Legends of the Old West - RODEOHOUSTON 2 | "The Rodeo"

Episode Date: March 12, 2019

The second episode of our three-part series on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo focuses on the rodeo. Catherine Schultz, Managing Director of Sports and Events Presentations, talks about the unique features of the Rodeo (1:57). Then five-time world champion steer wrestler Luke Branquinho discusses a range of topics, from the need to keep the cowboy culture alive, to his first experience at RODEOHOUSTON, to the time a steer almost ripped his pants off, and more (14:08). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Look for new value programs when you shop at Loblaws, in-store and online. Conditions may apply. See in-store for details. This episode is brought to you by LEGO Fortnite. LEGO Fortnite is the ultimate survival crafting game found within Fortnite. It's not just Fortnite Battle Royale with minifigures. It's an entirely new experience that combines the best of Lego Play and Fortnite. Created to give players of all ages, including kids and families, a safe digital space to play in. Download Fortnite on consoles, PC, cloud services, or Android and play Lego Fortnite for free. Rated ESRB E10+. What is the strangest thing that's ever happened to you during a competition? Boy, that's a tough one. I mean, other than probably a steer tearing my pants off.

Welcome to the second episode of a three-part series on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. In episode one, we learned about the history and the mission of Rodeo Houston and the army of volunteers it takes to make it all possible. In this episode, we'll take a deep dive into the rodeo. We'll start with the Managing Director of Sports and Events Presentations, Catherine Schultz. Her title means She Runs the Rodeo. We talked about some of the unique features of Rodeo Houston, the realities of life as a rodeo athlete, and some of her favorite memories of the event. And then stick around for a fun interview with five-time world champion steer wrestler and past Rodeo Houston champion, Luke Branquino.

We hit a ton of topics, including the importance of keeping the cowboy lifestyle alive, the unique partnership between a steer wrestler and his horse, and some of the strangest things that have happened to him in a competition, as well as much more. Lastly, a couple quick notes before we jump in. These interviews were taped in NRG Stadium, so you might hear a little background noise from time to time. And, in Luke's interview, he refers to the venue of his first experience at Rodeo Houston in 2000. As a reminder, he's talking about the Astrodome, not NRG Stadium. So that wraps it up. Let's get to the interviews.

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Squeezing every drop out of the last day? How about a 4 p.m. late checkout? Just need a nice place to settle in? Enjoy a room upgrade. Wherever you go, we'll go together. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamx. Benefits vary by card. Terms apply. So we're really fortunate being in the United States' fourth largest city. We're bringing in people that have never experienced rodeo before. They do not realize that this is a professional sport, and they're coming to see an artist like Prince Royce tonight. They're brand new fans that we're able to capture and make lifelong fans of our athletes

and this industry. Yeah, this interview right here will actually double as the Prince Royce soundcheck. Absolutely. As we set up in the beginning, as fans heard in the introduction, you will hear some of Prince Royce and his band performing in the background. Absolutely. And it's just such a unique opportunity. These are people that have never been around the sport of rodeo. They certainly don't understand, you know, the drive that our athletes have. And so we're able to go out and give them a unique experience and hopefully create lifelong fans. Let's talk about some of the realities of being a professional athlete on the rodeo circuit.

We're going to talk to Luke Branquino about this as well, but let me hear your input on this because you just brought it up. Maybe the average person who doesn't attend rodeos is not a super fan of rodeo, doesn't realize that these people are professional athletes. They're just like the NBA players you see and the NFL players and all those, but they have far different realities and far different challenges. What are some of those realities and challenges that come with this sport that maybe others don't have? Right. So that's probably one of my favorite things to talk about that we have these athletes

that work hard day in and day out. They don't have a cushy contract, right? And so they are in a pay to play sport. They have to work hard. They drive themselves. There's no chartered plane waiting for them. There's no team driver waiting for them. There's no, you know, well-planned meal cooked by a phenomenal chef with a nutritionist developing that. We're really fortunate being able to present rodeo in NRG Stadium, the home of the Houston Texans. And so, you know, we go in and see like the nutrition regimen that they have athletes on and the locker rooms and the athletic training rooms. And so we really try to emulate a lot of those things. We feel it's important that we treat these athletes in the way that they are. And so we build out full locker rooms for them. We're fortunate to be in the heart of the Texas Medical Center. So we bring

in phenomenal medical staff to keep them, you know, both through a rehabilitation and a physical therapy component. But these guys play every day hurt. They drive all night long. And if they do not win, they can't pay their mortgage. They can't pay the fuel to go to the next one. And so, you know, they put in the normal physical regimen hours. Then they come out and they perform at peak capacity and then they get in the truck and they drive to the next one.

And I think it really speaks to the drive and the heart of the athlete that they keep going when it's hard, they keep going when it's great. And so it's really that phenomenal drive that they have. What are some of the other unique things that Rodeo Houston brings to the table for these athletes? You have, as you just said, we're in one of the fourth largest city. You're right next door to a medical center. You've got all these advantages that maybe a smaller rodeo in a more out-of-the-way place doesn't have. What are some of the other unique features that are a part of Rodeo Houston?

I say to everybody that every rodeo in the world does something exceptionally well and something that can probably be improved upon. And I am really lucky I get to travel to a lot of rodeos and I pick up all of their fantastic little things but we really try to make this a home away from home for these athletes again knowing that they're on the road all the time knowing that they seldom have their families with them and so we have an off-site facility that we call rodeo village and so we provide full RV hookups out there. We have stalls for their horses if they're in the timed events.

We have a great warm-up arena. We have what we call a cowboy bistro that offers breakfast and lunch every day. We provide shuttle services and, you know, kind of anything that you could imagine home away from home, we'll provide that for our athletes. And then when they get to the stadium, again, we provide full locker rooms. That's not something that you often see at rodeo. We are fortunate that we're in NRG Stadium. And so some of those elements are there. We just build them out a bit more.

We provide a business lounge for our athletes, knowing that, again, you're on the road day in and day out. So catching up on taxes this time of year is something that we'll often see cowboys sitting on the couch with a laptop out, using our Wi-Fi, trying to talk to their accountant. And so we really try to focus on the whole athlete, whether it's through our sports medicine program or it's through the off-site RV hookups. We really want to make this as easy for them as possible and really a family-friendly environment. And right after you said it, now I have a picture in my head of rodeo athletes sitting on a couch doing their taxes, which is something I never thought would come up. Of all the things I maybe planned for any of these interviews, Cowboys and Taxes was not one

that I had anticipated. Well, I didn't say there were tons of them doing that, right? But it has happened. It has happened, absolutely. And, you know, again, it's just one of those things that we know that the ability for you to be in one spot for more than five hours even is uncommon in this industry. So to be in the same location for three days, we want to provide as many amenities as we can so that you can have a real life and catch up on real work. And that's, you know, that is something that we're fortunate with our schedule to be able

to offer these athletes. As all of our listeners heard in the previous episode, volunteers are a massive part of Rodeo Houston. 34,000 of them volunteer to make this effort possible. How do they work with and affect and help your life with the rodeo? Absolutely. They are the lifeblood of what we do. The heart of the volunteer is so fantastic. It truly is one of the things that makes us unique. I talked about sports medicine and hospitality and the children's area, and all of those areas are completely led by volunteer efforts. So we have some of the best surgeons and physical therapists and chiropractors and ER doctors in Texas, we have some of the best surgeons and, you know, physical therapists and chiropractors and ER doctors in Texas in the heart of the Texas Medical Center that are volunteering to take care of our athletes. And then we have people from all walks of life that both check in

horses and, you know, help park trailers to serving and cooking meals for these athletes and wiping off kids toys so that if your child, you know, isn't feeling great, you're not spreading germs to someone else's child. So they really focus on anything that they can do to make this experience great. And they do it with passion and joy. And it's just such a wonderful opportunity. What are some of your favorite memories? Your eyes light up when you talk about this, where you just talked about traveling around to see them. What are some of your favorite memories? You've been, your eyes light up when you talk about this, where you just talked about traveling around to see them. What are some of your personal favorite memories from here at Rodeo Houston?

So that's kind of a hard one to pinpoint. And I have been here far too long. I'm very old. But I will tell you probably my favorite memory, I believe, was when Hannah Montana came, which is quite a long time ago. That was our first Disney Day. And at the start of Grand Entry, it was like a sea of pink. And there were little girls who were screaming at the top of their lungs during National Anthem when Nikki Flundra carried the

American flag standing on her horse. And I still kind of get chills about that because I just thought of all those impressions, all those little girls who fell in love with this girl standing on her horse, and they screamed and cheered the entire rodeo. And those little girls and their moms and dads, there were a few dads, not many, they would have never come to our event if we didn't have that entertainer. And so it's kind of what I talked about with Prince Royce. Every time we bring somebody that's a little bit different, a little bit out of the box, we get all these new fans and we expose them to this great industry. And so that's probably one of my favorites. There's tons of them, but that's the first one where I saw a whole new audience light up. So as we just heard about legions of screaming girls cheering for Nikki Flindra as she rode around the arena standing on her horse,

tell me about some of the female athletes who have performed here, some of the feats they have performed, some of the names that people may or may not recognize from specifically the barrel racing competitions. Sure. When you go back in our history, it is ripe with women who have worked hard and kind of slayed some dragons in the men's world, so to speak. But more recently, I think both Nancy Hunter and Sherri Servi are individuals that our fans recognize and resonate with. Nancy Hunter won our event multiple years consecutively in a row, And she would ride into the arena and our fans just went crazy. They just loved her. And Sherry Servi has won our event at least five times. And it's the same thing.

The instant name recognition when they're in the fan zones, the people would just flock there. And so pretty cool. But yes, if you went back through our history, there are lots of women in the barrel racing event who have won here and gone on to just outstanding careers. And now let's flip it to the men's side. Let's talk about some of the rodeo athletes on the men's side who have come through the doors of Rodeo Houston. We know here this year, some of the top performers, Trevor Brazil is here, Luper Anquino, many, many others. Who are some of the other names who have passed through these doors?

So we have been fortunate that we have had the best rodeo athletes in the world since our inception, right? You have the Jim Shoulders of the world and the Joe Beavers of the world or the Cody Oles of the world. And we have just such phenomenal athletes. And then we've had father-son duos. And we have, you know, fathers that won and then their sons come back later. And then you have the whole Wright dynasty that's been here and Cody riding with, you know, both of his sons. And so there's just been a lot of great athletes that have graced our halls and have performed in our arena. All right. And I want to follow that up with throwing a little

curveball at you. So has anyone made a name for themselves at Rodeo Houston? Was this their grand coming out party? Does anyone like that spring to mind? I think a lot of people have made a name for themselves at Rodeo Houston, right? And when you look at it from our payout is so deep. And even when our money did not count towards the world standings, that $50,000 for the winner really set you up for the next year and gave you the ability to travel. And so now that our money does count towards an NFR qualification towards those world standings, I think that you're just going to see even more of that. And so you see guys that work hard and they want to win and they want to come here and do well. And even a guy

that wins a go round, you know, it's it's great money that goes in their pocket. And so I think a lot of people have walked out of this arena and really made a name for themselves. Nellie Miller last year in the girls barrel racing won both the Super Series and the Super Shootout. Cody DeMoss won our Super Series two years in a row has won the Super Shootout same as Nellie Miller, you know, back to back like that. And so a lot of people who walk away and, you know, you just look at, wow. We'll wrap up with this one. What's on the horizon for Rodeo Houston?

I think the horizon for both Rodeo Houston and the industry in general is really bright. for both Rodeo Houston and the industry in general is really bright. You know, again, being in this Houston market and exposing such diverse fans to our industry is a great ability that we have, right? It's something that we can continue building great big stadium presentations. And hopefully those individuals will follow it throughout the year. You know, we're able to stream everything that we do and live broadcast our finale presentations. And I think the sport of rodeo is looking at that. And so I see a great big shiny light bulb. And I think we're just going to keep growing and building a bigger brand. Thank you, Catherine. Oh, thank you. It's been such a pleasure.

a bigger brand. Thank you, Catherine. Oh, thank you. It's been such a pleasure. That was Rodeo Houston's Managing Director of Sports and Events Presentations, Catherine Schultz. And now, here's my conversation with world champion steer wrestler, Luke Branquino. Si vous faites vos achats tout en travaillant, en mangeant ou même en écoutant ce balado, alors vous connaissez et aimez l'excitation du magasinage. Mais avez-vous ce frisson d'obtenir le meilleur deal? Les membres de Rakuten, eux, oui. Ils magasinent les marques qu'ils aiment et font d'importantes économies, en plus des remises en argent. Et vous pouvez aussi commencer à gagner des remises en argent dans vos magasins préférés,

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I won't keep our audience in suspense about which one of us it is. One of us has five buckles, one of us doesn't. You can guess which one it is. What I'd like to talk about is keeping rodeo culture and cowboy culture and that love of Western heritage alive. I know this is something that you've spoken about in the past. Can you tell me why it's important to keep those things alive? Yeah, I think it's huge. You know, it's, I don't want to call it a dying breed, but it's somewhat of a dying breed with the way society's going nowadays and the way the youth's heading. And that's why I'm huge on having clinics and doing schools

and trying to promote our sport, but not just rodeo, but Western lifestyle, whether it's farming, ranching, anything agriculture. FFA is huge, 4-H, anything like that that keeps kids. And they don't have to be ranch kids. They could be city kids that want to get involved in the lifestyle and just kind of go that way with their lives. And I think it's huge to keep promoting it and keep pushing it. And as an athlete in rodeo, I think there's an avenue for not just ranch and rodeo kids or farm kids to

be involved in. I think it's a lifestyle for anybody and everybody that wants to choose to go that way. And that syncs up very well with the mission of Rodeo Houston. That is the chief mission here is agriculture, education kind of go hand in hand. So you're talking right into all the things that we had heard in a previous episode of this podcast series from Joel Cowley and Jim Winnie, who are two of the top dogs on the board. So I know that that's right in sync with some of the things they would like to hear. Yeah. And, you know, especially with Rodeo Houston, what I see from the time I came here in 2000, which was my rookie year, all they're trying to do is make the lifestyle bigger and better and expand it. And that's what we need. Like I said earlier,

you know, the way the society is going, we need more kids out there, whether they're from the inner city or farms and ranches, just to keep pushing it and want to stay involved. To that end, but somewhat of a sidestep, is the sport of rodeo in general growing? Do you think the popularity is growing? I think it has peaks and valleys since I've started, especially. I see spots where it's kind of declining and then areas where it's starting to come back and grow. The state of California, when I was in high school, I want to say we had 45 steer wrestlers, and I choose steer wrestling because that's my main event, obviously. And now that the state finals,

I think there's maybe 25, 30 kids. So they haven't even filled their field for the complete, you know, to have the state finals and fill it. And it is growing. I think in the past there was maybe not even 20. So to see that it's starting to get more and more kids involved, I think is huge. And so to say, yeah, I would say, yes, it is growing. And, you know, with events like Houston and the scholarships they're putting out, you know, these kids, they can go to an egg school on an egg scholarship and get more involved in rodeo and help grow the sport that way. Maybe they didn't come from a rodeo or ranching family, but hey, they want to put some money into it and get, you know, put that in their future. I think that's great and just helps the growth.

Yeah. And I think the reason that I really thought about this is that this podcast is devoted to telling the stories of the old west, the kind of classic tales of the old west that many of us grew up hearing. And when I started the podcast, I was shocked to see the appetite for those stories, not only in this country, but around the world. So there's this really kind of interesting push-pull dynamic to where society is really advancing in certain areas and technology is growing by leaps and bounds every day, yet there is still more of an appetite for these kind of older ways and these things that we used to do a lot more than we do now. It feels like it's kind of the same thing with rodeo.

The passion for the sport, the Rodeo Houston is a huge event. The NFR is a huge event. There are these massive events. So while some civilization advances in other ways with technologies, the older, the older ways still grow. They still move. There is still interest in them. The people are still finding them and still latching onto them. There is still an appetite for those things. Do you see that in your sport? I see it with the stories that I tell. Do you see that as well on your end?

Yeah, well, you do see that. And especially now being a father of three, it's something that I actually have to learn from because my kids, they want to get on the iPad and the iPhone and the computer. I'm like, no, go outside and play. Well, that's not the way the world's headed. I mean, I don't know how to run an iPhone like my eight-year-old does. You know, Jameson, he could grab a phone and go, no, this is how you do this, this, this. I'm like, I'm 38 years old. I don't know that. You know, and the three-year-old does. You know, Jameson, he could grab a phone and go, no, this is how you do this, this, this. I'm like, I'm 38 years old. I don't know that. You know, and the three-year-old, he's no different. And the 11-year-old, they just, they need to learn these things, especially technology-wise. But yet at the same time, I still try to teach them, you have to have the old country way of life. You know, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, open the doors,

take your hat off when you shake hands. And I think if you could teach the children or the kids, the society nowadays, those respects of elders or whatever you want to call it, I think that'll, you know, it's a happy medium between the two and a good balance. And I think that's huge, especially with the way, like I say, our society's headed. And some of your children, I don't know if all three are involved in rodeo at this stage, but I know at least a couple of them are. Oh, no, all three of them are, yeah. Cade actually won his first saddle this last year, and he's pumped, and Jameson won his last year, and then the baby bear, three years old, I think he thinks he's better than everybody in the family. I mean, he swings a rope better than I do. He bulldogs the dogs, and I mean, he's,

I don't know where he's going to go, but wherever he goes, he thinks he's going to be the best, which, you know, is a great attitude to have. We just need to make sure we can contain it and have him be respectful about it. Right. Exactly. But it sounds like your kids are living, breathing examples of what we just talked about. And my kind of fumbling, rambling question there, they're doing both. They embrace the technology, but they also embrace the cowboy and rodeo culture at the same time. For sure. And it's something that I don't feel like I've had to, and I never will, I'll never push it on them. It's something that they have to want, and that's any child or kid, they have to want it to be able to, you know, for me to be able to help them with it. I don't want to push it on them because the way I've seen it in the past, kids get stuff pushed on them so hard, they just get burned out and don't want anything to do. And baseball, to me, is a prime example. These parents want to live through these kids by pushing them and pushing them. Finally, they get to high school and they say, I don't want to play anymore. No different in rodeo.

You know, you have to let them find what they want to do, what they love. And I hope it is in the Western lifestyle, you know, the farm, ranch, anything in that direction. But if it's not, I know that they're still going to have those roots and be able to share lifestyle, you know, the farm ranch, anything in that direction. But if it's not, I know that they're still going to have those roots and be able to share it, you know, later in their future. Right. And so let's pivot into where we're at now. As anyone who's listening to this knows, we're at the Rodeo Houston event. You just mentioned your first time here was in 2000, I believe. So you were a savvy veteran of Rodeo Houston at this point. Tell me about some of the memories you've had over the years. What makes Rodeo Houston a unique event for you? What sets it apart from others? Well, to start my rookie year, first year I ever ran in this building, I won the go-round. So, you know, that was an amazing feeling. And I grew up loving baseball.

And to be able to win a go-round in a building that Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell played in, you know, was huge. And then walking around, I think it was the shoot club underneath the bleachers to see their names on the wall and go by the, you know, the dugouts and everything down there. The clubhouse was awesome. And that's a memory that I share with my kids at least every year when they talk about me coming to Houston. And then not only that, but just the, you know, the family atmosphere when you get here. Whenever you walk in this building, it happened coming in today. Hey, Luke, how are you? And I didn't get to come last year because I was injured. But to have these people remember you, and not just from necessarily being

a world champion or, you know, a good cowboy in the arena, but just being seen all the time at such a great event, you know, those are, those are things that you're never going to forget and friends that you're, you're never going to, you know, be able to make anywhere else in the world like you do in Houston. I was, I'd been curious about this aspect of steer wrestling specifically. How important is it to be in sync with your horse? How much training do you do? Can you tell me about that side of things? Like I think many people may focus on you actually performing the act. Tell me about the ride up. Tell me about getting out of the chute and being in sync with your animal before you even leap off.

Yeah, it's very important. And you know, you could ride your horse. And one thing about steer wrestling is we don't always ride our own horses. A lot of times a guy will have a horse that's a little better or our horse is another rodeo and will share rides. But it is very important to have a horse that you know. And, you know, especially from the time you nod your head to know if that horse is going to score, where he's going to run, how he's going to run, and the position you need to ride him into. And, you know, that's one thing about me is I attribute a lot of my success to the horses that I've been riding. And Rusty's the horse I'm riding this year. I won Houston on him, I believe it was in 2015.

And just an amazing horse. Dakota won it. Dakota Elder Jones, Rusty, he won it on him the next year. I won the national finals on him and the world championship in 14. So I feel I'm pretty confident and know what this horse is going to do. And like you said, it is very important, especially when you come to rodeo with this type of money up and this big a purse to win that you better be in sync and in time with what you're getting on. Right. So you and Rusty are back as a team together this time in 2019.

Yes, we are. And we got a great hazer Clayton Haas on the other side and looking for a big paycheck here in a couple of weeks. Yeah, fantastic. And we've talked a little bit about that with other guests on this podcast series, but is that another feature of Rodeo Houston that makes it unique, the size of the purse and the way that it can help sustain an athlete through the year? Yeah, for sure. I mean, any time you have a chance at, you know, 50,000, especially the last day, and then whatever you win coming into it, it's huge.

And this year, you know, another special thing for it is it counts towards the PRCA World Standings. And for a cowboy that's end goal is to win a gold buckle or make the national finals, that's huge. Me with three kids at home and my wife busy working and baseball and everything going on, if I were to come out here and win this rodeo in 19, it would put me that much closer to the national finals so early I'd be able to get to go home and enjoy more time with the family and kids and, you know, I guess be more of a dad than a ghost. So, I mean, that alone is huge just for that money counting into the world standings. Yeah, and you're also leading into a topic that listeners who are listening to this episode will have just heard me talk about with Catherine the realities of the rodeo athlete.

I think when the average person thinks of professional athletes, they're naturally going to think of football players, basketball players, baseball players. Athletes who make hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in their contracts. They fly around on private planes. They have private chauffeurs to different facilities that are owned by the team. If they need a piece of equipment, they can simply ask the team or ask a sponsor. The reality of a rodeo athlete is oftentimes very different. Can you tell me about some of those differences? Well, other than Rodeo Houston, most rodeos we go to, we have to pay an entry fee. So just to be able to compete or play, however you look at it, you have to pay an entry fee anywhere

from 50 to $450 just before you even compete on your animal. If you don't do good on your animal, guess what? That 450 goes to the prize and you go home or go to another rodeo. So, you know, it's a pay to play game. Like I said, other than Rodeo Houston and a couple others we go to throughout the year, you have to pay entry fees. And then up and down the road, we have to pay our own fuel, our own food. There's no gimmies in rodeo. And for me, I've had some great sponsors along the way that have helped me be able to sustain some of that money that I spend, help keep some of it in the bank. But to me, it's nothing compared to any other type of athlete. You know, and it's a lifestyle.

We want to call ourselves a sport, but until we get more events like Houston and Calgary and the American, we're not, in my opinion, a true sport. And I think we do have great potential to get there. We just need the leadership to take us that way and examples such as Houston and and other places I named, I think to help lead us into that direction. Right. It sounds like it's slowly moving in the right direction. We're getting there. And as we talked about a second ago, as the popularity grows, hopefully there are more peaks than valleys in that whole process, but hopefully it'll get up to that level at some point. Next thing I wanted to bring up is in researching steer wrestling, I didn't know who was the record holder for most number of steer wrestling championships. I learned the name Homer Pettigrew.

He has the world record with six. You're right below him with five. How high on your list of goals is tying the man? You know, I guess when I was younger, it was something I looked to do. But now it's this year of rodeo, and my goal is to make the national finals and win a world championship, not to tie the man. But my other two, the two oldest boys got to see me be successful in Las Vegas and win the world's championships.

Bear hasn't, and he loves rodeo. He watches it on YouTube. I mean, every time there's – when I'm home, he's like, let's watch rodeo. He watches it on YouTube. I mean, every time there's, when I'm home, he's like, let's watch bull ride and let's watch steer wrestling. So my goal is to get there and win one for him because he hasn't got to experience it, you know? And yeah, that means Ty and Homer Pettigrew for the most, but I can't, I can't say that if I don't, that I, the only thing I would regret is not letting Bear be able to let me see, see myself do it. Right. It's, It harkens back to the lifestyle that you were talking about and

keeping that alive. Now, right now, the most important thing is to hopefully have your children see you win one on the biggest stage possible. That's for sure. And like I said, Rodeo Houston counting for the national finals, this could be a big, big step towards that goal. As we wrap up, I want to make a kind of a hard left-hand turn here with a couple of fun ones. Number one, are there any rituals you do before an event? We know you have a great one when you win. Is there anything you do beforehand? Any superstitions or rituals before you actually get started? Oh, not really. I mean, I was always told don't, you know, compete with change in your pocket because that's all you're ever going to win. So I try my best to avoid putting change in my pocket at any time.

I usually have a cup in my truck that I'll put the loose change in or I'll put it in my brace bag that I pack with me everywhere. And, you know, something like that. Or don't put your hat on the bed. I mean, you think about these things and how stupid they are, but how we still follow them. Yeah, they get locked in somehow. They get ingrained in you. You start thinking, I know this doesn't mean anything, but what if it does?

Do I really want to take the chance? Well, I mean, I'm sure there's times where I've competed with change in my pocket and won first and never even thought about it. And then the one time that I'm like, oh, I'm just going to leave this change in my pocket, go out there, hit on my head. I'm like, ah, it was a change's fault. Of course it was, yes. Yeah, now you're thought about it. And then the one time that I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna leave this change in my pocket, go out there, hit on my head. I'm like, ah, it was a change's fault. Of course it was, yes.

Yeah, now you're conscious of it. Now it ruined the whole thing. We can never do that again. Right. Of course. So then the last question I want to follow up with, what is the strangest thing that's ever happened to you during a competition?

Oh, boy, that's a tough one. I mean, other than probably a steer tearing my pants off, you know, I did have a steer stick his horn down my pants, my belt, and I was hung up to him for a good, it had to have been a good minute before I got everything loose. I mean, it was between my belt, it was, I was, horn was everywhere and I, it was, it was tough to get that horn out. But after everybody got a good laugh and I was able to get it out, neither I or the steer were injured, so everything was good. We're definitely thankful for both of those. Now, is that the same as the pants tearing story, or are those two separate stories? Those are two separate stories, yeah.

The pants tearing story, that wasn't good. in the mud and he i mean i think he got his feet all over me and tore his torn my pants pretty much completely off me i mean a good thing i was wearing a good pair of cinch jeans and and they they held up in the areas that they needed to we'll be thankful for that as well right we'll certainly wrap up with those two great stories to end with thank you very much for being on the podcast. We really appreciate it. You bet. Thanks, Luke. Thanks to Catherine and Luke for their time.

And thanks to you all for listening. Next week, we'll wrap up this special three-part series with an episode entirely about music. You'll hear more stories from former Rodeo Chief Operating Officer Leroy Schaefer and interviews with some of this year's biggest performers. We'll see you then.