Riata Ranch International
[ “You earn your reputation in the arena, but you earn your respect in the barn”. ]
Jennifer Welch Nicholson is the 2023 Tad Lucas Award recipient. “I’m proud that I was able to live my life in such a way that I was considered for this, award” said the 60-year-old trick roper, rider, and Executive Director of Riata Ranch. She will join recipients of this award, presented during the Rodeo Historical Society Hall of Fame Induction, November 10 – 11 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
“I didn’t grow up in rodeo, I had to learn this lifestyle from the ground up. I never thought I was that kind of person; I was shy!” Jennifer sees this award as an opportunity to tell her story. “I was just a young girl, and this became my life.” Born on the family ranch in Redding, California, Jennifer’s family moved away when she was quite young. Her parents, Dennis, and Judy Welch, knew their daughter had a passion for horses and hoped that some time at the Riata Ranch, meeting her lifelong mentor, Tom Maier, and learning how to ride, would fill that need and she would eventually grow out of it. Her brother, Mark, was an outstanding award-winning athlete in football, basketball and track Her passion only grew and then a trick rider, Kathy Batchelor, was brought out to the ranch to teach the girls a little bit of western entertainment. “I was enthralled and enamored,” she said about meeting legends like Monty “Hawkeye” Henson. “I never knew of such a character.” When it came time to perform, Jennifer, age 13, and three other young women, comprised the first rodeo trick riding team performing at their first rodeo in Bakersfield with Rodeo Stock Contractors. “We didn’t know anything about rodeo.” The group began to expand their reach and with that they also started riding for the Flying U Rodeo. “It was Cotton Rosser and the Flying U Rodeo where we cut our rodeo teeth. I’m Flying U Rodeo raised!” They went on to perform internationally, building up Western riding in Europe in the early 1980s.
She went to Riata to learn to ride horses and become a member of Tommy Maier’s’ junior horse show team specializing in reined cow horses – then the trick riding and roping evolved. 2002 was an eventful year for Jennifer and one that changed the trajectory of her life. The owner of Riata Ranch passed away and the property was in bankruptcy. She made the decision to save it and created the new business as a 501 c 3 Non-Profit. The biggest challenge was to rebrand, find new property and build new programs, yet keep the same values and integrity that Riata Ranch was known; Horsemanship, leadership, mentorship, education, and community service. A year later, Jennifer met and decided to marry Chad Nicholson. “I thought I’d met my life partner. And for 17 years that was true.” Between performances, they built Riata Ranch into a mentorship program for young women seeking the refuge and freedom that horses bring. From simple riding lessons to complex disciplines, Riata Ranch grew into more than just a riding program. It connects people to horses, ranching lifestyles and professional rodeo for a day, a week, a month, or lifetime.
Jennifer learned many life lessons on the Riata Ranch growing up. “It helped me become tough, resilient, and endure crisis.” She learned to have a plan A, B, C, And D. “There is always a way to go – and you have to figure that piece out.” Jennifer lost the love of her life, Riata Ranch almost twice, and her dad got sick and passed away all within a year. “When I came out of it, I was a changed person – we all have choices – you make those based on what you want, and I wanted to keep going.”
2019 started out like any other year, full of promise and opportunity. But, sadly, in May of that year, Chad was killed in a freak auto accident. And that event changed everything.
“The Friday night I got word that Chad had passed away I was in Hayward at the Rowell ranch Rodeo in California. Surrounded by Randy and Michelle Corley, Cindy Rosser and a handful of other rodeo family, I was consoled and sent home with the girls.
I got home stunned and dazed. Earlier in the year, a dear friend and Three Rivers Icon had also passed away and Chad and I had agreed to let the family host a memorial service for Earl McKee that Saturday for 400 people. As his (Earl McKee) service was happening I tried my best to disappear against the wall of my home. It was less than 24 hours, and I was still comprehending the loss of my husband, my partner, my future.
As the service ended, I went inside feeling numb and not having any idea whether to cry or to be still. Soon, people started coming in with food and buzzing around asking me it there was anything they could for me. At first, I just wanted to scream but I realized they were asking, ‘What can we do for you right at this moment?’ Funny how you can be so unreasonable when you are in the grip of grief and despair. So, when I understand their compassion to help me right at the moment, I knew exactly what I didn’t want to do…I didn’t want to clean, I didn’t want to cook and I didn’t want to pick up dog poop!
That was my first glimpse into a way to move forward, just not today. Bring it to a simplistic level and ask for help. Don’t bury your head in the sand and just put one foot in front of the other. I really fell apart, but not in public. I kept going and the people around me allowed me to keep going. It was the resilience – life is not fair and hard tough things happen.”
Jennifer moved forward again. “Everyone gave me a grace period and I had wonderful people around me.” She knew the best way to continue was to build on what she and Chad started at Riata Ranch. “After Chad passed away, I had some down time, and saw things I needed to change. I realized I wasn’t communicating my expectations. I learned to be more upfront about things.” She is working on growing and building relationships and that includes giving more definite clear pictures of what she is doing.
“I was passive – but sometimes I think it left people with a bigger gap to close.” She realizes that young girls come to her with stars in their eyes. She was the same way. “I tell them that this is a journey, and the commitments are real. We have red, white, blue, and silver levels for these girls to pass – they are benchmarks.” The biggest requirement is true passion. “We can provide any of the actual needs, but we can’t provide the want to.”
She has developed leadership skills along the way. “It’s more than putting someone in charge, a good leader goes beyond that and realizes the value of their people and that includes having difficult conversations. If there is something I’m trying to achieve, I’ve got to figure out how to have a difference of opinion. The better equipped we are at handling the negatives, the better off we are.”
Her time is split between traveling, performing, teaching, and administrative duties. “I love teaching, and I like connecting with people.” She is realizing that she has changed – that she meets hard challenges with thoughts on how she chooses her words and what she hopes for the results. “That’s leadership.” She is hoping to swing the pendulum a little more towards home and groom someone to take over the business end so she can teach or perform with the girls.
“It’s a labor of love that I feel is more important than ever to educate about: teaching people from all around the world about livestock, how our food is produced and our western lifestyle.”
