Style & Design
March 12, 2024
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dressing Like a Cowgirl
Before Beth Dutton and Beyoncé, “rodeo wear” was just a style I had been taught all my life to avoid.
Rodeo
Food & Drink
March 4, 2024
This San Angelo Steakhouse Is Famous on the Rodeo Circuit
As ropers and riders come through town in the spring to compete, a stop at Western Sky Steakhouse is a must. For me, a San Angelo native, it’s simply a taste of home.
The Texanist
February 29, 2024
The Texanist: Why Doesn’t Dallas Have a Rodeo?
An investigation into Big D's lack of a big, dusty to-do.
Style & Design
February 28, 2024
The Best Looks From the Houston Rodeo’s Opening Day
A mix of traditional and more . . . avant-garde . . . cowboys turned out for H-Town’s biggest Western event of the year.
The Texanist
January 23, 2024
The Texanist: Can Texas Show Two Middle-aged English Women a Good Time?
Q: A lifelong dream of mine was to go ranching and horseback riding in the U.S., and finally last year my best friend, Maxinne, and I visited Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans and had the time of our lives, so in February we’re doing it again. This time, Texas: horses, country
Sponsored
August 15, 2023
PBR Gambler Days Presented by Tecovas
There is nothing quite like the world of professional bull riding (PBR). For both the riders and onlooking fans, PBR offers the most intense and exciting eight seconds in sports. PBR Teams events offers PBR fans new and old the comradery of cheering on their favorite team as riders fight
Meanwhile, in Texas
July 27, 2023
The Ballad of Willy, the Missing Willacy County Rodeo Goat
The li’l guy went missing a week ago. Whoever finds him is going to be rich (in barbecue, gift cards, and pie).
Sports
February 1, 2023
Rodeo Fans Should Grow Up Learning About This Legendary Black Rider
A writer looks back on his 2018 cover story on Myrtis Dightman Sr., “the Jackie Robinson of Rodeo,” who broke the sport’s color line.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Myrtis Dightman Is the Jackie Robinson of Rodeo
The Hall of Fame bull rider is the subject of an upcoming documentary and a Hollywood biopic—but if you ask him he’s “just a cowboy.”
Sports
January 20, 2021
Broken Pelvises, Collapsed Lungs, and Decades of Winning: Barrel Racing’s Martha Josey Has Seen It All
Karnack’s “Queen of Sequins” brought style, success, and unprecedented longevity to her legendary rodeo career.
The Stand Up Desk
June 22, 2018
Behind the Lines: Christian Wallace on Our July 2018 Cover Story
Wallace wrote about the life and times of Myrtis Dightman, a rodeo star who should've been champ.
Feature
June 22, 2018
The Jackie Robinson of Rodeo
Five decades ago, Myrtis Dightman broke the color barrier in professional rodeo and became one of the best bull riders who ever lived. But his imprint on the sport was only just beginning.
Arts & Entertainment
August 13, 2015
The Cowgirl Way
The story behind rodeo star Tad Lucas’s little red riding boots.
The Texanist
July 15, 2014
The Texanist: Is There “No Such Thing as Bad Barbecue”?
Our estimable advice columnist on bad barbecue vs. no barbecue, rodeo bullfighting, and dogs at bars.
Sports
January 21, 2013
Did Fort Worth Really Have the World’s First Indoor Rodeo?
Kansas stakes a claim to the "World's Original Indoor Rodeo" title, a crown Fort Worth has worn since 1918.
Sports
January 20, 2013
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Ty Murray is the last pure American cowboy, a throwback to the mythic West. And if you visit him on his Stephenville ranch, you’d better be ready to ride.
Sports
January 20, 2013
Sports
Hot hurdling in Giddings, super six-man football in Gordon: Ten towns that got game.
True Crime
January 1, 2013
The Mystery of Lightning Medicine Cloud
When a rare white buffalo was born in North Texas, thousands came to celebrate the new age he heralded. A year later the animal was dead.
The Culture
March 1, 2011
The Texanist: Is the Rodeo Really Cruel?
Animal cruelty, greasy handshakes, offerings of meat, and Texas toasts—the spoken kind.
Sports
December 1, 2009
How to Barrel Race
HistoryAs with most rodeo events, pinpointing barrel racing’s exact origin is near impossible. “It probably started out as pretty women on fast horses, but now it’s a competitive sport for serious athletes,” says Martha Josey, a world-champion barrel racer, Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Famer, and co-owner of Josey Ranch,
Being Texan
July 31, 2001
Queen of the Rodeo
For teenage girls in the Hill Country town of Llano, life can be short on glamour and excitement—except at the annual rodeo, when one of them gets a rhinestone tiara and a rare, thrilling moment of glory.
Texas History
February 1, 1997
Bill Pickett
What was Bill Pickett’s nickname, and how did he wrestle steers to the ground?
Sports
January 1, 1996
Long Shot
Feasting our eyes on a blind team roper.
Art
April 1, 1995
Clowning Around
They crack wise while bulls charge them, and fans eat it up. A look at rodeo’s real ring leaders.
Sports
November 1, 1993
Tuff Stuff
Tuff Hedeman was born in El Paso and raised on rodeo. Today he’s one the best bull riders in the world.
Art
July 31, 1992
Rodeo Reliquary, 1991
After a visit abroad in 1987, Sean Earley transformed his art. He returned steeped in Italy’s ubiquitous religious imagery, eager to paint the icons of his home state’s country and western myths (see “Earley Texas,” TM, December 1990). In this memorial scene, the Rodeo Queen presides over ascending contestants. Set
Sports
March 1, 1992
Rodeo, Texas, U.S.A.
Rodeo, rodeo, wherefore art thou rodeo? Mary Ellen Mark went to small towns all over Texas to find out.
Critters
May 1, 1991
A Fool for Mules
One man’s quest to clear the reputation of an animal maligned.
Being Texan
November 1, 1987
Head, Heels, and Heart
For team ropers on the All-Girl circuit, the true reward is the happiness of pursuit.
Sports
February 1, 1977
Stars and Stripes
The rodeo where it really doesn’t pay to win.
Being Texan
September 30, 1975
In Search of the Modern Cowboy
In today‘s tame, tame West, the cowboy seldom rides a horse and never carries a gun, but the cattle business is bigger than ever.
Sports
February 28, 1974
Rodeo Madness
A rodeo is an anachronism, like javelin throwing: but its bumps, bruises, and brawls are real.