Bulldogging Baby
Baby Doll Combs, owned by steer wrestler and Rodeo Champion Willard Combs is thought to be the best Steer Wrestling horse, or “bulldogger” that ever rode the circuit. During her seven peak years of rodeo competition from 1953 to when she died in 1960 she earned over $400,000 in prize money, which in today’s dollars would amount to around $2,965,000. In 1957 Willard Combs won the Championship Steer Wrestling title on Baby Doll, and that year, the cowboys who took second, third, fourth and fifth in the standings were also riding Baby Doll. Famous Rodeo Cowboy, Bill Linderman said that Baby Doll knew bulldogging better than some of the cowboys who were riding her. When she died at a Kansas Rodeo in 1960 from a ruptured spleen, Willard Combs had her shipped back to his ranch in Oklahoma to be buried. Standing at the graveside, when she was laid to rest were many of the cowboys who had ridden her. Baby Doll was inducted into the PRCAHall of Fame in 1979 with their very first class of inductees and is remembered as one of the greatest Rodeo horses of all times.
Ready to Rodeo
Evergreen Rodeo Drill Team (Photo credit: oddharmonic)
We are ready to kick up our heels and spend some time getting immersed in our western roots. We’re looking forward to some breathtaking bull riding on Friday night, an event that is sponsored by Pine Country Feed. Bull riding is all about the thrill, which is right up our alley. There is nothing quite like the cool mountain air, stars in the sky, hang on until the buzzer goes evening that you can only find at the Evergreen Rodeo. Come early and stop by the Pine Country booth where you’ll find the sassy style you have come to expect from our store. The Evergreen Rodeo is the official beginning of the western summer, so put on your hat, pull on your boots and get your fist around a turkey leg – it’s rodeo time!
Beat the Buzzer
Father’s Day weekend is legendary in Evergreen, Colorado; the weekend everything comes to a halt and residents become remnants of a bygone day, when there was nothing better than a night under the lights at the rodeo. Sit in the front row where you can feel the breath of the champion horses as they race past, carrying cowboys and cowgirls in their best show time regalia. We love the thrill of the ride, hoping the eight second clock will buzz before our cowboy flies into the air, wanting just one more bull rider to challenge the timer and beat the beast at his own game. It is the fun that reminds us we are Americans and we live in the west, where everything is a little wilder and a little more challenging and a lot more of what we love. Saddle up and wave your flag, you are about to enjoy a great chunk of Americana.
Missing the Wild
So we have recently found the choices for big cinema entertainment wanting, and we have finally put our finger on the problem. The movies tend to parade leading men across the screen who obviously spend a good portion of their time in the gym, not necessarily bad. But we are bothered by the fact that only a small handful of the real leaders could manage a ride on a horse. They simply wouldn’t look right astride one of the glorious equines of the Hollywood 40s and 50s and we can’t even imagine most of them being able to get on the horse without major injury. Cowboy movies, the real westerns that put the country west of the Mississippi on the map, needed men to be rugged, not fit necessarily, but tough, and since the horse has been removed as one of Hollywood’s main characters, that element of grit, of rock solid, take no prisoners, don’t make me pull my six shooter persona has faded to black. There have been a few westerns in the past decade that have proven that there are a few of those boys left, but too few to our liking. Somehow being able to download the secrets of the defense department before the guy in the suit walks into the room just doesn’t give off the same aura as a man who can control his horse with the reigns in his teeth, riding at the speed of locomotion, while he wields both of his guns with the accuracy of a sharpshooter. Imagine.
Not So Wild West
Academy award winning actor, Henry Fonda, awarded the sixth “Greatest Male Film Star of All Time” by the American Film Institute, played a variety of roles, in films that are considered classics, worth seeing again, like Jezebel, Twelve Angry Men, Grapes of Wrath and Mr. Roberts. He was a classic actor, always underplaying his role, but owning the screen nonetheless. So when the American Western became the film genre that everyone wanted, Henry Fonda found a way to make it work. In some ways he wasn’t believable as a cowboy. His features were a bit too refined and his voice had a compelling gentle timbre that didn’t ring true in the old west. Still, he pulled off some of his greatest roles in the saddle in The Tin Star, How the West Was Won, Fort Apache and Warlock, carving out for himself a place as the rational cowboy, the one who thought before he pulled his gun, and perhaps that is what movie goers came to love best about him. He brought civility to the dusty streets of Hollywood’s Wild West, and a bit of un-fussy refinement, and that was refreshing. He wasn’t one of those actors who seemed to be born with a Stetson on their head, but when he decided to wear one, it fit.
Cowboy Love
We have often wondered what it is about the legendary American cowboy that is so appealing to the world of 2011. They were people covered with calluses and basically held together by dirt, they rarely had money, many of them drank too much, they smelled of sweat both human and equine, they thought of spitting as a conventional past time and guns were their favorite accessory, and yet we love them and sometimes wish we were one of them. It is something about their grit, their willingness to keep going when the herd has run amuck, their quiet way of owning the room, their “not afraid of hard work, get it done” attitude that we think of as American fable. We want them to win, to get the girl, to love their horse, to kill the bad guy – and we want to believe that they do it all with the best of intentions and a heart of gold, because they belong to the roots of who we are. They are fully American and totally bigger than life and that makes them the center of our dreams and the thing we love to believe in. Just a bunch of guys who wrestled cows and rode the range and we can’t get enough of them.
Practically Fabulous
The cowboy hat, though in large part, a fashion statement was originally developed and designed with the working cowboy, or ranch hand in mind. When the west was being settled there were any number of hat designs in use, bowlers being the most popular. The first cowboy has as we know it today was designed and manufactured in 1865 by John Batterson Stetson. He called his hat “Boss of the Plains” and it became the identifying accessory for the man of the American west. It had a wide brim, front and back to 
protect the eyes and the neck from sun and rain. They were made with four inch crowns to provide insulation from both heat and cold, they were light weight and waterproof. The hats were known for their rugged durability, standing up to any kind of punishment and they came to be a status symbol, an investment as it were to the working cow hand, and a fashion standard for men in the east. Early on the name Stetson became synonymous with the cowboy hat but even after the surge of the west its fame grew. In 1912 the battleship USS Maine was raised from Havana Harbor where it had sunk in 1898. A Stetson hat was recovered from the wreckage and after it was cleaned of debris, mud, and plant growth it proved to be undamaged and still waterproof.
To Top it Off
Since the royal nuptials it would seem that hats have come back in to fashion and they are showing up on a variety heads, in an even bigger variety of styles. Well, hats have always been in style at Pine Country, and why not. A good cowboy hat shades your eyes and skin from the sun, and makes a statement that is worth listening to. The great thing about a cowboy hat is that it serves a truly practical purpose while looking worthy of the head that wears it. There are the round topped, wide-brimmed American Hats, or the classic turned brim Stetsons made of the finest felt hide, or the Tony Llama Hat with just a touch of bling in the rim. The looks are endless and every one will bring you that cowboy or cowgirl persona that will never let you down. Because when you settle a real cowboy hat on your head you’re joining the ranks of a long line of American characters who were tougher and truer than whoever was in second place. They were full of adventure and grit and a spirit that still lives in every western heart. Just put on the hat and you’ll see what we mean.
Cowboy Strong
What is it about us that makes us love a cowboy? Maybe it’s because we think the truth is important, and pretention a waste of energy. There is something right about the man who gets up in the morning knowing that his day will be full and his exhaustion at the end of it complete, that the people he cares about are counting on him to work the land and move the cattle despite the elements. We like that he doesn’t try to impress us with his money or his education, because our opinion doesn’t really matter to him. His goal is to look himself in the mirror every evening and know that he left everything he had on the range, and tomorrow he will get up and do it again, because it is just what he does. Not to impress anyone, but because he wants to do it. He cares about the land and the livestock and treating both of them with respect. And when the sky grows dark and the ranch rests quietly he’ll sleep in his bed, knowing he did it right for another day, and every callous was worth it.
Front Row Seat
The Rodeo Parade is past and the streets are safe once again for the Lexus brigade without fear of getting unwanted debris on their tires, but the spirit of the day still lingers. You haven’t really lived until you’ve watched grown men dressed as trashcans dancing down Main Street Evergreen. The children were gleeful, the horses were noble, the people waving were tireless and the old cars were charming. But the true fun of the day was the camaraderie. Watching our friends and neighbors going by in the parade, feeling in a way that we know someone famous, yelling out people’s names, delighted to be part of their entourage. Around us we hear someone commenting on how great the “poms” did in their competition, someone else discussing if the boy on top of the stagecoach is Marion’s oldest or second son, a couple girls commenting on how adorable the new class of firefighter trainees are. For that morning, amidst all the noise and applause we are all family, cheering about the human ability to enjoy the simple things, regardless of what else might be going on in the world, because for that morning, our whole world is in the Parade.
Kick Up Your Heels
So do you have your boots for the Rodeo yet? You know it’s this Saturday. Seriously girls! Get your feet in gear and get over to Pine Country Feed, where there are boots just right for your cowgirl feet. And while you’re at it, grab a hat for your adorable cowgirl head. Seriously!
Rodeo Ready
Time to get your style on for the Evergreen Rodeo – the weekend when we’re all cowboys and cowgirls, and the more put together the better. You may want to start with a belt, something studded with silver or blinged with rhinestones, which of course will have a greater impact when accompanied by the right pair of Cowgirl Tuff jeans, and you may as well top it off with one of the designer shirts that Pine Country Feed is famous for. Did we mention that Pine Country Feed is the Cowgirl Capital of the world, because they really get that being comfortable and looking your best should go hand in hand, the perfect pairing of relaxed living and eye catching flair? The Board Walk is waiting for your sassy approach, so pull it all together with the perfect hat, wide brimmed, leather banded, feathered set off with a pounded silver emblem, Pine Country has it all. That’s why you and PC are meant for each other. All you with just the right amount of wild, the best of the west!
Ride ‘em
It may be the gold in the buckle for the competing cowboys but for the rest of us it’s the turkey legs and funnel cakes, the seats so close you can feel the spray of the dirt as the bull races by, it’s a night in June with the lights on the arena and the clowns in the barrels, the flags flying and the crowd cheering, hoping that eight second buzzer will ring before our cowboy loses his grip. The Evergreen Rodeo, which is rodeo up close and personal is a celebration of the American spirit, an evening to see something that most of us never come close to, a parade of horses in their finest regalia, and royalty in satin and sequence, and we love it. Bring on the bulls and the broncs and the thrill of the Wild West. It’s the rodeo and we love it!
Step Lively
On a magical morning in June, June 18th to be exact, if you’re on Evergreen Parkway in the early morning hours and you look to the eastern ridge across the road you’ll see a site worth the wait. One at a time and all in a row, horses of every breed and distinction will come over the hill and down the road as they and their stately riders join the Evergreen Rodeo Parade. They are beautiful and noble as they make their way along the parade route down Main Street to applauding crowds and waving flags, and despite the recent scare in equestrian circles, they will be here this year to thrill onlookers and remind us that this country was built on their backs, and they are perhaps the best friends we have ever had. It is a piece of Americana that cannot be ignored, because today, and for hundreds of years in our history, it has been the same. When the weather turns warm and there is something to celebrate, Americans will be there, to make it happen, and no matter how many times we see it, the Rodeo Parade, with the fabulous horses, make us want to stand up and be proud. The massive four-legged beasts are part of us, and no matter how old we get, we will stop to watch them strut by.
Roll Up Your Sleeves
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” Abraham Lincoln
Cowgirl Heart
There’s a reason I’m a cowgirl, actually a few reasons. It’s about the horses which sometimes are more human than people, and about that relationship of trust with an animal that speaks to your soul. There’s an independence in riding and thinking and being part of the sky and the trail and knowing that you belong where it’s just a little bit wild. I like the feel of jeans that are saddle worn and boots that can haul during the day and dance after dark, and I like being part of a great sorority of women who have stood for family and hard work and knowing when to let their hair down. It does my heart good to know that I live in a country that was settled by people with spirit, men and women who valued the cost of freedom and who believed in making their own way. Cowgirls are so much more than the blingy belts and the sassy hats and the jeans that are made for curves, but all those things say that we are who we are and we’re proud of it. Give me my horse and my home, and a man who can keep up with my dreams, and I’ve pretty much got heaven on earth.
Cowgirls on Parade
The Evergreen Rodeo is around the corner, Father’s Day weekend as a matter of fact, and part of the fun is showing up in the right garb. Don’t look like a cowgirl wannabe, in jeans that are too blue and too plain, and a polo shirt. Pine Country has the jeans you need with just the right amount of bling and the perfect fit, and a studded t-shirt that will give you the look. There is a good chance that you will need a jacket, though it be June, the evenings can be cool, and if you’re going to wear a jacket it better be made of denim, and it better look like it has been to more than one round up. And don’t forget your head – yes you’ll want a hat – it’s the best part, and you’ll look like you were born to the life. You’ll need boots but don’t panic, we’ve got boots. Gorgeous boots that you’ll want to wear to the bull riding, the dance afterwards and the party after that. Finally, don’t go to the rodeo without your jewelry – bracelets, pendants and chains, earrings and even a snappy watch. When the cowboys ride into town they’ll need something to think about while they’re being thrown from the back of a horse, and it may as well be you.
Two Faced
There isn’t a bigger star in country music than Kenny Chesney. He is an “everybody’s pal” kind of guy, singing songs about playing football in high school and believing the woman he loves hung the moon. He represents the guy who grew up in a small town, working the fields during the warm weather and stopping in for a beer with the guys after parking his tractor for the night, spending his winters carving whistles for his kids out of hickory branches. On the other hand he sounds like the guy who is happiest sacked out in a hammock on the beach, sipping rum drinks and charming the girls with his guitar playing ways in the evening. He is a paradoxical character, proud of his country boy upbringing in Tennessee, but attached to his tropical lifestyle in the U.S Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. So which is the Kenny that you love best – the beach bum or the good old boy? Strangely he has been successful in melding his two personas into one fun-loving cowboy, and he continues to be one of the highest grossing tours in country music year after year, and there’s really nothing wrong with knowing where you came from and loving where you are – all at the same time.
Cowboy Culture
So you’re wondering why in a world where speed and riches are everything I would choose to be a cowboy. Why would I choose to work until I’m blistered and bruised and covered with dirt, and what is it about me that makes me think it’s okay to wear jeans for my work clothes and jeans for my church clothes and jeans when I take my best girl to dinner. You wanna know why a guy like me, with a Masters Degree in Business, would spend long nights in the barn during calving season, and longer days in the winter getting hay to the herd on the upper forty, and why I would rather shake hands with a man whose palms are worn by the reins of a horse than one who has a cell phone attached to his ear. You can’t figure what makes someone like me tear up when I see a soldier salute the flag and why I think of a summer afternoon on the porch as paradise, why I wouldn’t think of leaving the house without my hat. The answer is a simple one, but it’s the only explanation I can think of. Truth is … I was born this way.
Cowboy Love
We have often wondered what it is about the legendary American cowboy that is so appealing to the world of 2011. They were people covered with calluses and basically held together by dirt, they rarely had money, many of them drank too much, they smelled of sweat both human and equine, they thought of spitting as a conventional past time and guns were their favorite accessory, and yet we love them and sometimes wish we were one of them. It is something about their grit, their willingness to keep going when the herd has run amuck, their quiet way of owning the room, their “not afraid of hard work, get it done” attitude that we think of as American fable. We want them to win, to get the girl, to love their horse, to kill the bad guy – and we want to believe that they do it all with the best of intentions and a heart of gold, because they belong to the roots of who we are. They are fully American and totally bigger than life and that makes them the center of our dreams and the thing we love to believe in. Just a bunch of guys who wrestled cows and rode the range and we can’t get enough of them.
Kick it Up
How about taking some of that Wild West ingenuity and spicing up the office – the place where the same work gets done every day and the brain begins to atrophy. We are told that the office requires professionalism and it does, but professional does not need to be synonymous with a “gee, I hope the parole board grants me an early release”. There is no place where the manifestation of your personality is more important than in your office, because remember, you weren’t hired to fill a chair, or because you were exactly like the person they just got rid of. They saw a spark in you, and you need to fan that ember into a nice warm fire that tells the people you work with that things are going to happen when you’re in the room, so they just better get ready. Hang cowboy hats on the coat rack, and wear one from time to time, put a painting of a horse in a full out run on the wall opposite your desk. It will remind you that there is life out there waiting for you. Hang spurs on the doorknob and throw an Indian blanket over the leather side chair. If someone questions whether or not you are behaving in a professional manner, explain that you absolutely are – a professional cowgirl.
No Place Like Pine Country
Pine Country Feed, your local livestock and pet food 
supplier, was voted Best Pet Store in Mountain Connection’s “Best of” competition, and it isn’t any wonder. If choice is important they carry all of the brands you’ve hear d of and a few you haven’t – Purina, Manna Pro, Buckeye, Innova, Nutro, Natural Balance and Timberwolf to name a few. They also carry food and supplements to nourish your hamster, ferret, rat, chinchilla, guinea pig
, mouse, cat and dog, and February is National Bird Feeding month, so not only do they have everything you need for your finch, canary, parakeet, cockatiel or parrot, but you will receive 15% off on your purchase of an outdoor feeder and it includes the food. Pine Country’s shelves are stocked with toys, treats, collars, leashes, bowls, grooming supplies and supplements for your furry friends, and their supply of bones and hooves for the chewer in the family is not to be believed. I gave my dog a hoof from Pine Country the other 
day and now he looks at me with such gratitude it is almost heartbreaking. He cries when he sees me getting his hoof out of the closet and this morning he wrote me into his will, and all because of Pine Country Feed. Now that’s a pet store!
Mount Up
The worst fall we will ever take is the one that makes us decide to give up, the stumble or the crash that makes us say, “this hurt too much, I am not doing it again”. Because that fall has told us that we are beatable, and it is a lesson we will never forget. Getting back on the horse will probably always be the hardest choice we will ever make, and at the moment, staying down will be much easier. When our heart has been broken can we risk further love, when we’ve failed the class will we sign up again, when we’ve gone to the plate twice and struck out should we step up a third time? If the answer is no, we are setting a course for our lives that will be driven by fear and limited by self protection. We will accomplish less than we are meant to do, and we will never know how me might have lived. It is a matter of finding the strength to lift the saddle once again, to pull the strap tight, put a boot in the stirrup and climb back on the horse. We must ride like we own him, like there has never been a fall, like flipping head over heels in the air was all part of the plan, because, like it or not, it was part of the plan-the most important part. The part that taught us we could, that when it came down to it, we were meant to ride. Give it a kick and hang on. We’ll fall again, but we have proven it doesn’t matter.
Come the White Horse
Say the word thunder and an image of skies flashing and clouds crashing come to mind, but around here, in Bronco Country, say the word Thunder and an eleven year old white Arabian, and the mascot for the Denver Broncos comes into view. It is only natural that Denver would name their team the Broncos, which refers to “bronco busting,” which is when a cowboy deliberately seats himself on the back of horse that does not in any way want him there. The goal is to stay on the horse for eight seconds, not a long time, unless you’re being tossed in the air by a twelve hundred pound animal that is literally frantic to land you in the next county. This image works both for Colorado and the Broncos because we are all about taking chances, thundering hooves, muscled chests and flaring nostrils, and when we think of Thunder we think of the white, sleek Arabian that races out of the portal on a Sunday afternoon to the roaring crowds of Invesco Field. Thunder represents that undying belief that lives in the heart of every Bronco fan, that regardless of last week’s outcome, we are winners and we will again be on top, because that is what we do in Colorado. We change the plan, get creative, believe like a bunch of kids, plant both feet firmly on the ground, work it like we mean it, knowing that tomorrow is another day and we’ll be there, ready to win, and happy to shout about it. Saddle up, Thunder, we are ready to ride!
