Countdown to Kaye Spencer's Favorite Rodeo Song – Part 1 of 4 #rodeo #rodeosongs #prairierosepubs

July 4, 2019 marked the 150^th anniversary of a rodeo in Deer Trail, Colorado. Deer Trail is proud to claim the honor of being “world’s first rodeo. In fact, The Handbook of Texas Online states: “One of the earliest 'bronco-busting contests' on record was held on July 4, 1869, in Deer Trail, Colorado Territory.”*

Thinking about the Deer Trail rodeo took me back through the years, and I consequently spent a good deal of time reminiscing about my own rodeo years.

During my teenage years and into my early twenties, my best friend was part of a family of small-circuit rodeo-ers. This family and my parents were friends during their school years, so rodeo was part of our collective entertainment. Although, my dad didn’t ride saddle broncs much past his early twenties, my family rarely missed attending a rodeo that was within a day’s drive from home.

From about age 14 through 21, I didn’t miss attending these three rodeos:

*The Brush Rodeo in Brush, Colorado, which is ten miles from where I grew up in Fort Morgan. The Brush rodeo began in 1954. I was the Brush rodeo queen when I was 16. The Brush Rodeo Facebook page is HERE https://www.facebook.com/BrushRodeo/

If I locate a picture of me as a Brush Rodeo queen, I’ll include it in a later post.

*The Deer Trail Rodeo in Deer Trail, Colorado, which is about 70 miles straight south of Fort Morgan. The Deer Trail Rodeo Facebook Page is HERE. 

Colorado Map - Deer Trail and Fort Morgan marked in red and blue respectively**

 *Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is 100 miles from Fort Morgan. Website Here

Quick anecdote: When I was the Brush Rodeo Queen, I participated in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade and in the rodeo arena parade. At that time, visiting queens weren’t allowed to bring their own horses, so horses were supplied by rodeo cowboys.

Fast forward thirty-ish years to my job as Director of Exceptional Student Services for 13 school districts…

One evening, and in the midst of deep conversation in the hotel’s bar at an educational conference, one of the school superintendents I worked with and I discovered he was the cowboy who loaned me his horse for those parades all those years ago. (Yes, I know, TMI.)

Back to the title of this article and rodeo songs.

In the course of my reminiscing, rodeo songs naturally cropped up, and I spent a few minutes… okay… hours… on YouTube searching for, and listening to, rodeo songs. Consequently, I decided to write this four part article leading up to my favorite rodeo song. I’ve chosen my seven favorite rodeo songs, which I will share in similarly themed pairs, until the last post, which will focus on my favorite rodeo song.

Now for Numbers 6 and 7…

While one of these songs isn’t technically a rodeo song in that it doesn’t take place inside a rodeo arena, bronc riding is a rodeo event and that’s good enough for me. Pay attention to the similar theme in these two songs. In fact, the lyrics are quite similar.

Number 7

Bad Brahma Bull - Chris LeDoux

Number 6

Strawberry Roan - Marty Robbins

 

What are your favorite rodeo songs?

Until next time,
Kaye Spencer

You can find Kaye here:

Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Blog | Twitter | Pinterest

Attribution:

** “Large Detailed Roads and Highways Map of Colorado State with All Cities: Colorado State: USA: Maps of the USA: Maps Collection of the United States of America.” Maps of All States, Regions and Cities of the United States of America | Maps of the USA, https://www.maps-of-the-usa.com/usa/colorado/large-detailed-roads-and-highways-map-of-colorado-state-with-all-cities.

*Handbook of Texas Online, Sylvia Gann Mahoney, "RODEOS," accessed September 10, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/llr01. 

Bull and Rodeo Clown images: Fotolia.com - author purchased license

Bronc image: Morguefile.com - photographer beat0092