Beyond the Arena: A Conversation with Noel Harper

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Playing Noel Harper, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 (00:30):
I'm good.
How are you?

SPEAKER_00 (00:31):
Pretty good.
It's kind of weird with theHarper.
It used to be, you know, therodeo royalty the Pacific
Northwest, right?

SPEAKER_02 (00:40):
Yeah, I guess.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
Wouldn't you consider the royalty that name?

SPEAKER_02 (00:45):
I wouldn't call it that, but I think it's just, you
know, to me, my family is justmy family, and we're just part
of it, you know.
So I wouldn't consider it that.

SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
But I uh, you know, now that it's fair week,
everyone's been saying that, andit's just I guess to other
people, but I obviouslyobviously am not in their eyes
looking at me, so right, but itis royalty because you know, you
have two brothers in it still,right?
Three.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10):
Three, three, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14):
See, see, I I only knew of two.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
So, but I I hung out with Manning and Clealum, right?
That's how you pronounce it.
Everybody says I Cleelum.
Clealum.

SPEAKER_02 (01:26):
Yeah.
Clealum.
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
Yeah, I I I hung out with him just knowing, you know,
with Wiley, because I did a runwith him.
I did two runs this uh thissummer with Wiley, and I'm like,
oh Manning's here, I've beenwatching him for years, and they
come to find out, and I'm like,what?
Still did not know.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:42):
So well, yeah, so I've got my oldest brother is
Ryan Wilson, and he's kind of ayoung kid that came from a rough
start from the west side andcame over, and my parents
scooped him up.
And I was about six years oldand he was 18.
And so I call him my brotherbecause I was raised with him,
you know.
And then I've got Ryan Manning,who's my half-brother, that no

(02:03):
one knew about until I was sixyears old.
And Ryan Manning was 16 andapproached my dad and said, I'm
your son.
My dad was like, Oh.
And then my little brotherMiles, who you guys previously
had on here.
So Miles is great.

SPEAKER_00 (02:17):
He surprises me every time mom in and around.
When I know he's gonna be uhfighting, I I just get you know,
I just get excited.
But when I was at uh Grandviewrecently, he's all like, I'm
waiting for the coffee, youknow.
Shout out to Mama Java, MamaJava Java, Java.
Yeah, I love her.
We started at the same time, anduh I support her, definitely

(02:39):
support her, and you know, shesupports me, she knows me.
And he's like, Hey you, I'mlike, I look and I'm like, not
even expecting anybody, right?
And it was Miles.
I'm like, Miles, man, this iswhy I love you, dude.
So yeah, shout out to Miles.
I've been seeing that, watchinghim since he was a kid, and not
knowing Manning was family.

(02:59):
I I told Wiley, I was like, Man,I've been watching for years.
That's him, you know?
And I'm like, what?
It's a it's different, it'sdifferent seeing him in the ring
when you're in the stands andthen it right in person with the
kids and the wife and everythingelse.
And shout out to the little one.
That little one's feisty, shedid a good job.
Yep, I told my wife was like,that girl's tough.

SPEAKER_02 (03:21):
Yeah, she's she's the spitfire of my two nieces,
and but isn't it always theyoungest one that's a spitfire,
though?
I mean, Miles is way more thespitfire than I am, and he's
younger than me.
You might just call him moreOnri.
I don't know.
Or Farrell or Wild.
I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 (03:40):
The runt of the litter.

SPEAKER_02 (03:42):
I don't know.
Miles is taller than me.
I don't know if we can call himthe run.

SPEAKER_00 (03:45):
Barely, barely.
So shout out to Miles, shout outto Manning and his family, his
loving family, and uh no duringthe run.
I learned a lot and I continueto learn a lot.
One thing I did learn, I likethe small rodeos better.

SPEAKER_02 (03:59):
Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (04:00):
I don't like a lot of people and uh BF, like with
the fair just ever so growing,and then getting right into the
stands and people just wantingto sit wherever they want when
you got you know seats and stufflike that.
And it's a little too much.
So it's like I went with thefamily yesterday and I was not

(04:21):
under the influence, but I I cansee why people want to go to the
under they're under theinfluence, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (04:26):
So I'm like, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, there I mean, eachcommittee brings something so
different and cool to theirrodeo.
I mean, I'm a part of Basin Cityand like was there when it was
started five years ago, and thatone's just unique all the way
around, like throughout theentire country.
It's one of the really uniquerodeos, just with it being a
grass hill.
Well, and it's grown so quicklybecause it started as kind of a

(04:49):
middle finger to our governor in2020.

SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
Yeah, yeah, I gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 (04:52):
And but the fact that there's no normal
grandstands, that it's alleveryone brings their own lawn
chairs, but you get big namerodeo contestants there, like we
had uh world champion Riley Webbthere in the tie-down roping,
and I mean just all those kindof people, it brings such and
with it being such a smallcommunity, it brings such an
interesting, unique environment.

SPEAKER_00 (05:11):
So there's a question that I've asked uh
other, you know, peopleinterviewees and everything else
that people think people outsideof the rodeo world, you know,
people who just you know bystandards and everything else
think Yellowstone brought rodeoworld up.
I feel their stance during COVIDbrought the rodeo world up.

(05:34):
Is is that the way you think?
Or like what what are yourthoughts?
Yellowstone, Kevin Costner, youknow, politically, I mean, you
know, doesn't align, but I don'tI don't see that guy bringing
rodeo world to where it's atnow.

SPEAKER_02 (05:48):
Yeah, I haven't actually heard your take.
I like that though, that COVID,just with it, you know, a lot of
rodeos trying to stay open andstuff during COVID and being
like everyone has their ownright to make their own choices,
and whatever your choice, that'sfine.
Just don't shove it on me, kindof a deal.
I can I I appreciate that.
I like that stance, but and I'mnot trying to get political.
No, no, no, you're fine.

SPEAKER_00 (06:08):
But I I I felt like uh, you know, PBR, all them got
bigger because they did a JohnnyPaycheck.
Yeah.
This job and it shoved it.
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 (06:19):
Well, and I think I so I used to work for Cowboy
Channel for about a year and ahalf.
And then when that my time therehad ended, I went and got a job
at the College National Finalsproducing their opening
ceremonies.
And there they don't have CowboyChannel there.
At least a couple years ago theydidn't.
Yeah, they had ESPN, which isnot a rodeo network, you know,

(06:40):
and so I it and I'd interned forthem probably five years prior
when I was still in college andfor the the college national
finals.
But now having been with CowboyChannel that's strictly rodeo,
and then now also seeing it fromthe ESPN standpoint, it gave me
a whole new appreciation becauseas someone that was raised not
only in the rodeo world but alsoin the ranching world, yeah, we

(07:02):
get very protective of ourindustry in the sense of like,
you know, growing up watchingDisney Channel and you see the
gingham shirts and the reallyawful straw hats, and and you're
like, it's not it's not likethat.
Like you it frustrates you tohave it misrepresented, right?
But ESPN gave me a whole newoutlook on it because it was
bringing in new people insteadof just where Cowboy Channel

(07:23):
kept a lot of the same people atthat point in time.
Yeah, ESPN was bringing in newfans to rodeo.
And a lot of people obviouslyhate a lot of I shouldn't say
hate, but there's some people onthe ranching and rodeo side that
don't like Yellowstone becauseagain, it misrepresents, it
dramatizes.
I have, and I like it.
I'm but I also like drama TV, soit doesn't bother me, but I

(07:43):
don't compare it to ourindustry, you know.
I just with that, I'm like, youknow what?
We need to start welcomingpeople with open arms.
Like if you fell in love withthe Western industry because of
Yellowstone or or any of TaylorSheridan's, you know, world,
yeah, good on you.
We're so happy and thankful tohave your butt in the seats at

(08:05):
the stands, but now maybe here'show you were miseducated.

SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (08:09):
But do it in a loving, kind way of like not
just you're ignorant and this iswhy, but like, okay, maybe you
should know it's not asdramatized as you know.

SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (08:19):
We don't put nails in the flank straps or whatever,
you know.
And so I think it's caused it.
I mean, we've seen the industryjust boom.
I mean, it's cool to be a cowboyand a cowgirl, and that's been
now multiple years.
I mean, what was it, New YorkTimes or Forbes or one of those
bigger magazines, like even hada huge article in it.

(08:39):
Maybe it was Vogue, I can'tremember, that said like the
year of the cowgirl.
So it's interesting to see allthese non-Western industries
that are just zooming in on it.

SPEAKER_00 (08:48):
Yeah, you said something, but not so much to
say.
But the rodeo industry is veryaccepting, and that's what I
want to bring up.
Like, you know, here I am, I waslike, I don't want to wear my
getup, I don't want to do it,I'm not gonna do it.
It's too hot to do that.
So I'm wearing Lululemons and uhuh a coaching shirt that you
know that I got at a local uhinvitational in Spokane.

(09:11):
But your family know who I amthrough my wife because you
know, dental stuff andeverything else, but you guys
know where I sit and and how Ilike to, you know, positively
portray the rodeo scene, youknow, just positive all around.

(09:32):
You guys have accepted me forwho I am and not even bat an eye
or look the other way, andthat's why like when I think of
Barry family, I'm like, man, youguys, I love you guys, like
seriously, and and it's great tosee, you know, run into Miles
and then him saying, Hey, you,you know, when I'm with my kids,
and then you know, go to theNFR.
Because there's two stops I goto the NFR.

(09:54):
Well, number one, I go to thebars and watch this stuff.
I don't I don't I don't go topay the thousands of dollars
just to sit in the bleachers orin the stands or whatever, but I
go say hi to Del Brisbee.
You know, he was gonna be on thepodcast, didn't you know?
Oh really?
Yeah, it's a long story.
Uh but uh but I always stop atyour dad's uh art uh little art

(10:16):
booth, and I always talk to him,and it's just amazing just to,
you know, he he'll be talking toall the bigwigs, and then he
sees this guy who's wearingLululemons right now, you know
what I mean?
Shorts, and and uh you know,very accepting and
understanding, and we can justchop it up, and you know, I'm
all like, hey, I need to get iton podcasts, need to get you on,
need to get you on.

(10:36):
Where's mom?
You know, where's the the lovelylady?
And she's always doing herthing.
But yeah, I mean, when I sayroyalty, I mean I really do.
It's like you when you see them,you're like, okay, those are big
time.

SPEAKER_02 (10:49):
Oh yeah, they're my parents are iconic, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (10:52):
But they don't even they don't even consider
themselves.
But here I was watching him, youknow, get miles in that last
rodeo that he did, right?
And thinking that, you know,he's just a fighter.
But then dad pops, he has awhole nother side of him.
He flies planes now to whereverhe wants, which is cool.

(11:15):
And then he's quite the artist.

SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (11:18):
Never have thought that.

SPEAKER_02 (11:20):
Yep, he wears many hats, and he always has.
I mean, literally and fit likeand metaphorically.
And I mean, I can't even tellyou how many ball caps and
cowboy hats are laying aroundtheir house, but right.
So that's what I mean, literallyand metaphorically.
But he he's never been one thatsat still.
He you know, he didn't grow upfrom a lot of money, and so what

(11:41):
they would do, you know, he hewas in Wyoming when he was
little and stuff, and so Wyomingwinners, they were all stuck
indoors, and so my grandmotherwould give him a pencil or a
paintbrush and say, Have at it,you know.
Yeah, and I believe there wereeven times where like that was
their what they gave asChristmas presents and stuff was
whatever, and he'd be sitting inclass just daydreaming and and

(12:02):
be doodling and whatever, youknow, just typical boy that
couldn't sit still, and and nowthe other thing too that no not
many people know about this ishe is kind of closeted, kind of
not closeted, a huge sasquatch.
He's a believer.
Oh, so so so big.

SPEAKER_00 (12:22):
Like I'm gonna I'm gonna have him on just so we can
talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 (12:24):
Yes, oh yeah.
We like we tease him about it tosome degree, but I mean he found
like a Bigfoot cast and hasrecasted it, found a map, pinned
where that footprint was found,and then gives that map and the
recast to people as gifts.
So like I believe there's onehanging up at Jackalope's bar.

(12:45):
There might be one at the LongBranch, I can't remember for
sure, but for sure at Jackalopesand at a couple different
people's houses and stuff.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, Lori, she's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (12:55):
Yeah, she's done a great job at Long Branch.

SPEAKER_02 (12:58):
Oh, yeah.
Everything's just great.
Didn't know that.
Okay.
All right.

SPEAKER_00 (13:01):
But but he's more into the chalk pastels.

SPEAKER_02 (13:05):
Pastels.
Okay, sorry, sorry.
No, you're good.

SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
I know it's it's like sometimes I don't even and
he started out with watercolorfor a lot when I was little.
And then he does some bronzestoo, so claywork and stuff like
that.
But but it pops.

SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
The art that he's doing lately, it pops, and it's
more in the western style.

SPEAKER_02 (13:25):
Yeah.
Well, it's always been in thewestern style, but it yes, he
does more of like a like he didmine for our wedding.
I told him I was like, I wantyou to do a painting of me and
my husband, like a littlecollage.
So like me running barrels, myhusband riding bucking horses.

SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (13:40):
And he what he does is he will take photos, and then
he only uses what's in thelight.
Anything in the shadow, hedoesn't usually portray in the
photo, and he uses black paper,and so it all those bright
colors just pop so well.

SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
That's what I meant.
It looks more western, you know.
Yeah, because I I didn't knowuntil I saw him in last year's
NFR.
But he also, guys, uh thelisteners, the people that
aren't rodeo enthusiasts thatare giving this a shot, he also
has made a ton of posters forRoundup.

SPEAKER_02 (14:10):
Yeah.
Yeah, he did Pendleton Roundupfor three years, but it's not
only Pendleton.
I mean, the old Horse HeavenRoundup logo with the bucking
horse, that was based off apainting he did.
And then, yeah, he's done heliked the old Wrangler tour
bullfight, he did some of theirposters, which was kind of like
pre-bullfighters only.

(14:30):
He's done a ton of wine labels,and I know that Goose Rage
Winery is now redoing like someof his and turning them into
wine labels, like some of hisones that weren't for their
artist collection.
He's done things for the ABBI,which is like a bucking bowl
kind of industry.
They he did an award for them.
He's done OMAX Stampede.

(14:52):
I mean, just so so many.
Jack of all traits.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (14:56):
With with that, I mean, you're not too far behind.

SPEAKER_02 (15:00):
Oh, in what way?

SPEAKER_00 (15:02):
I I mean, you got you're a lot of hats.
Yes, but you yeah, you probablydon't wear it until rodeo time,
right?

SPEAKER_02 (15:09):
Well, it depends what we're doing that day, but
yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (15:11):
Your your you know, wife, congrats, by the way.
What, two years now?
Yep, two years.
Yeah, a little over two years.
See, I know.
Mr.
Harper, saddle bronch rider.
Yeah, he's gonna be circuitfinal.

SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
Yep, yeah, he'll be at circuit finals.
I think he's currently sittingprobably third or fourth in the
the circuit right now.
So he's headed for probably hisfifth or sixth circuit title,
hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 (15:30):
It's crazy.
Yeah, crazy from Nevada.

SPEAKER_02 (15:33):
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
I I watch a lot of rodeo, so the only one that I
knew from Nevada that normallycomes up here is Cra Erickson,
Shane Erickson.

SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
Oh yes, yep.

SPEAKER_00 (15:42):
He's everywhere, he's amateur and then pro.
I don't know how I don't knowhow they do it.

SPEAKER_02 (15:47):
So he actually lives in the same valley as us now.
Him and his wife moved there andbought, so there's a an old
rodeo family from like theeight, maybe seventies.
Yeah.
70 or 80s.
And they were like pre-the-bauerfamily in the in terms of
saddlebronk writing, because theright now you have the rights,
right?
That are all brothers.
Right.
Before them, you had theEppbauer family.
Yeah, yeah.

(16:07):
And then before them, you hadthe Marvel family.
So Joe Marvel is a worldchampion Saddle Bronck writer,
and Shane and his wife actuallybought their place there in
Paradise Valley.
And then one of the Marvelbrothers that didn't go to the
NFR, he was more his name's PeteMarvel, and he's actually got
family down in Hermiston, but hewas more of like a ranch cowboy

(16:29):
that loved ranching, that likedrodeo, but loved ranching.
Okay.
And so he never went to the NFR,but he's actually our closest
neighbor, like a mile off fromwhere we live in in the Nevada's
home.

SPEAKER_00 (16:39):
Yes.
Besides Kenoway.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (16:41):
Yeah.
Rodeo's in.
Yeah, we go back and forth quitea bit, but yeah, Nevada's home
right now.

SPEAKER_00 (16:46):
Wife, traveler, the editor in chief.

SPEAKER_02 (16:49):
Yeah, Rodeo Life magazine.

SPEAKER_00 (16:51):
And uh personality on TV when you can.

SPEAKER_02 (16:55):
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (16:56):
And in rodeo.

SPEAKER_02 (16:57):
Yeah, more so.
Not more rodeo.
I don't really do a whole lot ofnon-rodeo.
I mean, my parents raised me toalways give back to the industry
that gave so much to me.
And for me, that was alwayseducating people on the Western
industry and the contestants andstuff.
So sideline reporting is justone of the many ways that I like
to do that.

SPEAKER_00 (17:16):
I like that sideline because I I'm gonna age myself
and uh your mom and dad willprobably understand.
But I I consider you, and thisis uh it's not a bad thing, Pam
Oliver of the rodeo scene.

SPEAKER_02 (17:27):
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 (17:28):
Dad dad probably be like, uh, probably somebody
different.
But who's the lady that workeduh dancing with the stars?

SPEAKER_02 (17:34):
The the new Aaron Andrews.
That that was the first one thatcame to my brain.
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (17:40):
But which thank you.
They dwindled that, they don'tdo that so much, the sideline uh
broadcasting anymore.
But so when I say Pam Oliver,I'm bringing back like the the
90s, early 2000s before theystarted fading into you know,
taking it away.
So I would consider you PamOliver.
Well, thank you.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (17:59):
It's probably higher than I think of myself, but
thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (18:02):
Why is that?
Why is that?
Because you know, seeing whatyou know, last night, like we
talked off-air, it was justnothing but ads after ads.
Need a break from the ads, youknow, and having you know, not
the entertainer, you know, dohis thing, and if you get a
certain entertainer, they do thesame thing, specialty act, yep,

(18:23):
yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so, like, seeing you waslike a fresh uh breath of air,
you know, because it wasdifferent.
You were interviewing theperson, anyone, you know, that
would want to talk, and it wasjust like, wow, I wanted to get
to know more of the rodeoathletes.
So you brought that to anotherlevel, but then when I when I
don't get it, I'm like, okay,where's Noah?

(18:46):
You know.

SPEAKER_02 (18:47):
Yeah, well, thank you.
Yeah, no, I think for me, my momalways said, like, the moment
you quit learning is the momentthey should put you in the
grave.
And which is kind of harsh, butlike that's what I grew up
hearing.
And so I I've had great, I mean,amazing friends and mentors.
Like Katie Lucas is a dearfriend of mine, and she was
actually one of the bridesmaidsin our wedding a couple years
ago, and she's one of the toptalent at the Cowboy Channel

(19:09):
now.
Amy Wilson's a friend too.
I mean, Steve Kenyon, him, hestarted announcing when my dad
started fighting bulls, and he'sbeen a longtime mentor.
Yeah.
Becky Mabston did a lot in ourcircuit for a lot of years, and
so I just have so many peoplethat I look up to.
I mean, even Kennedy Riggs,who's here at the Horse Heaven
Roundup with Cowboy Channelright now, she was a past Ms.
Radio America, one of thesweetest people you'll ever

(19:31):
meet.
And she is a year younger thanme, and she's just killing it.
I mean, there's so many greatpeople, and so I think it's one
of those things that like you'realways gonna be striving for
more because you know you canjust keep getting better.
Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (19:42):
I try to be you're you're you're saying everybody's
accomplishments but yourself.
I mean, considering I don't knowyour age, you don't have to say
it, but you're editor in chief.
A lot of people either know orthey have experience.
And I I don't know, for yourage, don't know your age, to be
editor in chief says a lot.

SPEAKER_02 (20:04):
Yeah.
I mean, so I'm 26 is is my age,and I'll be 27 on Christmas this
year.

SPEAKER_00 (20:10):
But mom's 30, correct?

SPEAKER_02 (20:13):
Yes.
Yep.
Yes, yes.
Maybe, maybe at a times two.
No, my mother, so on on a sidenote, my mother's aging very
well.
She'll be 62 this year, and shelooks like she's 50.

SPEAKER_00 (20:26):
And that's why Mr.
Harper was like, mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 (20:28):
Yeah, that's probably part of it.
And my dad, who's three yearsyounger, still looks awesome
too.
But my husband.
So my husband's seven yearsolder than me.
So he's 33.

SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (20:37):
And he, a lot of people say he looks younger than
I do.
And so I think when we go tohave kids, yeah, we're gonna,
our kids are gonna look likebabies for their entire life.

SPEAKER_00 (20:46):
But then it looks like Miles is aging more than
your dad.

SPEAKER_02 (20:50):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (20:52):
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
Well, faster.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
Faster than that.

SPEAKER_00 (20:56):
Yeah.
So yeah.
Editor in chief, when you weregiven that opportunity, I mean,
how did that come about?

SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Honestly, just by the grace of God, it was just
kind of something that I waslooking for a position that I
could still, because we have aranch there in Nevada.
We run about 350 head of Limflexor no, yeah, Limflex cows.
Um, so they're like an Angus andlimousine cross, and they work
really well for a high desertwhere we're at down there.

(21:23):
And I still wanted to be able todo my own sideline rodeos.
So now that I'm not with CowboyChannel, I just do it all as an
independent contractoressentially.
And so that gives me theflexibility to pick my weekends,
pick my rodeos, you know, pickwhat rodeos I want to go to my
husband.

SPEAKER_01 (21:40):
She's that good.

SPEAKER_02 (21:40):
I don't know about that, but she's that good.
I get to go with my husband andI needed something that was
gonna go on the road with me.
And so Rodeo Life had actuallyreached out to me to be, I
started out as their socialmedia manager in May of last
year of 24.
And then they were just kind ofgoing through some changes, and
they said, Do you have anyinterest in being an editor?
And I was like, when I got mydegree from New Mexico State

(22:02):
University, I got it injournalism, but I made sure I
got a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (22:06):
So broadcast, editorial, yeah, photography,
videography.
I didn't do graphics, and I wishI would have, and I didn't
really do a whole lot of websitebuilding.
And those were the two that if Icould go back, I would
definitely learn more aboutthose, especially in today's
world.
But and I I hadn't written, Imean, I I did a lot of social
media managing for only at theevent, so only at rodeos before

(22:29):
I went to Cowboy Channel, andthen that's kind of where I
started doing sideline reportingjust for social media, and then
that turned into doing it on thebig screen for some rodeos, and
then I went to work for CowboyChannel as associate producer,
so TV producer.
Yeah, yeah, and then waspromoted to a producer, and then
I learned so much in doing that,like because I had to sit and as

(22:51):
I'm producing, I have to sit andwatch my friends be on air and
be like, oh man, she asked thatquestion so great.
And so I learned a lot oforganization from that, but
because of that, I didn't writea whole lot, you know.
And so when they asked me if Iwanted to step in and help the
editor-in-chief at the time, Iwas like, Yeah, sure.
I mean, I'd love to learn fromher.
It's a new skill.

(23:12):
Like, I I would love to do it.
And then that quickly turnedinto me being promoted as
editor-in-chief.
So it's been a and it's only atwo-year-old magazine.
So it was previously rodeo newsand then was bought out in
thick.
Yeah, yeah.
Our our we've been getting thickwith some of them.
I'd say about anywhere from 150to 180 pages this year.

(23:32):
But and yeah, it just it itbecame something that I can take
on the road with me.
And and we're all remote allover the country, and it's a
faith-based Western magazine.
So we cover everything rodeo.

SPEAKER_00 (23:43):
With all the titles, with all the contracting work
and everything else, and you getyour say on where you want to
be.
What's your favorite, yourfavorite gig, best gig that you
have?

SPEAKER_02 (23:56):
I mean, it's so, you know, different rodeos, I do
different things.
So obviously Kennewick and BasinCity are two of my favorite that
I love doing sideline interviewsat.
But I'm this year with CowboyChannel being here, I'm just
doing social media work andhelping build up the Horse
Heaven Roundup page.
And so, but my favorite place,if I can't be in the arena at
rodeos, is here at Kennewick.
There's a little triangle thatkind of builds from the way the

(24:18):
buck and chute split.

SPEAKER_01 (24:19):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (24:20):
And I always tell people I was like, I was born
and raised in that triangle.
I met my husband in thattriangle too.
And so that's I mean, Kennewickand is always one of my
favorites, and then also BasinCity too.
Pendleton's always so coolbecause they bring me in to help
with their social media for theweek.
And that one, it's just such aunique environment being on the
grass because I'll mic upcontestants as they're sitting

(24:42):
there watching the rodeo.
And then, like one year, lastyear, actually, I had I think it
was Rocker Steiner and ColeFranks who traveled together.
They were both mic'ed up, andthen I think it was Clayton Moss
sitting behind us, and thisbucking horse is coming at us.
And so you're like scrambling toyour feet, trying to get away.
My sister-in-law standing nextto me with a camera with her,

(25:03):
she was there doing photography,and so I'm like, I've got my
hand on her back, trying not torun over her, you know, as I'm
like watching for the horse.
And then I feel something likepush my back, like in front of
the horse.
And I'm like, oh my gosh.
And thankfully that horse endedup just going by me and I didn't
get ran over, but I felt hisnose touch my elbow, this

(25:24):
bucking horse, and and thenClayton Moss, I think it was
Clayton Moss, goes, Oh my gosh,I'm so sorry.
I think I pushed you in front ofthat bucking horse.
And so it's just such a uniqueenvironment.
So it's hard.
I mean, I've got such family andemotional ties to some, but I'd
say those are probably some ofmy three top ones.
When I was with Cowboy Channel,I got to co-produce the NFR
Tailgate party in 2022.

(25:44):
That was really cool.
Just to go more in depth witheveryone.
And then my first year withCowboy Channel, I got to
associate produce, or maybethat's not the correct title,
but I stood in the tunnel whereAmy Wilson and Janie Johnson
stood and got to watch the rodeofrom right there.
And that as someone who wants todo the NFR one day, that was one

(26:05):
of my highlight moments, youknow.

SPEAKER_00 (26:07):
Why isn't there more sidelining?

SPEAKER_02 (26:11):
You know, this is such a weird I shouldn't say
weird.
It's such an interesting time inthe Western industry, especially
after the passing of PatrickGotch.
And now Teton Ridge has boughtthe Cowboy Channel, and there's
so many unknowns about TetonRidge.
And some people are reallystrict on their rodeos, on the

(26:32):
time frames.
Some people they just don't havethe funding to be able to pay
someone.

SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (26:37):
And some people just don't want it, which is
understandable too, again, forthe timeline and whatnot.
But and some people just don'thave anyone in their area that
wants to do it, or that it cando it to a quality that fits
their standard.

SPEAKER_01 (26:51):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (26:51):
And there's miscommunications with Cowboy
Channel on whether or notthey're sending someone and
stuff, and they're navigating,you know, the new buyer and
everything like that with Tetoncoming in and trying to figure
out what works and what doesn'twork.
And so it's just it's aninteresting time because
everyone wants Cowboy Channel.
And if they can't have CowboyChannel, that doesn't
necessarily mean that they havesomeone there that is capable of

(27:13):
doing it.

SPEAKER_00 (27:13):
So well, going back to editor in chief, uh you
wouldn't.
I I was surprised that your yourdad, I acquired this from dad,
right?
He told me all about it, likeyou know, you're you're the
boss.
And I was like, Oh, really?
I was like, Well, how much Ihe's like, No, take don't say
anything, take it.
But he it was like one of thoseproud dad moments, like you can

(27:36):
see like with after our talk,you can just see him just light
up more, just saying, Look at,you know, not it's not just me,
it's my kids too.
And I totally, yeah, yeah.
It's it's cool.
You guys come from a greatplace, you guys have great
heart, and I'm very appreciativeof you guys.
Thank you.
And I was telling Wiley on thelast run, because oh my god, I

(27:58):
don't know how we did it.
I never fall asleep in a car,but I'm not driving, right?
So we go Centralia last weekend,we go to Port Angeles, and then
Hepner and Goldendale, and oneof those days, it's all it
becomes a blur.
Yeah, so I told him, I was like,Yeah, I think uh I'm gonna get
uh Noelle on.

(28:19):
And I was like, he's all like,Really?
I was like, Yeah, man, I've beenwanting her on, I've been
wanting the whole family on, youknow.
And but uh I was like, you know,I owe a lot, and I should be
saying this towards the end, butI owe a lot to you because after
the Miles uh episode, youmessaged me and said all the
positive things.
And your your message is thereason why I continue to put

(28:42):
athletes on, rodeo athletes,just because I I see where
you're coming from, but it wasjust uplifting that you know, a
guy who considers himself anoutsider, or then now it's like
people like I know you, I knowthe voice, I don't know you
personally, but I hear thevoice, and you're you're the
podcast guy.
And no, now I know the podcastguy, I'm known as the podcast

(29:03):
guy.
But before, you know, a lot ofmy listeners were runners and
mountain climbers and everythingelse, and then they saw that I
was doing athletes because we'reall the same.

SPEAKER_01 (29:13):
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (29:13):
And believe it or not, some people don't want to
believe it.
A lot of people are believingit, and the people that are
believing it are the rodeo guys.
Yep, and so the only differenceis that you guys have an animal
between you and the ground.
Me, I'm just you know, theanimal.
And so got a lot of hate fromthat, and I had a lot of uh
listeners go away, but I'vegained so many uh rodeo

(29:37):
listeners that it's it'suplifting, and and I always go
back to the message of when yousent after Miles, and I was just
like, Yeah, so you you've helpedme out.
Oh you know, and I'll here I am,I'm 43 years old.
So you know what I mean?
And so yeah, with with yourmessage and and the the Miles uh

(29:57):
episode really uh hang.
High, and so it's it's I'm verygrateful that you're here.
Oh, well, that's so sweet.
Yeah, yeah.
So, one question not yourbrother, not dad doing the
multiple hat jobs that he doesat the rodeo, you know, not your

(30:19):
husband.
Who's the one person that youenjoy watching?
Not your husband.
Oh gosh, that you don't missthat you know he's there or her,
and you have to watch.

SPEAKER_02 (30:31):
Oh, I there's so many.
I mean, just like you weretalking about athletes, we've
seen such a shift in the waythat rodeo contestants take care
of their bodies.
You know, everyone loves JBMooney because he is one of the
last of his kind as far as thatold school rodeo.
So you look at him and it's likelooking back at the past.

(30:52):
But now you have the RockerSteiners and the Stetson Wrights
and the Wayland Bourgeois andTaylor Broussard and even Trent
Montero, too, they take suchgood care of their bodies and
they're treating themselves morelike athletes.

SPEAKER_01 (31:05):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (31:05):
And so it's it's such an interesting shift going
on that it's just so fun towatch a lot of them.
And uh from working behind thescenes, a lot of them have
become buddies, you know.
Yeah, like Taylor Broussard,Trent Montero was my husband's
best friend growing up, and thenTrenton was one of my friends.
One of the first friends I madeat college was his younger

(31:26):
sister.
Unfortunately, we lost him in abareback riding accident two
years ago, but and he was one ofthe groomsmen at our wedding,
and he and his wife Maria areactually one of the reasons that
my husband and I got together.

SPEAKER_01 (31:36):
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 (31:37):
And then come to find out that not only before I
knew my husband Joe, how I knewTrenton, Joe had grown up with
Trenton, and then come to findout my dad had rodeoed with
Trenton's dad, Glenn.
And so it was just like allthese little, not to quote
Taylor Swift, but these littleinvisible strings, you know,
that had us all tied together.

SPEAKER_00 (31:53):
It's okay.
And it's okay.
I've I've noticed a lot of thethe rodeo athletes, especially
those guys Terraps and TaylorSwift and all those other girly
girls.

SPEAKER_02 (32:06):
And Trenton was that way too.
We loved Trenton for that.
But and so then when Trentonpassed, his wife Maria asked my
husband and I to be godparentsto their son that was a month
old when Trenton died.
And so it's it's so and thenalso Taylor Broussard is Trenton
or is Noah's our godson, it'shis other godson.

(32:26):
And so there's so many peoplelike it's like watching my
family compete.
So it's hard to pick one from apast barrel racer.
I love watching Cassie Moweryand her story.
I think her story at the NFRlast year.
Someone put like one of NoahKhan songs that call your mom to
her walking up on stage andreceiving her, which is making
me like choke up now.
Yeah, receiving her gold buckleand then seeing one of my dear

(32:50):
friends, Katie Lucas, do theinterview while Katie's pregnant
with their first child.
And it's it's just such abeautiful story having known
that Cassie had lost her fiancelast year and had won Kennewick
here.
And just, I mean, it it's such aCinderella story, and she's just
so phenomenal.
But then I have friends too thatare out competing, so it really
is hard to pick just one becausethere's so many incredible

(33:13):
athletes and great people, butthen there's also ones that get
overlooked, especially in therough stock end because of the
judging system.
Like our judging we want to sayour judging system in the PRCA
is the same across the board,and it's not, unfortunately.
There's politics that come intoplay, whether you like it or
not.
Hopefully I didn't just shoot meor my husband in my in our feet,
but you can tell.

SPEAKER_00 (33:33):
You can tell.

SPEAKER_02 (33:34):
Yeah.
You can tell last night.

SPEAKER_00 (33:35):
Yep, yeah, you can tell it every night.
Yeah, you can tell if they don'tsay certain things, do certain
things, uh, or they're not aname.

SPEAKER_02 (33:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (33:44):
They turn.

SPEAKER_02 (33:45):
And well, and it's so hard to because a couple
years ago I was I interned forWrangler Network before Cowboy
Channel got as big as it was.
And then I was working forWrangler Network again as a
freelance contractor for awhile.
And so they sent me to it, wouldhave been the Cinch playoff
series when it was in Salinaswhen Salinas was in September.
So four years ago now.

(34:05):
And my husband used to travelwith Chase Brooks and Sage
Newman and Tyrell Smith and alot of those Montana boys.
And so I'm sitting there gettingcontent, and my job is to film
all of these rides and runs.
And so Chase Brooks goes andhe's spurring this horse down to
be like 91.
I mean, to win the round ormaybe even win the rodeo kind of

(34:26):
a deal.
And it was in the short go.
And they call him saying thatmaybe it was, I can't remember
what side it was, but sayingthat he missed his markout on
one side.
Yeah.
And I had the video of that sidethat showed he did not miss it.
And it's hard with all thoseguys, and even you know it's bad
when even Casey Fields was stillgoing at that time, he came up
to Chase and I kind of overheardtheir conversation.

(34:47):
And Casey goes, Dude, I do notthink you missed your markout
right there.
Yeah, and then again I had it onmy phone and so I showed Chase,
and I'm like, You did not missyour markout.
So it's so hard in thosesituations without a replay.

SPEAKER_00 (34:59):
People listen to this podcast.
Sure, you want me to listen.

SPEAKER_02 (35:02):
Yeah.
I mean, but that that you knowHunter Greenup's run last night.
I missed that one.
Yeah, yeah.
I I will say I missed that one.
Oh no, no, bareback riding.
You're talking bareback riding.
No, I did not miss that one.
Sorry.
Yes, yeah.
There's there it it happens.
You can see when they're reallytrying to get someone there,

(35:24):
whether it's to the finals or tothe short round and stuff.
And so it, I mean, and it'sdiscouraging.
A lot of these contestants getburnt out on it, and that's why
they quit.
Yeah.
Because it's such a brokensystem.

SPEAKER_00 (35:33):
And the more you get involved, the more you see
people quit than join.
It's it's sad.

SPEAKER_02 (35:39):
Yeah.
But and I asked my husband,because as a wife watching my
husband get judged, you know, asa barrel racer, I didn't have to
get judged.
It was me and my horse, youknow.
Right.
And fastest time wins, and youdidn't have to worry about
judging as much.
And so now to and same withbullfighting, like as a cowboy
protector, you don't, it's notlike you're getting judged
unless you're going to acompetition kind of a deal.
So now to be with someone that'sthat's their whole deal, is

(36:02):
getting judged.
It's discouraging for me as awife to watch my husband and be
like, Man, you got screwed onthat horse.
And I'm his biggest critic too.
Like, I am, hey, you need to bedoing this better.
Hey, you need to be Yeah, yeah.
But I I do it in the, I mean,and I'm sure most wives do, I do
it in the sense of like, I wanthim to do good.
I know what he's capable of, andhe does a lot.

(36:23):
And so it's hard when he's doingeverything right, but the judges
just don't look at him.
And there's a whole other dealtoo, where like my husband was
out for about two years becauseof injuries.
He just had, I mean, he brokehis leg, came back from that,
had a blood issue from thebroken leg, can't like had to
have a third surgery, came backfrom that, broke his back like
six months or no, broke hiswrist a month later, came back

(36:46):
from that, and then broke hisback, and then came back right
before we got married two yearsago.
And so he's out, and when thathappens, it pretty much resets
their qualifications.
Like they're it they're nobetter than an 18-year-old on
their permit at that point.

SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
Is he still enjoying it?

SPEAKER_02 (37:00):
He is.
Yep, he is.
He's right now his goal is tojust keep building up his
qualifications so that he canget into a lot of the winner
rodeos because there's a lot oflike Fort Worth, Houston, San
Antonio.
Yeah, like my the last twoyears, my husband's won not only
our circuit finals, like as faras the year end goes, but also
the average at the circuitfinals.

SPEAKER_01 (37:19):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (37:20):
And so he won and won a couple rounds too, won ten
thousand dollars.
That money counts towards thenew season.

SPEAKER_00 (37:27):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (37:28):
And so he was sitting probably seventh in the
world come November andDecember.
And but a lot of those bigrodeos down there in Texas don't
count circuit finals money.
So even though he was sitting,you know, like I said, around
seventh in the world, theydidn't count that money, so he
couldn't get in.
And so it's just it's it's aninteresting time to see.

(37:50):
And I asked him, I go, why do wekeep doing this?
Like I it it breaks my heartwatching you not like strive so
hard and work so hard and notsee the results that we want to
see.
And he goes, ultimately, our myglory doesn't come from whether
or not I get a gold buckle, itcomes from Jesus.
And that's what I'm doing itfor.
He's like, I'm doing it forobviously he enjoys it.

(38:11):
I'm doing it for the Lord, andI'm doing it to provide for my
family.
Gotcha.
And we love the industry,there's no other industry like
it.
No, so that's why we keep comingback, even when it is tough.

SPEAKER_00 (38:22):
So, my question to you being who you are and the
family that you have, what gotyou into journalism?
What got you into that?
Because I I I went to collegefor communications, so
journalism, all that stuff,radio.
I did a lot of radio, that's whyI continue to do this, and this
brought back the radio days.
So, what got you into that,considering you know what your

(38:44):
family's all about?

SPEAKER_02 (38:46):
Yeah, again, I think it just goes back to my parents
always said to give back to theindustry that's given so much to
me.

SPEAKER_01 (38:53):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (38:54):
And I think there's after having lived around Fort
Worth area, like I lived tuckedback in Weatherford, so I wasn't
even in the big city, but Imissed having horses.
I missed ranching, I missedthose days out just pushing
cows.
I think there's something good,so good for your soul to be
working with animals.

(39:14):
And it's given me a lot of peaceand a lot of joy in my life.
So for me, I wanted to protectand promote that industry that
had given so much to me.
And the best way that I knew howto do that was to educate people
on the contestants, on thestock, on the industry as a
whole.
And so just kind of like what Isaid earlier with the whole
Yellowstone effect, right?

(39:35):
Like our job now is to welcomepeople in with open arms and
maybe correct them on how theymight have been taught wrong,
you know, and and help otherpeople fall in love with the
industry because there's achance that in a hundred years
it might not be here.
I I pray that that's not thecase, but I mean, we just we
live in a world where you knowtechnology's winning and stuff

(39:57):
and and the old ways are dyingout.
Yeah.
Nothing like that.

SPEAKER_00 (40:00):
I mean, from from from the way you guys travel,
the way you guys live on theroad, the way you guys perform,
I mean, the way you slack.
I mean, come on.
It's a lot, yeah.
It's it's a lot to do with uh,you know, the the animals, you
you, I mean, okay, so you whendid you have that niche?

(40:20):
When did you know you were gonnado that?
You were gonna follow yourdream.

SPEAKER_02 (40:25):
Oh gosh.
You know, my dad always said, dowhat you love and you'll never
work a day in your life.

SPEAKER_01 (40:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (40:30):
And so it's kind of hard to go find a mediocre
office job that I just am eh onwhen I grew up with someone
always telling me that.
And so I when I was in college,I and again, I knew I wanted to
promote the industry.
Then I get to college, I'm like,okay, how do I want to promote
it?
Do I want to do it throughsocial media, through writing,
through broadcast, through, youknow, whatever.

(40:52):
And I always then when Igraduated college, which I
college rodeoed for New MexicoState as well, my coach was
Logan Corbett, who was almost anNFR bareback writer, and now he
works for Champion Living andcoaches on other people and
stuff.
And it then when I graduatedcollege in the start of the
pandemic, so June or May of2020, I was like, okay, I want

(41:16):
to go tell the story of rodeohowever it needs to be told,
whether it be any of thosefacets.
But then I got to Cowboy Channeland it helped me navigate.
Oh, like I was doing sidelinestuff before Cowboy Channel, but
I just that was the part that Iwas like, if I'm gonna do it, I
want to be at the top of theindustry doing it.
And for me, I like havingconversations with people.

(41:38):
I'm not, I'm my I call myself anextroverted introvert.
If I'm around people I I likethe industry I know and I have a
purpose of being there, I'msuper talkative.
If I'm just by myself, I'mreally quiet.

SPEAKER_00 (41:52):
And so I understand.

SPEAKER_02 (41:53):
Yeah, so I love the like one-on-one conversations
that you get to have with thoseathletes and like even the
little behind the scenes, likelast night, Cade Sonyer, he
comes out and what did he say?
He said something like, Man, Ifeel like Garth Brooks after
that horse.
And I was like, Well, hang on,what part?
Like, what do you mean?
And he was like, Well, because Irode that that horse was a piece

(42:14):
of crap, and da da da.
And maybe I shouldn't be sayingthat, but no, yeah, um, he
They're their worst critic.
Oh, yeah.
But then he said something, Iwas like, Well, what part of
Garth Brooks?
And he goes, Well, maybe moreToby Keith should have been a
cowboy, and his hat was allcrinkled and stuff.
And so it's like all thoselittle like, and I had Kennedy
Riggs, who's here doing sidelinefor Cowboy Channel.
Her sister is there filming fortheir little like double K

(42:37):
digitals and stuff, their socialmedia page, and she was filming
all this conversation, and I waslike, Oh, you need to do this,
this, and this with it.
Like, it'd be so cool.
And so it's all those littlelike hidden moments and stuff
that are so cool.
So, like the year Trentonpassed, I was doing Basin City
and it was my last interview.
I didn't know it at the time,but it was my last interview I
ever got to do with him.

(42:58):
And his wife was still pregnantin due that month, due in July.
And I said, What's this legacyyou want to leave for this
child?
And someone got a video of it ofthe back of us, and actually one
of my best friends did, andthat's one of my most precious
moments I'll ever have justbecause not knowing that that
was gonna be my last interviewwith him, you know.
So yeah, okay, yeah.

(43:20):
So it's just it's just abuilt-up of all of those hidden
relationships and communicationmoments that you get to have
with people that I'm like, let'sshow more of this.

SPEAKER_00 (43:29):
But okay.
Will you still be doing thiswhen you have a family of your
own?

SPEAKER_02 (43:35):
Um that's been the question of the week to some
degree.
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (43:40):
For me, because I'm a family guy, I have three
girls, so I I have the rights, Isomewhat, to ask that question.
So no one put me to it.

SPEAKER_02 (43:49):
I would love to be, you know.
I think after having just seenKatie Lucas and Janie Johnson
both pregnant at the NFR in2020, they were both due like
December, January, and well,actually Katie was due in March,
but she ended up having theirson Hadley in January.
It's it's really cool to see,you know, women that are at the
top of the industry be pregnantand be killing it out there with

(44:11):
families and newborns and allthat stuff and living their
dreams and promoting theindustry.
So I'd like to say yes.
Okay.
I, you know, like I said, Ithink there's just so something
so good for your soul to be inGod's creation and working with
God's creation.
And and that's I think part ofwhat keeps me coming back to the
industry and or not even comingback, just unable to walk away.

SPEAKER_00 (44:32):
And uh do you think you'll ever walk away?
Or will you be in the game likemom and dad?

SPEAKER_02 (44:37):
I mean, you could ask my dad the same question.
Yes, like we he say, like Imight retire from bullfighting.
Like for my dad, he's retiredfrom bullfighting, but he hasn't
walked away from rodeo, so Idon't think I I ever will in
that sense, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (44:50):
Just seeing him on the on the dirt yesterday.
Yeah, he's he's a commander.
Oh, yeah, he's a commander.
So not in a bad way, I'm justsaying he knows.

SPEAKER_02 (44:58):
Yeah, yeah.
And I mean, here he's on thecommittee, and but he's also the
Roughstock shoot boss, too.
So he's telling those guys whenthey need to start pulling their
saddles or their riggings or youknow, and telling them, okay,
you're first up, you're secondup, you're you know, and telling
them when to go, kind of a deal.
But then like Clayton Bigelowtwo nights ago, he had a horse,
and that horse, I don't knowwhat happened, I didn't quite

(45:18):
see it, but the gate came opentoo soon before he had nodded.
So that horse started backing upwith his butt.
And so him and Ryan Wilson weremy dad and Ryan were like put
trying to push the gate closedbecause Clayton hadn't nodded
yet.
Yeah, and so it wasn't adeclared start.
And so at one point they hadlike seven different people
trying to push against thishorse to get the gate back
closed.

SPEAKER_00 (45:39):
And so something happened last night, something
similar.
I think it was uh during steerwrestling that something was
ready.

SPEAKER_02 (45:46):
Gotcha.
Yep.
Oh, yes, yep.
I remember seeing that now.
Yeah, he declared probablyhalfway down at the arena that
it was uh foul basically on him.

SPEAKER_00 (45:56):
Yeah, okay, on him.
Okay, okay.
Yeah, yeah, it's it's it's it'sit's weird, you know, the
re-rides and not re-rides.
Yeah, it's just yeah, yeah, it'sit's weird how that works.

SPEAKER_02 (46:08):
Yeah, there's that's the thing that I uh one of the
things I love about the industrybecause people are like, you
could go football, you could go,and my parents tried to get me
to do the local news, and evenin college, all my professors
were like, you can't report onrodeo, and it didn't matter if
it was photography, broadcast,journal, like whatever.
And I was like, kind of like, ohyeah, watch me.
You know, like this is where myheart's at.
This is the only thing I want toreport on.

(46:28):
And and within rodeo, you cannarrow in on one sport and still
never know everything.

SPEAKER_01 (46:35):
Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 (46:36):
And so to have, you know, so many events now, and
then when you get junior high inhigh school in college, there's
even more events than there isin professional rodeo.
So it's just cool.

SPEAKER_00 (46:45):
Speaking of blink of an eye, 1.8 record yesterday.
Oh my gosh.
I was telling my wife, I'm like,they make it look easy.
It is crazy.
What what was her name then?

SPEAKER_02 (46:56):
Bailey Bates.
Yeah, I was taking photos of herbeforehand because we're
actually gonna have her in ourmagazine next month or next
issue.
My goodness, 1.8.
Yeah, I mean, just just crazy.
And she had actually switchedhorses too.
I can't remember what one she'dbeen riding before, but her that
horse she was on last night wasReno.
And I mean, and if you go backand watch that video, that horse

(47:17):
kind of or not the horse, thecalf kind of juke to the right.
So for her to have caught that,like tells you how zoned in she
was on that.
And it's amazing.
I mean, there aren't many thingsthat we can do in our life in
1.8 seconds and be thatsuccessful.

SPEAKER_00 (47:30):
Yeah, and and you know what's funny is everybody
thinks eight seconds is the thetime to beat, but when you go to
steer wrestling and breakaway,it's like my goodness, a blink,
and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (47:41):
Yep, I think the arena record in the steer
wrestling there at Kennewake isthree point one seconds.

SPEAKER_00 (47:46):
Yeah, you're just out of the shoe.

SPEAKER_02 (47:48):
Like, which we saw 3.2 in the second round, and and
so yeah, there's but then andthen you bring the barrier into
play too of like they can'tbreak that.
So I mean exactly it the timingthat they have to do.
I was never roper by any means,and so the timing that they have
to nail down just puts me in awein that sense.

SPEAKER_00 (48:08):
Yeah, and and speaking of the you know, just
distinct, uh I mean you gottayou can't mess up, but like I
asked uh a couple steerwrestlers why don't they do tie
tie down?
They're like, no, it'sdifferent, it's different.
I'm like, How's it different?
I'm like, I understand, but I'mlike, bro, but if you can do
steer wrestling, you can prettymuch do tie down.
They're like, no, no uh uh,uh-uh.

(48:28):
No, no.

SPEAKER_02 (48:29):
Well, and I actually for for content for Horse Heaven
Roundups page, I went around andasked timed event contestants
and rough stock contestants.
So I asked the timed eventcontestants what rough stock
contestant would be a goodtimey, and then I asked the
rough stock contestants whattimey would be it make a good
roughie.
And so all of the timed eventcontestants like Jesse Brown and

(48:50):
Cash Enderley and JustinSchaefer, a lot of those guys
were like, oh, Stetson would begreat, or I can't, Mitch
Pollack, like Caleb McMillan,which I mean he's an all-around
contestant, he does it all, soit was kind of cheating, but he
goes, Mitch Pollock would be agood one.
Someone said Garrett Smith, whowas a NFR bull fire or bull
rider that is now turned calfroper.
And then I you go and ask theruffies, and they're like, oh,

(49:11):
none of them could do it.
None of them can switch over.
And then at one point, at onepoint, Taylor Bruce Art said,
Well, I bet if you got a calfroper he could that was like
kind of gritty, he could ridebulls.
And then I go and and asked acouple ruffies if you had to
switch ends of the arena, whatevent would you do?
So I asked Clayton Sellers thatand he goes, Oh, I mean

(49:31):
Clayton's an NFR bull rider andPBR like bull rider, and and he
goes, Oh no, I I definitely dotie-down roping.
And I was like the one prettyboy bull rider, you know,
because you kind of get thecliche not the cliches, but you
can definitely tell which one'sthe pretty boy sports from time
to time.
So yeah, it was just ironic.

SPEAKER_00 (49:51):
He's filling his bucket, yeah.
It's funny, it's funny.
The the more you know, I I didthe runs, I'm gonna continue to
the run.
I uh I've um before I wasdiagnosed with cancer, I was
gonna get my media card, right?
Not well, start amateur.
Like I want to stay amateurbecause that's what I like.
I I like seeing those those boysbecome men, you know, and become

(50:14):
the people they are.
But but yeah, they they gotquite the personality of most of
them.
And it's just like it's funny.
And and and I'll I'll tell youthe two boys that I were
impressed, not the ones that I Idid the run with, but the the
two boys that just caught me bysurprise on how how they manage,

(50:36):
how they, you know, theirdemeanor, the way they do it,
the McFarland boys.

SPEAKER_01 (50:41):
Oh from Idaho.

SPEAKER_00 (50:43):
Yeah, you know what I'm talking about?
Yep, those boys are different,but like it it it's it's pretty
funny because they're they'relike you know, the high school
boys, yeah, but they act likegrown men.
And I'm like, I was justimpressed just sitting there
talking to them, and I'm like,Well, who are these guys, man?
Yeah, they they they talk likethey've been in the business for
50 years, you know, and it'sjust like but they're not even

(51:06):
20, they're not even 19.

SPEAKER_02 (51:08):
Yeah, I mean, that's what I mean.
They're a different breednowadays, and it's awesome to
see.
I mean, they're just so theywere always dedicated, you know,
but it's a different type ofdedication now that a lot of
those contestants have.

SPEAKER_00 (51:20):
Yeah, impressive the resume already.
Yeah, it is it is it is crazy,you know, like with Wiley and
then you got Zane and and youknow, the college boys too.
I really like the college groupsout there, and you know, and
gonna hit you right on thateventually soon.
But yeah, it's it's it's cool tosee that you know who the

(51:41):
jokesters are and everythingelse.
And to this day, I I I stillfeel the biggest jokester right
now and always has been, evenbefore you turn pro, Elaine
Vaughn.

SPEAKER_02 (51:54):
Oh, I love Lane.
Wave on.
So Wave Long.
I've got to tell this story.
So uh um Grand Cooley this year,I was interviewing Calgary
Smith, who's past Pendletonchampion out of Hermiston area,
oh technically Adams, but andhis older brother Kane Smith
used to ride bulls and stuff.
But and so I'm interviewingCalgary and his team roping

(52:14):
partner, and I think it wasJustin Farber that he was roping
with there.
And I go to ask Calgary.
I was like, what you know,you've seen a lot of success
with your, you know, Canadiannational finals title, your
Pendleton Roundup title.
Like it's just kind of been alike what was the catalyst for
this?
And I specifically said the wordcatalyst, and he kind of had
this stern, you know, becausesome of them get act like they

(52:36):
can't smile on camera and theyget all straight faced.
So I was like, What was thecatalyst for that?
And he gets this smile on hisface, and he goes, I don't know
what that means.
Like on camera as we're doingthis interview.
I just and he sm it lightenedhim up and he smiled.
And I was like, Calgary, how didyou get your start?
Like, what started this snowballeffect?
So then I end up having tointerview Lane that night.

(52:58):
And he goes, Well, what are yougonna ask me?
And I was like, Well, I youknow, I don't know.
Sometimes it just comes out whenit comes out.
And I was like, I'll probablyask you about your bull ride and
maybe something else.
He goes, Okay, but just don'task me anything with big words.
It was so stinking adorable.

unknown (53:15):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (53:16):
He's he's just a sweet, like sweet kid and and
just very dedicated and yeah,got a great demeanor about him.
Nice, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (53:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (53:27):
Yeah, he cracks me up.

SPEAKER_00 (53:28):
Yeah, but you you don't see it that often though,
because there's uh but when youdo, it's like, hmm.

SPEAKER_02 (53:34):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (53:35):
But when I say often is a lot of people behind the
shoots have their game face on,they don't want to mess around.
But then you know, you got Lane,and then you got some other
people joking around with them,you know.
Yeah, it it it's it's fun towatch.
It's fun to watch.

SPEAKER_02 (53:48):
And it's I mean, all of those events, like I know a
couple years ago it was verycontroversial at the NFR when
they caught Rock or Say in theF, where it's like, what do you
F and want from me?
Yes, and it's hard becauserodeo's always been presented as
a family friendly friendlysport, you know, and as a
Christian, I'm not that's notone of my it's not a word that's
in my vocabulary, and but thenfrom a TV standpoint, it adds

(54:13):
drama, right?
And we live in such a societythat we're consuming so much
stuff that it adds drama to asport where there was drama, but
if you weren't in the niche ofit and like knew the stats and
all that, you might miss it.
Yeah, and so I think it addedsomething in that aspect, and so
you see a lot of those guys thatare now starting to show more
personality because it works,yes, sales, it works, yeah.

(54:37):
I think I mean you really see itin the PVR and the bull riding,
but there's a lot at stake, youknow, at some of those rodeos.
Now to win a round at the NFR islike$30,000 to win the round.

SPEAKER_00 (54:46):
Could you imagine?

SPEAKER_02 (54:47):
And I mean, even you get down to I really wanted to
do a story on Cassie Moweryafter her win last year because
it it really could have beenit's one of those top moments
for me, like up there with TaffHiedeman winning the world after
Lane died, you know, becausewhen you go down and look at the
numbers, which I wish I had themall right here in front of me,
because it's so just like crazy.

(55:10):
Yeah, Haley had like, and don'tquote me on this, but Haley had
like five round records, andthen Cassie came in and set two
more, and then going into thefinals, they both hit barrels, I
believe, going into the finalsin the 10th round there at the
NFR, and they were$10,000 apart.

(55:31):
And Haley had been riding sisterall week, and then you see
Cassie go, and she is winningthe round, or maybe she didn't
win the round, I can't remember,but she nails it, does exactly
what she needs to do on Jarvison that horse, which that horse
was only five years old at thetime, and then you see Haley
come in and she's not on Sister,she's on J Lo that I believe is
owned by Ivy Conradado Sabins.

(55:52):
Yeah, and you're like, Whoa,what why did this get changed?
Well, and and that's kind of me.
Like, I think in order topromote the industry, you have
to be a fan of it, right?

SPEAKER_01 (56:01):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (56:02):
And so it was just like, yeah, and now also Cassie
Haley has the two fastest timesinside the Thompson Mac ever.
Cassie comes out and whips onetoo, so now she's got the third
fastest time ever.
I mean, just all these randomlittle records that you're like,
oh my gosh, this is crazy tosee.
And but it adds so much, like somany layers to it, and

(56:24):
especially having Cassie likehad lost her fiance in I think
it was June or July of thatyear, you know, and then the
devastation of that.
But then to come back and andwin, not and it's I mean, that's
a tight pin there at the NFR.
So and Jarvis was like fiveyears old, which is so young.

SPEAKER_01 (56:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (56:43):
And so to come out there and and run all 10 rounds
at at that age of a horse isjust phenomenal.
And so to me, I'm like, someoneneeds to, we need to get someone
in here to make a movie of thisbecause it's just so like such a
Cinderella story that is madefor on screen kind of a deal.
You don't have to add drama toit because it was already there,
you know.

(57:03):
I know I'm like, who can we callto and so it's just it's such a
I mean, you really just have tobe such a fan of of whatever
you're doing for it to be.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (57:15):
Well, this is the only sport that acknowledges the
animal as an athlete.
And you guys know the name, likeyou're spit, you know, and you
the more you get involved withit, the more you understand,
like dogs, animals, they'reyeah, yeah, yeah.
And it all, you know, you can'tjust get somebody that just

(57:37):
started animal-wise.
Yeah, you can get the the bigpoints, you gotta have the big
dog to get the big dog points.
And then it's it it's the moreyou understand that, the more
you understand the game, andit's the the game is huge, yeah.
It's just yeah, and and it'sfunny how they draw it too, you
know, because when the big namesdraw the big name dogs, animal,

(58:00):
it's just it's like okay, it'sgonna be a big event.
Yeah, that maybe eight seconds,or you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (58:07):
Well, I mean, and even with horses too, like you
know, 10, 15, 20 years ago, yousee Sherry Servey come out on a
dark palomino, and you're like,oh, that's stingray.
That's that's an iconic horse.
Yeah, or you know, I mean,there's just so so so many now
that you're like, these horsesare just as much of the athletes

(58:30):
as we are.
We couldn't do the whole eventof rodeo wouldn't exist without
these animal athletes, and it'sso just interesting to see that
connection.
And a lot of those guys,especially on the rough stock
end, they know, you know, theyknow, okay, I've got, you know,
whatever horse from whateverstock contractors say, like
borderline untimely from CalgaryStampede, I've got him.

(58:51):
You can't dink around with himin the shoe, you have to sit on
him and nod, or like, you know,I've got Sergeant Whitney from
Calgary Stampede.
Okay, you gotta, and uh again,don't quote me because this
isn't correct, but you gotta siton her in the shoe, just sit
there and pet on her.
She just likes a little bit ofattention before you nod your
head, you know, like you youstart to learn the
personalities, like Flying Five,Donnie Hudzel, who we lost last

(59:14):
year, and his family, they havethis really cool stud, which
he's kind of getting older now,but his name's Major
Huckleberry, and they wouldbring him to Kennewick.
And so when I was probablymiddle school or high school,
where we park our trailer, thebucking horses are all right
there.
And because he's a stud, theyhad him separated and stuff.
And and I started going by, andevery time I'd walk by, he'd

(59:34):
stick his nose out at me.

SPEAKER_00 (59:35):
And I was like, That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 (59:36):
Oh, okay.
So then I start petting on him.
And I mean, he wouldn't do itevery time I walk by, he wanted
attention.
And I'm like, that's really coolfor this big old beefy stud to
be like, hey, I just want alittle bit of you know, just
yeah, they they know, yeah,they've got so much personality.
Like, we've got some foals onthe ground right now at my
grandma's house, and she justbred to the first time to streak

(59:57):
a fling, which is a phenomenalbarrel racer.
And then she's got another one.
She really likes her Frenchman'sFalcons, which is owned by
Marion Butch Knowles inHermiston, but has been a voice
of the NFR for many years, youknow.
And yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:11):
And um Hermiston has a lot of athletes there.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:15):
Yeah, yeah.
And then she also bred one toone of her friends who like used
to show horses and stuff likethat to one of their studs.
And so she's got three babies onthe ground that are so different
bloodlines, like they're allrelated through their mothers,
but their fathers are differentbloodlines and all that stuff
and completely differentpersonalities.
The little red realm that shegave us, we call her Lucille.

(01:00:37):
She is so spicy and so sassy.
And like, oh, like sometimes II'm just like, oh, you're gonna
be a handful someday.
And then that little streak offling Philly that she has is
just so chill.
Like, I can I mean, she's onlyfour months old, and I can just
drape myself over, and she justlike takes it, you know.
So yeah, and they've got suchbeautiful, unique personalities

(01:00:59):
that it's kind of fun to learnabout them and stuff and see how
they go.
Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:05):
All right, couple questions.
Go for it.
I'm gonna ask you.
Brother, probably gonna be like,all right.
You you gave me this cookbook,right?
But when you're on the road orwhen you were on the road
before, hubby and all thatstuff, right?
Did you eat peanut butter jellysandwiches?
Or do you still eat them?

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:22):
Oh, for sure.
But I'm picky on this.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:25):
Okay, so there you go.
Okay, so how do you build apeanut butter jelly sandwich?

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:29):
So the bet if I'm gonna make it, actually, no, the
best one, I can't make itbecause my grandma grows rhubarb
and she would make strawberryrhubarb jam.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:40):
Really?

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:41):
And I've tried to, I mean, same bread, same peanut
butter, same jelly.
Like I've tried to recreate oneof her sandwiches, and it's just
always better when my grandmamakes it.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:49):
Yeah, with love though.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:50):
Yes, yeah, and but her jam is is the best.
She'll send me with like sixcontainers of it back to Nevada
and it stays in my freezer untilI eat it all.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:57):
So if Mr.
Harper recreated it, it wouldn'tbe the same.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:01):
It wouldn't be the same.
It'd still be good, but I mean,and even if I made it, it'd
still be good, but it's not agood idea.
Yeah, it's just it's differentwhen grandma makes it.
They're still good, but not thesame.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:12):
Okay.
Before running with your yourhusband, what was the music
choice and your rig?

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:18):
Oh gosh.
My so my husband and I both havevery eclectic taste, just very
different.
Yeah.
I like they always say I Ilisten to sad girl music, but I
like music that makes you feelsomething, right?

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:31):
I gotcha, I gotcha.
Emotion.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:33):
Yes.
So whether it's worship music,whether it's Taylor Swift,
whether it's 90s country, youknow, it's it's such a a wide
variety of stuff.
So yeah, a lot of a lot ofworship and like I said, Taylor
Swift or like current pop, or Idon't know.
Lately I've been really goingback to early 2000s and late 90s
country.

(01:02:53):
Okay.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:54):
Late nine.

unknown (01:02:55):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:55):
Yeah.

unknown (01:02:56):
All right.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:56):
I gotcha, I gotcha.
Now, with Mr.
Harper, who controls your radio,the the music scene, who
controls it?
And what do you listen to?

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:05):
So if we're headed to a rodeo, he controls it.
Okay.
Because he's got to get pumpedup and ready to go.
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:10):
So he does get pumped up.
A lot of them do, but then a lotof them don't.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:14):
Yeah.
And so but now on Spotify, youhave Spotify jams.
And so we can both play music.
So there isn't really one or theother that controls it.
He likes a lot of like rock,some rap stuff too.
Old, old Western, Don Edwards.
Oh gosh, I can't think of theother gentleman's name now.

(01:03:35):
Uh Ian Tyson.
A lot of that type stuff.
And but then he also likes a lotof Irish music because we're
both.
So he's Irish and Scottish, andthen I'm Irish as well.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:44):
He likes that.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:45):
Yes.
Oh, yeah.
There's this one song that it'smore of like a spoof, like funny
song, and it's called The SickNote.
And it's really that one alwayshas me giggling.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:53):
But yeah, I tried, I tried to bring metal in on that
run, and their their sense ofmetal is like rock, like well,
less than nickelback, right?
Yeah.
So I was like, well, I'm notbringing my speaker, I'm not
gonna play my music on thespeaker.
So guess what?
I was like, man, you gotta getpumped up.
You know, you gotta get pumpedup.
It's like, why don't you dosmelling salts?

(01:04:15):
So we did smelling salts thislast run, and it was the butt of
the joke.
And let me tell you, that wasour way to pump up, and uh we
were interesting, we were onthat.
But then when we were doingthat, a couple days later, Matt
Merritt puts a post on socialmedia of smelling salts.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:32):
Oh god.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:34):
Have you done?

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:35):
I haven't.
Nope.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:36):
Okay.
You know, you know, like you gointo let's say a goat or a pig
um at the fair the barn wherethey don't clean up after
themselves.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:48):
Yeah, the 4 H area times 10.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:51):
It's straight ammonia.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:54):
Oh, yeah, no, I didn't sound like that.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:56):
That was that was fun.
That was like the high highlightof our week.
Because I was like, bro, you canget pumped up with other things,
but man, like dude, you he'slike, it was your fault.
You told me to buy them.
I'm like, bro, no, I didn't.
I was like, music, and thenyeah, he was like, but I bought
smelling songs.
Like, all right.
That's funny.
Yeah, yeah, good stuff.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:13):
Yeah, some of them are better when they just stay
chill and quiet.
Like, I mean, and it's the samewith horses too.
I had a horse that we boughtfrom Billy and Holly Up Hour,
and and I was young and dumb atthe time and was used to horses
being all anxious and readybefore they go into the arena.
And then he just walked in allchill, and I was like, You're
not awake.
And so then I started jackinghim up and trying to get him all

(01:05:36):
excited, and then I screwed himup because he was just one of
those ones where they hadtrained him to just be chill and
cool and could take off andwould did his job well.
And and so I think some cont uhthe same can be said for
contestants too.
Some of them are just more quietand still, and and I have to
ask.
I gotta ask.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:54):
What gets you in the zone?

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:56):
It really depends.
Sometimes it's I think it's justbeing around a lot of those
contestants too, and knowing thestories and being excited about
what you know, if if thiscontestant rides this horse,
this will be the first time thishorse has written been ridden
all year, or like knowing thebackstories a bit, or like when

(01:06:19):
Trenton died, I was doing WallaWalla Frontier Days that year.
And I got to interview some ofthe bareback riders.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:27):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:27):
Right.
Uh that were like buddies withTrent.
And so, like knowing that andbeing able, like I my thing is,
and it's kind of a cruel, crueljoke, but me and one of my other
girlfriends, we always lovemaking people cry, and because
it's great television, right?
It's great to know that emotionand to even have that connection
with a person too.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:45):
For me, real.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:47):
Yes.
I I love that aspect of it.
So, like at the NFR, this one'sfunny.
At the NFR last year, it wasblue night for the bearback
riders.
They all wear blue for TrentonMontero.
And and so I'm in the media roomand Jess Pope wins the round,
and he comes in and I'm justdoing some stuff for the
magazine for their social mediapage.
And I ask him, you know, whatdid it mean to win it tonight

(01:07:09):
after losing Trenton and stuff?
And and this had been a year anda half after, or not quite a
year and a half after Trentonhad passed, but uh Jess Pope was
like still just like, you know,he was such a great human being
talking about Trenton and stuff,and he starts crying.
And then I start crying toobecause Jess is a buddy and and
Trenton was one of our dearfriends, and and so then I after

(01:07:32):
the interview, I go up and giveJess a big old hug, and I'm
like, Thank you so much.
Then I walk off and go dowhatever else I have to do.
Well, when I walked off,everyone else, I was the first
one to interview him, soeveryone else started asking
him.
So he spent 20 minutes crying, Iguess.
And he finally told those guys,he was like, Give me a minute,
like let me go collect myselfand quit crying and then come
back.
And so then Jess ran into myhusband later that week and he

(01:07:54):
goes, Your wife sucks.
She made me do this, theneveryone else was making me cry.
And but just to know that youhave that kind of connection
with someone, it it just drawspeople in so much more.
It shows your heart and showsyour the heart of the industry
to fans.
Yeah.
So I that to me gets me jackedup.

(01:08:14):
It it really just depends onwhat's going on in my life, you
know.
Sometimes I just feel like Ineed more Jesus, so I'm just
blasting worship music and I'mlike, Lord, you know, let let
whatever I'm doing, you workthrough me in that situation.
So it yeah, it changes.
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (01:08:28):
Like prior to this, I was like, I don't want to
start in the beginning.
I was just like, it didn't seemlike I was, you know, I was
stumbling, wasn't stuttering,but I was stumbling.
But then when we started gettingreal, it was just like, okay,
we're good, you know?
You always have those moments.
That's why I had to ask.

SPEAKER_02 (01:08:43):
Yeah, yeah.
It's part of my job to as asideline reporter to make people
feel comfortable because youknow, you shove a camera in
people's face and a lot of themget quiet.
Like my mom's not one to be oncamera.
She does not, and and my dad'sused to it just through his
career.
Again, Miles is like, he'll doit, but it's not his favorite
thing.
Yeah, and so my job is like if Ihave someone that's younger that

(01:09:05):
doesn't know, I said, Hey, thisis just a conversation with you
and I.
You can just look at me.
It's my job to bring in thethird person that is the camera.
You don't worry about that, justtalk to me, kind of a deal.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:14):
And you can't just intimidating.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:16):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:16):
But then here I am in front of royalty.
It's just like, you know, I'mlike, okay, I have to get over
it, you know.
So you have that effect.
Oh, thank you.
You have that effect, yeah.
Whether people want to believeit or not.
So what is next?
I know NFR, but what's this nextrun for you, your husband?
Are you gonna be with yourhusband all the way?

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:38):
Not all the way.
Sometimes just with because weranch too.
So, like he's up in Watervilletonight and possibly Court
d'Alane.
I'm not quite sure on on thatone, but then he'll drive back
here to Tri-Cities tomorrownight, or tonight, actually, and
then have to hustle home toNevada because they're branding
cows Monday morning.
They're branding calves.
And but I've got a doctor'sappointment up here, so I'm not

(01:09:59):
going down there.
You know, I've just got someother things up here I gotta do.
And then Labor Day weekendscoming up, and so I'm like,
we're getting ready at the firstof every other month.
I have articles due to me, soI'm reviewing all of them and
we're readjusting timelinesbecause we just changed our
printer with the magazine andstuff, and and so that
readjusted my entire schedule.

(01:10:20):
I don't know, I no longer have amonth in between, so I'm pretty
much going with the magazineitself from September 1st until
January 1st.
And then like just pumping out awhole bunch of magazine issues,
and then within that, I'll goPendleton Roundup and work with
Michael Wright there to dosocial media stuff for them.

(01:10:42):
I'll have our circuit finals inOctober and then probably go to
the NFR.

SPEAKER_00 (01:10:47):
Oh, probably probably like dad doesn't make
you, no, oh like the magazinedoesn't the magazine's just
young enough that like we canpick and choose.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:59):
Yeah, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 (01:11:00):
So okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:11:01):
But the one one of the ones I'm also really excited
for too is last year, Ben Londo,who's the coach, Cal Poly, the
rodeo coach down there, he'sfrom Oregon, or from Pendleton.
Yes.
Oh my gosh, that's where Iwanted to go to school so bad.
But they put on the breakaway,which is a breakaway roping on
the beach, and so it's and it'snot like the arenas all four

(01:11:24):
sides, it's like three of thesides are fenced off, and then
the fourth side is the ocean.
The ocean, yeah.
Like it is right there on thebeach, and so and they buck a
couple horses, and but they hadme last year come do sideline
interviews for their TV showthat they post like it's more of
a post-production type deal, andand they asked me back this
year, and it's so cool.
I love working with Ben, he'ssuch a great, great person, and

(01:11:45):
I see him at every year at thecollege finals, and I never got
to rodeo for him, but like I'm26 years old, I've been out of
college for five years now, andhe like him and my dad have
known each other for a longtime.
And but even now to becontracted to work the college
finals when I'm there producingtheir opening ceremonies, he's
coaching like you're doing sucha great job.

(01:12:06):
And there's so many people thatweren't even ever my coach that
I'm like, I feel like I was yourstudent because you're you've
scooped me up and I'm an adultnow, you know.
And so I always love going downthere and and working that.
And this year it's a two-dayevent now, and they're having
concerts there.
So they're gonna have, I believeit's Tyler Bingham and maybe
Midland, I think.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:25):
Midland.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:27):
Have you noticed they travel more than they used
to?
They go to the smaller shows.
Yeah.
It's interesting on how theirroute to fame, and then you
know, they go to the they stillor manage to go to the smallest
of festivals.
I'm like, Midland, okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:42):
Yeah, which I think is awesome to keep us grassroots
a bit.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Speaking of, did you see theprices of Zach Toff's concerts
here?
Oh I haven't.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:51):
I heard he's coming to Kenwick, but I haven't seen
him.
Two nights.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:55):
Crazy, crazy money.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:57):
Crazy money.
Yeah.
So my niece is obsessed withZach.
Like my youngest one that rodesheep last night.
That's the name of the song.
Yeah.
And so my he did the NFR lastyear, you know, and my dad's
there on the buck and shootcrew, and so and he's knows
Zach's dad from, you know,obviously just being right down
the road a bit.
And so he runs into him.

(01:13:18):
Hey, my granddaughter is a hugefan of yours.
Can you do a video for me?
And so Reese, who's like threeat the time, goes, I'm marrying
Zach Top.
And so Zach, I mean, he wasawesome.
He films this video.
Hi, Reese.
This is Zach Top.
I hear we're getting marriedsomeday.
I can't wait to meet you, kindof a deal.
Like just such a great sportabout it and stuff.

(01:13:41):
And yeah.
Have you seen the theories aboutAlan Jack?

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:44):
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Those crack me up.
But I I I can see it.
I can see it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:13:50):
Yeah, he's had a quick rise to fame, and I think
part of it is just his hisagain, kind of like that 90s
country type vibe, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:59):
Yeah, they're bringing it back.
And hopefully they keep it.
Hopefully he keeps it.
Hopefully, you know, they don'tthey don't change it in
Asheville.
I'm more of a red dirt person.
Like I I I I love the red claystrays.
And then when I go to the NFR, Ithey only been to Vegas twice.
I've seen them twice.
Yeah, so yeah, I normally willgo to a concert and then just

(01:14:20):
hang out on Christ CowboyChristmas.
What is the Lucesi's?
Lucese brute boot brand.
Is it Lucci's?
Yeah, my my Tracy, my wife,downstairs was like, You're
buying me something this year.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:35):
Just just don't get her into the old gringos,
because then you'll really yourwallet will really be hurting
you.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14:41):
Yeah, but no, I normally we'll see a concert and
then go to Cowboy Christmas andthat's it.
Get my take.
I just it's it's it's pretty funto be around like-minded people.
And uh that's how I feel likewhen I'm around the rodeo, just
you know, people not a caringsight, just athletes watching
other athletes.

SPEAKER_02 (01:15:01):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, but they're here.
There's bad eggs no matter whereyou go, and there's good eggs no
matter where you go.
So you do get them, they're justuh both different.
I mean, even where we live inNevada, small town, and they're
small town drama.
So and those are all ranchingfamilies, so they're everywhere,
unfortunately.
It's just part of it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:15:18):
Yeah, I think the more you get involved, you see
it.
I I like to be the outsider, butI've I I see what you're saying.
I see what you're saying, anduh, and it's just it's it's it's
nice to be a little outsider,but the more in you're like, uh
well, I'm an outsider, I canjust shove that all the way.
Yeah, so I'm saying if you knowwhat I mean, like seriously,
yeah, seriously, because I get alot of hate because you know,

(01:15:41):
Elaine Kimball, shout out, Idon't want to shout her out, but
I was I was at Grand GrandGrandview, you know, it was hot,
and I was so I wore shorts, youknow, khaki shorts, rodeo shirt,
and hat, and she's like, looklike an adventurer.
I'm like, all right, so you'rethe reason why I got this like
dress code, you know, before Iget on like what can I wear?

(01:16:01):
You know, what should I wear?
Because if it's hot, I don'twant to wear jeans.
Yeah, I'm not a contestant, youknow.
I'm a bystander that likes thegame.
I'm not gonna just sit there andmelt.

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:13):
Yeah, so Wrangler's actually making some and cinches
too, but we've always been aWrangler family.
Their ATG line is veryoutdoorsy.
Oh, vent like yes, yep.
I love for whether we'reranching or rodeo and I love
that.

SPEAKER_00 (01:16:26):
Yeah, yeah.
So so I uh got to deal with AGgear.

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:30):
Oh, awesome!

SPEAKER_00 (01:16:31):
So like I got in more involved because of their
pro gear, the you know, the thethe wick, yep, sweat wick.
But yeah, they they got somenice pearl snaps, and so yeah,
yeah, I I wear their stuff, butstill I guess that's not up to
par.
I don't care because you knowI'm accepted, so that's all that
matters.

(01:16:52):
So, Clay, uh, how do you feelabout this episode?

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:56):
I like it.
Yeah, it's been good.

SPEAKER_00 (01:16:57):
How long do you think we've been on?

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:59):
Well, I looked at my watch a second ago.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17:01):
Yeah, so you gotta leave.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:03):
Well, no, I I just have a production meeting at
four.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17:06):
So is the only thing.
And and I know, and that's whyI'm so blessed and thankful that
you came on.
Yeah, and so that's why I askedthat question.
I'm talkative, so I know it'sbeen a hot minute, but it's it's
totally fine, but I I know it'srodeo week, and and I big rodeo
week, the man is in charge, youknow.
You're doing your thing, and youknow, you're here, there,

(01:17:28):
everywhere in between, and youtaking the time out of your busy
schedule during this week meansa lot.
Oh yeah, you know, and like Isaid before, you're one of the
main reasons why I I continuedthat.
That and uh Hankinson the third.
If you know Hankinson, I don'tknow Harmiston, no James
Hankinson.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:45):
It sounds familiar.
Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17:48):
When when my dad was on his deathbed, he was helpful.
He's like, Nick, do you reallyenjoy the podcast?
Yeah, well, keep at it.
So you are the main reason why Istayed in the rodeo just because
of the words.
So um Clay, I I appreciate you,I appreciate your friendship and
me understanding the game, Iappreciate your family.
I have nothing but uh you knowhigh praise for you and your

(01:18:10):
family.
And hopefully one of these daysI get to meet Mr.
Harper himself, and just youknow, you know, I don't know,
have a chit-chat.
So a conversation.

SPEAKER_02 (01:18:20):
So yeah, he's he's way more interesting than I am.
He's into metal detecting andhistory, and oh yeah, he's he's
we're both very nerdy on things,but he's way more interesting
than I am.

SPEAKER_00 (01:18:30):
You're humble, you're humble, right?
This is a podcast uh episode ofyou, but you're a cheerleader,
believe it or not.
Yeah, yeah, I know it comes withterritory, yeah, but just know
what you've accomplished in thislittle time.
Oh, well, thank you aftercollege and even you know,
before and during college.
Look what you've done, you know.
So start start tuning your ownhorn.

(01:18:51):
If you can, it's okay, it's notyou know frowned upon,
especially in this room.
But like seriously, you you'regreat at what you do, you bring
people in and just know what youdo.
It means a lot to a lot ofpeople that outside.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19:05):

SPEAKER_00 (01:19:06):
Anyway, it's been a pleasure.
Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19:08):
Of course.
Thanks for having me.
It's great.
Yep, for sure.
Yeah, yeah, promise.

SPEAKER_00 (01:19:13):
Anytime.
All right, because I just hit myfourth year.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19:16):
Oh boy, yeah.
No, anytime.
Yep.

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