these. I have a knee that bothers me some an I’m a big believer in what S.A. is doing out in Mena, Ark.

If you want to learn more about Tad Knowles and Wildflower Saddles and Tack, you’ll have to call. (303) 646-3363 or feel free to email me rodeoblog@myhorse.com. He and his dad have made other stuff for my wife and I over the years including belts, chaps, headstalls and wallets.

The PDL is the highest-paying roping out there. The Bob Feist is one of the most prestigious and difficult Open ropings there is. Many refer to Feist himself as the Godfather of open ropings.

Now, the World’s Greatest Roper contest is thrown in the mix—an event which tests ropers in heading, heeling and tie-down roping.

Then, there’s the Reno Rodeo itself. If a rodeo cowboy can win it—in any event—it can serve as a springboard to a Wrangler NFR qualification or even a world title.

Now, what’s more, the Reno Rodeo Committee, Lazy E Productions and Bob Feist are coming together to create the Reno Triple Crown. If someone wins the World’s Greatest Roper, the BFI and the average in either the tie-down or team roping in the rodeo, they will win $100,000.

If that’s not a cool concept, I don’t know what is. Kudos to whoever thought that one up as well as to the decision makers who went ahead and made it happen.

Here’s the list of eligible cowboys:
Speed Williams
Brandon Beers
Kyle Lockett
Jake Cooper
Jim Ross Cooper
Trevor Brazile
Daniel Green
Chad Masters
Jason Adams
J.D. Yates
Matt Sherwood
Randon Adams
Kory Koontz

It’ll be interesting to see if anyone manages to get it done. If they do, organizers estimate that they could walk away from Reno with not only the $100,000 in bonus money, but another $125,000 in prize money.

In the meantime, don’t forget to log on to Spin To Win Rodeo Magazine’s Fan Favorite Award at www.myhorse.com/rodeopoll to vote for your favorite rodeo athletes.

The expo attendance was little light, I’ll admit. I don’t’ know if it has to do with the rising fuel prices, the lack of a real significant horse community in the area, poor promotion or just bad luck. Regardless, I think a lot of the vendors, clinicians and speakers were disappointed in the turn out.

That said, there was definitely one very entertaining bright spot: My friend Craig Cameron. Not only did he do his usual, interactive clinics, he hosted one of his Extreme Cowboy Races. If you’re not familiar with these, they’re worth looking into.

First, they’re not limited to any make, model or breed of horse and second, they’re a true test of how broke a horse is and how good the relationship between horse and rider is without an all-day competition schedule. The courses vary, but in Eagle, here’s how it went:

When the whistle blew, the rider would ride off a hill to the course and over four small jumps. Then, they’d have to drag a log, ride their horse under a few panels set on end, complete a pole-bending course, go over ‘uneven ground’ or a three mounds of dirt piled up, through a gate, over a bridge then over a bigger jump and through some brush. Then, they’d have to ride to a traffic cone, lean down and pick a tennis ball up off of it then take it to another cone and set it down. The riders then had a free ride where they went over some of the same jumps again and could show off their horse in any way they saw fit. Finally, they had to load their horse in a trailer. It looked fun—probably not easy—but fun. A water crossing is supposed to be incorporated, but the Eagle River was running a little too high to risk that.

Craig Cameron is a great emcee and gives good insight into what’s happening as you watch. It’d be easy to master any one part of a course like that, but not all of it. A few competitors had their horses ready for anything, though. Which is good, because no course is the same from event to event. An average time is under five minutes. I didn’t get the details, but it is judged as well. Time and performance are calculated together for an overall score.

What I liked about it was how fun Craig Cameron made it. There are a few ‘toughs’ but overall it was average people with average horses (and mules) doing their best and having fun. In many ways, it’s what a horse competition ought to be.

So kudos to Cameron on creating a fun thing for people to do with their horses and taking the opportunity to teach his methods and share his style at the same time.