Equine
Rodeo Returns To NCTC
By Janis Blackwell
With the opening of the 2016-17 school year at North Central Texas College in Gainesville came the return of a program long absent, that of the college rodeo team. In the ‘80s and ‘90s the school had sported a college team who participated in National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) rodeos, but sometime after 1998, for unknown reasons, the team had ceased to exist.
However, when the college hired Steve Keith as the new chair of the agriculture department in 2008, they had also procured someone highly qualified to coach young people who wanted to rodeo.
Keith’s credentials include qualifying for the national college rodeo finals three times, PRCA circuit finals four times and six years of coaching the rodeo team at Trinity Valley Community College where he taught before coming to head up the department at NCTC. It was a desire of Keith’s to bring back the rodeo team, and he recently set about to do just that by laying the groundwork, raising funds and securing sponsors, and in the fall of 2016 that desire was fulfilled.
In addition to Keith, the rodeo program has two valuable assistant coaches. Curt Donley assists by doing most of the recruiting. Formerly an assistant at Northwest Oklahoma State University, he travels to visit with prospective students about the college, ag department and rodeo program and is responsible for doing signing events.
To read more pick up a copy of the May 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
(NCTC Rodeo Team- Front row) Coach Steve Keith, Coach Tiffany Hammett, Taylor Shipman, Erika Ashley, MyKayla Clegg, Julie Donovan, Megan Jenkins, Coach Curt Donley. (Back Row) Samantha William
Alyssa Stephenson, Bre VonHellborn, Luke Harris, David Dougherty, Garrett Gorman, Austen Malone. Not Pictured: Lane Hobbs.
By Krista Lucas Wynn
Each year, when the professional rodeo season wraps on Sept. 30, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association announce the Nutrena Horse of the Year, presented by the American Quarter Horse Association, in each event. This is a prestigious award, voted on by the members of the associations. To be named Horse of the Year by fellow competitors is a high honor only a few achieve.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Krista Lucas Wynn | Copy Editor
The name, “Daddy of ’em All,” instantly brings to mind the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and western celebration. Cowboys and cowgirls from all across the country dream of competing on the iconic Cheyenne arena dirt.
Every July, pro rodeo contestants travel to Cheyenne, Wyom. to vie for the title of champion of the Cheyenne Frontier Days. The rodeo is steeped in western tradition and celebrated the 125th year this summer. With nearly two weeks of rodeo action, fans watched bareback riding, calf roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, bull riding, and steer roping.
Steer roper, Tuff Hardman, knew winning “the Dad” was a tall order, but with a good horse and a few prayers he left no doubt who the best steer roper at Cheyenne was when it was all said and done. After two rounds, Hardman qualified back for the finals tied for ninth place with a time of 30.8 seconds.
To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Utilizing the horse to human connection.
By: Hannah Claxton | Editor
Deep in the heart of Texas, both humans and horses at Stable Strides Farm in Pilot Point, Texas aer demonstrating just how big their hearts really are. Founded by Mandy Cleveland in 2001, Stable Strides Farm serves dozens of Equestrians with Disabilities and Veterans each week.
Deep in the heart of Texas, both humans and horses at Stable Strides Farm in Pilot Point, Texas aer demonstrating just how big their hearts really are. Founded by Mandy Cleveland in 2001, Stable Strides Farm serves dozens of Equestrians with Disabilities and Veterans each week.
“My boys have been riding since they were 18 months old, and for the first 17 years they had a leader and sidewalker. When we moved here, and Mandy started teaching them, she just said, ‘Let’s see what they can do,’ and they ride independently now,” Danielle Frank explained, whose two sons, Adison and Aiden, ride with Stable Strides Farm. “Mandy is amazing beucase she doesn’t place any limits on them, she always wants to see what they can do.”
It is her dedication to never setting limits that earned Cleveland a spot as a national finalist for the NSBA 2024 Dianne Eppers Cowgirls Reaching-Out-to-Community Award. The award was established by the NSBA Foundation to recognize cowgirls across the industry for their selfless contributions to the equestrian community.
To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of the NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
(Photos Courtesy of Hannah Claxton)
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