story by Siri Stevens
Rodeo is a family affair for Mike, Joanne, and Cash Shegan. Mike has been roping his whole life. The 52-year-old from Chelsea, Michigan, spent his summers going from rodeo to rodeo as a kid, and now he’s doing it again. “My mom and dad rodeoed and my mom trick rode and roman rode and so did I.” He performed a lot of ARA rodeos in the Maryland area and up and down the East coast. He met his wife at a rodeo in Canada, she is a barrel racer and team roper. Cash competes in team roping, tie down roping, and steer wrestling. The soon to be 18-year-old will graduate this May and head to Kansas to rodeo for Chad Cross at Fort Scott Community College. He will major in criminal justice and carry on the family tradition.
Cash joined the MidStates this year so he could rope with his father before heading south. association this year. They rope together, but Cash also competes in steer wrestling and tie down roping, something Mike did when he was younger. Cash started competing when he was 14. He competes in Michigan High School rodeo association as well. He admits to being a better header than heeler, but prefers heeling. “It’s more of an adrenaline rush – it’s like being a super hero, you get to save the day.” He’s looking forward to competing with his father. “I really wanted to go for one year with my dad and we’re going to go as much as we can.” Cash loves rodeo for meeting new people and he loves the sport – “I love sports” The family spends many hours in their arena. “We’ve got 16 steers out back and I’ve got to practice if I’m going to make the Finals.”
They live on 12 acres, and they have ten horses they ride. “I never thought I would think that when I was younger, but now we like to ride in the arena and we have lots of friends that come over and rope and ride and have cookouts,” said Joanne, who spends her days riding the horses and taking care of the place. Back in the day, she used to gallop horses, and spent a bit of time working in the movies. “I was galloping horses in Ontario, and a guy called me up to ask me if I could break some camels, and I went out there and did that – it wasn’t easy. We ended up doing a movie with them, and that led to my career in the movies.” Now she prefers to stay home. Joanne has won the All Around three times in the MidStates. “We rodeo as a family, so that’s nice for us.”
Mike works for the government so they can’t rodeo every weekend, but if they could, there‘s a rodeo every weekend within seven hours of the house. He is the team roping director for MidStates and the board is working towards putting on the best finals for the contestants. “They’ve always done a very good job with the awards at the Finals, which are held in October.” He also judges several rodeos that he attends.
“We also produce ropings – this year we’re just doing a few,” he said. As part of the Michigan Ropers Association, he puts on a few ropings each year to support the association. “I’m doing an open, a 10 and a 8 and novice. We’ve been doing it for years.”
Mike likes rodeo because of the people he meets. “You meet people from all walks of life.” He hasn’t made it to the IFR yet, he has won the NorthEast Region in the IRA, but work has played a big role in how much he can go. He’s made the MidStates Finals several times, winning it a couple times.
For three generations, rodeo has played a vital role in the lives of the family. Cash lives by a quote that was passed down to him from his grandfather, to his father, and now to him. “Practice doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect … to me it makes me think about the little things I have to do right to make myself better.