One of the best attributes of rodeo is the willingness of seasoned professionals to share their knowledge with young up-and-comers. Canadian bareback rider Orin Larsen has been winning at the pro level for over a decade, qualifying for eight national finals. He sustained a serious thumb injury at last year’s NFR but is back feeling better than ever. Rookie pro bareback rider Donny Proffit competed for the University of Wyoming and is planning on a lengthy, successful career. Larsen spent time over the last year helping UW student-athletes prepare for their journey. On July 25, Larsen and Proffit advanced to the semifinals starting July 28.

This story is more about the wagons and keeping history alive.

R&R in the Spratt family stands for ranching and rodeo. KL (Spratt) Collmorgen got married in 2020 and now lives in Texas with her husband, Clayton. KL was born and raised in Lysite, WY, where she developed a self-deprecating sense of humor along with considerable skills in the rodeo arena. On July 24, Collmorgen advanced to the breakaway roping semifinals at Cheyenne Frontier Days by posting a top-four time of five seconds flat.

The cowboy with #1 on his back number at Cheyenne Frontier Days this year has a smile for everyone he meets. An Oklahoman, Coleman Proctor, happily spends time encouraging kids to choose rodeo as a way of life. Proctor and his partner have advanced to the semifinals team roping, and while he won’t repeat as an all-around champ, you would be hard-pressed to meet a more engaging supporter of ‘The Daddy of ’em All.’

Retired state tourism director for Wyoming, Gene Bryan, called Cheyenne Frontier Days rookie bronc riding a rodeo unto itself, and that was clearly in evidence at ‘The Daddy’ on July 23 when it was Ben Kukowski’s turn. The Kaycee, WY cowboy, rode for Casper College and now works as a cattle buyer for Torrington Livestock. His trip in the big Cheyenne arena ended on the track in front of the grandstands. Kudos to the talented team of CFD pickup men who got there fast. Fans were supercharged, as was Ben. He pulled off the old bronc rider classic move doffing his hat to the crowd.

It’s been nearly a decade since Richmond Champion lived up to his name bareback riding at Cheyenne Frontier Days. The Texas native, now transplanted to Montana, proved on July 22 at ‘The Daddy’ he could still keep up and surpass the young guns, winning his section with an 85-point ride. Champion likes the tournament-style progressive format Cheyenne has adopted in which the top four advance in each event to semifinal competition starting Friday.

Missouri’s Allysa Spierings showed up and showed out to take home her second consecutive champion’s buckle at the fan-favorite Women’s Ranch Bronc World Finals hosted by Cheyenne Frontier Days this weekend. Women from the US, Canada, Australia, and Belgium qualified to compete, and Spierings was overjoyed with the win.

Seth Peterson earned two degrees at the University of Wyoming, and has gotten by a pair of steers at Cheyenne Frontier Days advancing to the semifinals. The North Dakota native finished in the top four on July 22 in front of packed house of more than 15,500, loving every minute of it. Peterson is head rodeo coach at Colorado State University, but he is first and foremost a cowboy, especially on a horse called ‘Coors’

A young barrel racer out to run the qualifying round pattern for her first time at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 19 spent the better part of childhood in the announcer booth with her father, Justin McKee. He and his wife Jeannie were at ‘The Daddy’ to support daughter Kassidy. Justin is now a featured on-air talent for The Cowboy Channel. They’ll bring a crew to Cheyenne for live broadcasts of the afternoon performances starting Saturday. The McKees have a long-standing love affair with Cheyenne Frontier Days.

It was a great day of tie down roping at Cheyenne Frontier Days and in fact it was the best ever. The arena record of 9.9 seconds set in 1997 was matched twice during the first qualifying round July 17. The record was surpassed two times before 205 ropers completed their work. Oklahoma’s Tyler Milligan was fastest of them all stopping the clock at 9.3 seconds to collect a check for more than $5,100.