story by Michele Toberer
The Rafter M Rodeo Company began in the mind of Dennis Morris when he was just a child watching the NFR on Channel 5, as he sat in his living room floor. He watched an interview with world champion bull rider, Donny Gay, and Dale Hall, discussing the world champion bull of the year owned by Rafter H Rodeo Company, “I looked over at my cousin, Buster Morris, and said ‘when you and I get big, we’re going to be the Rafter M Rodeo Company.’ That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do was be a cowboy.”
Born and raised in Robertson County, Tennessee, Dennis was raised in a cowboy lifestyle as the youngest of 5 children belonging to Sammie and Alford Morris. Alford and his brother worked cows for a living, and from a young age, Dennis was obsessed with the idea of being a cowboy and making a living through rodeo. He had his first pony when he was three years old and rode calves and steers as he grew in size. “I rode all the time, I was obsessed with anything that would buck, the cat, dog, chair arm, anything that would buck a little is what I craved and thrived on.” At 15, he went to an amateur rodeo near his home and got on a bull and bucking horse which only fueled his desire for the adrenaline and rodeo lifestyle. The following year, 1985, he joined the International Professional Rodeo Association and started competing as a rodeo cowboy, entering between 150-160 IPRA rodeos each year. “I qualified for the IFR 8 times between 1988 and 1995 and won the world champion bull rider title in 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1994, and won the reserve world champion title in 1991.
In 1994, the dream of Rafter M Rodeo Company became a reality and Dennis began producing IPRA rodeos himself. “I’ve never done anything but IPRA rodeos, I love the IPRA and it is a great family group to me. I have stuck with the IPRA over the years and have never wanted to be anywhere else.” Dennis, who operates the company with his wife, Jill, also manages a commercial herd of approximately 500 Black Angus brood cows for S & T Farms. Besides Jill’s job with Steve Arts Surveying, she helps with Rafter M Rodeo Company, coordinating the grand entry and carrying the American flag during rodeo opening ceremonies. Currently, Dennis produces about 5 IPRA rodeos each season, and takes bulls and his portable rodeo arena to help other IPRA contractors produce their rodeos. He has been producing his hometown rodeo, Gupton’s Ram Tough Rodeo, at the Robertson County Fairgrounds since 1991.
The IPRA has been a major part of Dennis Morris and his family’s life. Three consecutive years, while he was competing as a bull rider, the association awarded his grandmother, Granny Morris, with the Fan of the Year award during the IFR. “They’d call her up and award her plaques, and they even gave her a crown for being the best Rodeo Granny. She was a loud and proud fan when I was riding, and she was so proud that they recognized her. I come from a great and supportive family.”
During the past two decades, Dennis has been a pickup man, and has been chosen to work as a pickup man at 6 IFRs. He takes pride in raising and training the horses he rides for the job and has trained 5 of them that he has used. He spends many hours using them for ranch work and gaining their trust until he believes they are ready for the important job. “Once they’re ready and you have their trust, you could run them into a building if you asked them to, and you can for sure run them into the side of a bronc to pick up the cowboy. It’s been a bigger honor to ride as a pickup man than when I was competing as a bull rider because I’ve had so much respect for the pickup men I’ve known. To me, they weren’t just rodeo hands, they were true cowboys, and that has been my lifelong dream.”
