Event: Steer Wrestling

Place in Circuit Standings: 8th

Bulldogging: Down to Earth Event, Down to Earth Man
By Maureen Panno

The husband and father of three has fun chasing the cowboy dream on circuit level.

It just comes natural. Those aren't just words put together in a catchy phrase. Adam Strahan was raised around rodeo, as were his brothers Noel and Ty. It's in their blood.

When Adam was twelve years old, his rodeo idol (his father, Jim) showed him how to bulldog a steer. "My father gave me a little lesson on the ground, but there's really only one way to learn it and that's just to get on a horse and do it."

Steer wrestling was once explained this way: climb in the bed of your friend's pick-up truck, have the friend drive at a speed of twenty/twenty-five miles per hour, jump out of the pick-up bed and tackle a mailbox. You make a nice thud, instantly followed by an "Oof!" as the wind gets knocked out of you.

No wonder steer wrestlers are known as the linebackers of rodeo. Lucky for Adam, his dad didn't use the pick-up truck approach.





With the rodeo season just ending, Adam has qualified for the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo for the second time in his career.

"That doesn't put more pressure on you, because you always go out there and give it the best you've got." He stays focused on the job at hand. "I don't hear much of anything when I'm in the box."

Who hazes (keeps the steer running forward and not veering to one side or the other) for him? "My dad or my brother (Noel) will haze for me, usually."

There are so many variables in steer wrestling, so many more chances of getting injured. I know I'll hear about it for saying this, but it's probably more dangerous than the rough stock events from the injury point of view. Consider a 200 pound human going up against a 600 pound steer, two horses running at top speed, slamming your feet into the ground to stop the momentum of the steer, and there you have it, the makings for injury central.

"Knee injuries are the most common injury in steer wrestling. The horns are filed down and a guy might get a slight gash from a horn now and then, anyway, but getting gored just doesn't happen. The steers don't come after you like the bulls."

"My brother, Ty, used to compete in rodeo and wants to get back into it. He blew out his knee a couple of times. He works as a mechanic right now."

Adam is a traditional "weekend warrior." He holds down a full time job for a living and rodeos on the weekends for the love of the sport. His family is what keeps him grounded.

He loves bulldogging and sees his kids getting into it. "My daughter says she wants to do rodeos when she's in high school, my son does muttin' bustin' for now."

Some steer wrestlers borrow someone else's horse to compete and pay the owner a portion of any winnings. Not so with Adam. "I was hauling my dad's team this year. Sometimes I haul my own team, but I never ride anyone else's horses."

That's not a superstition. It's just the way it is. "I used to have superstitions. They're tough to break, but I think I outgrew them."

When he's through with rodeo, what does he see himself doing? You can rule out being a stock contractor. "I'd like a couple horses, maybe a few head of cattle, but I wouldn't want hundreds of them."





With working full-time and rodeos on weekends, no one can say this man does not provide for his family. Or his fans. There's an old saying that goes: "Them that can, do. Them that can't, watch."

See you in November, Adam. We'll be watching.

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