story by Lily Weinacht
“I just love rodeo, pure and simple,” says Josh Hammer. “I’ve tried to quit a couple times because of injuries or starting a business, and I may quit for a little while, but I keep getting drawn back.” The 36-year-old steer wrestler from Weatherford, Oklahoma, is the third generation of his family to compete. His dad competed in all of the roughstock and timed events, and while Josh enjoys team roping at home, steer wrestling is his event of choice. “My dad got me started in it when I was about fifteen, and I loved it ever since I threw my first steer. I wanted to perfect that one event before any others, and once I got started, I didn’t want to quit!”
Josh joined the M-SRA last year and qualified for their finals after he decided to spend the summer in Nebraska with Amber and Boe Coleman. “I have a lot of good friends up there, and I was there for a job. My traveling partners, Amber Coleman and Kelly Kohle, finally got me in the truck. In June, I’m usually rodeoing in Oklahoma in the ACRA and IPRA, but the people up there took me in like I’d been rodeoing there for twenty years. The people are wonderful, and I made a good friend at the first rodeo, Brady Hageman, who let me ride his horse all summer. Rodeo is all about the camaraderie and the brotherhood. I travel with two breakaway ropers and keeping that close friendship is a big part of it. So is taking off for the weekend and leaving everything else behind.”
In his early 20s, Josh started rodeoing with two-time world steer wrestling champion Stan Williamson, and he names Stan and his dad, Ron Hammer, as two of his greatest inspirations. “I learned everything I could from my dad – he was a great steer wrestler and competed on every circuit there is and was very successful. He sent me to Stan Williamson and he worked on me even more. Stan is great at that mental game.”
After high school, Josh rodeoed two years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, then joined the PRCA. “I’ll go to any rodeo – it doesn’t matter what letters are in front of them. I try to meet people and the committees and make it a point to tell them thank you or what I think needs improving. I’m all about furthering our sport and keeping it here for a long time to come.”
If he’s not traveling for rodeos, Josh is often behind the wheel hauling expedited freight anywhere in the United States. Four years ago, he started a hotshot trucking business, Hammertime Hauling, with a one-ton flat bed trailer. “I love to golf,” Josh adds. “I like to golf anywhere and try new courses to challenge myself and see where I’m at. I took up golfing the first time I quit rodeoing because I tore my knee up. I took up golf every day for six years, but once I started rodeoing again, I put the golf clubs in the closet for a while. They’re both expensive hobbies!”
This year, Josh is working to qualify for the M-SRA finals again. “I like to compete to the best of my ability, and I like to practice a lot. I try to mount out with Stan Williamson. He and my dad taught me that when it comes to finals, you do your best and you’ll make it in the end where you’re supposed to. It doesn’t matter what rodeo I go to – I do my best every time I back into the box and nod my head.” #truckboss #ankles #bfi
