Life of the Rodeo Family: the Strength a Family Needs
By: Amanda Brockman

Bags are packed, trucks loaded up. You kiss your wife goodbye and write a note for the kids. Fire up the ol' Ford truck and the journey begins; 12 hours of road ahead of you, the sun yet to rise. You're hoping to get that qualified ride, yet you're wondering if you'll make enough money to pay the light bill with the next check coming your way. No, this wasn't a quote out of a western romance novel. This is just how 75% of America's cowboys feel about having to ride week-to-week, circuit-to-circuit.

Cowboys have so much pressure on them, whether carefree 19 and single, or married with kids. The life of a cowboy is a true testament to their character and strength. The competition itself shows their durability. Duralast batteries have nothing on these boys. The list of pressures on these guys is a big one to say the least. If the pressure to win wasn't enough, add the danger and the media to the mix. With all the demands involved in rodeo, what makes a cowboy want to go through it? I think Garth Brooks pretty much sums it up when he wrote the lyrics for the song "Rodeo":

"Well it's bulls and blood
It's dust and mud
It's the roar of a Sunday crowd
It's the white in his knuckles
The gold in the buckle
He'll win the next go 'round
It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and latigo
It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo"

The life of a cowboy is a hard one to live. The lonely nights in a hotel, long drives from event to event. Having pictures on the dashboard to remind him of the loved ones left at home. The road to the top is a hard one to travel. But the sacrifices made, make the win and championship that much more enjoyable. If you give someone $10 (for example) they'll enjoy it, but that is as far as that ship will sail. If someone works and earns the $10, they'll appreciate it that much more. The work they did to earn it might suck, but the more you put of yourself on the line, the more the benefits reaped will be worth.

The life of a single, young, 19 year old cowboy is no different. Granted, they don't have a wife and kids at home so they don't have to earn money to feed a couple of mouths. But they do, in fact, have something that makes up for it; a mother who worries about them. Any mother will worry when her child travels without her, but when her son decides to be a traveling cowboy, she can redefine the word. For starters, not being able to watch her baby ride at every event to make sure he doesn't get hurt, or not being able to go to his side when he does. The thing that just might set a loving mother's heart at ease is that every cowboy has a traveling partner. The fresh new baby face cowboy is usually partnered with an experienced, but young cowboy. You know, one who can 'show him the ropes'. Think about it; new cowboys on the circuit want to prove that they've got the talent and what it takes to make a name for them selves. Every ride he qualifies is another notch in the belt, but every time he fails it's a one step forward, two steps back kind of thing. The humiliation of a failed attempt is that much worse. Fresh on the circuit, he wants to be accepted by the other competitors and taken seriously; not thought of as just another punk kid.

Life on the rodeo circuit can be the best years any athlete could ask for. But by design its a young man's game. Life of the rodeo family is another story; the shoes they wear is a pair that not everyone can fill. No, it takes a special kind of woman to have the strength needed to survive the traveling life of a cowboy. She is the corner post that keeps the family strong. When her husband is away, she takes care of the farm, makes sure dinner is served, the horses are fed, and that the shop is locked up. She is Grade A tough.

No urban cowboys would last long in this position. The connection of family while on the road is a big part of a traveling cowboy. It's a custom to call the family after each event to update them and plainly let them know that he isn't hurt. Each call the family gets after an event is a cherished one. They say a rodeo family lives from call to call, knowing that it's not if he'll get hurt, it's when and how bad, not knowing if his last phone call really was his last. Not every rodeo family can survive this kind of pressure. To quote Garth Brooks again from his song, "Rodeo":

"he'll sell off everything he owns
Just to pay to play the game
And a broken home and some broken bones
Is all he'll have to show
For all the years that he spent chasin'
This dream they call rodeo."

Being a rodeo cowboy is not always a jolly ride down Main Street. Just like it takes a strong wife to survive the game, it takes a strong man to survive to play. From the long hours of travel to the constant pattern of good-bye hugs and kisses before the crack of dawn, the never-ending pressure of winning a check to make up for all the long days and hours gone. The game they play is a twisted web. Once you get a taste of the adrenaline rush on your tongue, you are hooked for life. From the cheering fans, to those first place scores, coming home to an understanding wife and family. "Rodeo cowboys are cut from a different cloth", my grand daddy always said. He also said that I get in more trouble than it's worth dating one, but that's another story. A creed that I'd say every cowboy goes by couldn't be better quoted than by the late Lane Frost. "Don't be afraid to go after what you want to do, and what you want to be. But don't be afraid to be willing to pay the price."