Country Lifestyles
Inside the Arena: Father-Son Duo, Brandon, Brendall Dunn
By Dani Blackburn, [email protected]
“There is so much rodeo can teach you, not just as a sport, but in life in general. In rodeo, you must compete to get paid. You can’t be a sissy. Rodeo teaches you to go way down deep inside and it draws out a character in you that you didn’t even know you had.” – Brandon Dunn
Rodeo is a part of the Dunn family heritage, but it is not the reason Brandon and Brendall find themselves inside the rodeo arena. It is a deep-seated love for rodeo and a family bond that runs generations deep.
Brandon grew up in Okmulgee, Okla., before moving to Petrolia, Texas, in 1979. The family was heavily involved in rodeo, with his father bulldogging and his mother running barrels, and his uncle was a PRCA bull fighter inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
“That’s all I ever wanted to be growing up was a bullfighter and a clown. We have home videos of me. I am only three years old, all made up, with a little stuffed bull. I would put him on the floor and run around him,” Brandon said.
Brandon got his official start into bull fighting at the age of 14. He would travel across the river to Waurika for practice sessions at his uncle’s bull fighting school every chance he got. He also began working junior rodeos and high school rodeos, eventually moving on to college and amateur rodeos.
In 1994, Brandon received his PRCA card and started professional rodeos and PBR events. He recalls his favorite rodeo to work was Fort Madison, which included big concerts and getting to meet individuals like Toby Keith.
Brandon’s bull fighting career came to an end in 2003 when he was hit by a drunk driver on Highway 79. The wreck took the life of his seven-year-old daughter and left him with serious injuries. Brandon did not fight bulls for more than a decade, until his son Brendall managed to draw him back to the arena.
“The wreck put a stop to my rodeo career for a long time. As a matter of fact, I thought it was done until Brendall here came along. When he was 11, he was always on me about fighting bulls. I finally told him he was going to have to get in shape and show me something. It got to where he was doing 100 pushups and 100 sit-ups a night. He was running every day. It was time to put up or shut up, so we got him a little Miniature Zebu bull. I figured it could roll him around a little and then that would be that,” Brandon sad. “Well, Brendall got in that cow lot of ours at the house. He put his own pump-up music on his phone. He’d go out there and he’d fight that little bull. I thought maybe it was time if he was really that serious about this, but I wanted to go with him. So, I started getting in the barrel.”
To read more, pick up a copy of the June issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By: Martha Crump
Most cattle producers can tell you quite a lot about balancing cattle diets for energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals based on the specific needs for their herd and type of operation.
A key factor, and one that is often overlooked, is that how your animals perform is also directly affected by their water intake.
Now many of you may already be thinking “well of course water is necessary, anybody knows that!”
In many years, as September marches into October, we are beginning to experience some return of rainfall. But as many of us know, that is not always the case. Often we are still experiencing hot and dry weather, and water supplies are dwindling.
When we find ourselves experiencing those types of fall conditions, it is critical to not only understand the daily water requirements for cattle, but also the impact that the quality of water can have on herd health and development.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Annette Bridges
A friend and I were recently talking about our husbands. She made a comment that I felt also perfectly described me and my hubby.
“He slows me and I hurry him. I’m sure that is why we do well together,” she said.
“Precisely!” I thought. Why?
Because when two different worlds collide, it can be magical.
No matter what those two different worlds are- a man and a woman with very different personalities, beliefs, or backgrounds, two partners with contrasting passions, strengths, or talents, or when a country boy marries a city girl.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Watauga, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, is known for its rich history as a railroad stop, but over the course of the last year, one teen girl has put it on the map for agriculture as well. Emma Harvey has lived in Tarrant County her entire life. Despite being highly involved in her local 4-H chapter, she still felt there was more she could do. In the spring of 2023, she stepped up to the plate to take over the title of Tarrant County Teen Miss Agriculture USA.
“It all started when I put in an application for the teen title here in Tarrant County,” explained Harvey.
The Miss Agriculture USA program is a national non-profit, age-inclusive pageant program that offers both competition and non-competition titles to women dedicated to the promotion of agriculture.
Read more in the October issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available online and in print. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive NTFR in your inbox each week.
Photo by Hannah Claxton.
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