NSRA member Chris Hillaker
– Courtesy of family
story by Siri Stevens
Chris Hillaker and his family are busy cleaning up the arena for the upcoming high school rodeo in Gordon, Neb. He and his wife, Julie, have been hauling their two sons – Caleb (upcoming tenth grade) and Justin (upcoming senior), to the high school rodeos and now it’s time to have a rodeo at their hometown arena. Caleb was one position out from making the Junior High Finals last year. Both boys are competing in the high school rodeo – Justin plays baseball and wrestles and just decided to rodeo this year at the high school level. “We were playing on the steer saver last summer and he gave it a try and it took off from there,” said Chris, who finds time to bulldog himself in the “off time. Basically I’ll have a free weekend the middle of June before the High School state finals. We’ll take off then and jump over to the high school finals, then my wife and I start going to NSRA rodeos. She competes in the barrel racing.”
Chris got his rodeo start by accident. I was team roping with a kid and he was going to start and they had a 20-something-year-old bulldogging horse and after I jumped my first steer it was all over.” Chris was 15 at the time and added that event to his team roping, where he is a heeler. He grew up in Kilgore, Neb., on a ranch, and high school rodeoed, following that with college on a rodeo scholarship. He went to Colby, Kan., and Sheridan State, pursuing a career in industrial ag. Now he works for the state of Nebraska (NBOR) Department of Roads. “We work four 10-hour days, so I can take off on Friday and hit the rodeos.”
Chris met his wife while he was custom haying. She talked him into going to the movies and the rest is history. Between the four in the family, they have 11 horses on the place, and five dogs. They have a handful of roping steers and two geckos that belong to the kids. “It’s been great to watch these kids improve. It puts a smile on your face.” Rodeo allows his family to travel together during the summer. “Rodeo has been my life.”
Chris is the steer wrestling director for the NSRA. “This will be my second year and I like picking cattle and to make the best possible pen of cattle for the Finals.” He has been a member of the association off and on for the past 20 years. “We enjoy going to the rodeos in the summer and being with our friends.”
