By Ted Harbin
Indoor winter rodeos offer an escape from the elements, whether it’s blistering cold in St. Paul, Minnesota, or avoiding cold rain and potential ice at Fort Worth, Texas.
The first four months of the year feature a plethora of indoor events for good reason. While outposts in Tucson, Arizona, and Los Fresnos, Texas, are far enough south that being outdoors during winter works, that’s not the case for most rodeos this time of year. The logistics of producing an indoor rodeo are considerably different than doing summertime shows in the great outdoors.
“It’s a nightmare,” said Will O’Connell, who owns Championship Pro Rodeo with his wife, Dusta. “You’ve got to find housing for the stock to stay that has, compared to the majority of summer rodeos, where you pull in and back up, then unload your stock. When the rodeo’s over, you load up and go home, and you never have to leave the facility.
“Last week at Des Moines (Iowa), we had to truck 50 miles back and forth every day from where we were keeping the stock to the building. Then you’ve got to worry about the weather, getting to and from the arena, making sure it’s not 40-below zero where you are in order to keep your stock safe. You have to find feed and make sure wherever you go has water or water that’s not going to freeze. I would say it’s triple the amount of work as it is going somewhere in the summertime.”
That’s a hefty load. O’Connell was raised in the business and in the extreme elements that hit northeastern Iowa. His father, Ray, was a pickup man who was selected to work the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo 16 times, and there’s not much in the sport Will O’Connell hasn’t done.
In the existing role, he’s had to deal with bad road conditions and icy water, driving a semi tractor-trailer through city streets and backing into narrow alleys to arena docks. He also manages a team of animal athletes, so he has to know what each can do, whether it’s in a small pen like Columbus, Ohio, or a big arena like Guymon, Oklahoma.
“A stock contractor is like a coach, and you have to know your players,” O’Connell said. “You have to know what horses will be like in the different arenas, so you have to know where you’re going to take each horse. A baseball coach ain’t going to put a guy up at the plate that’s been struck out 19 times by that pitcher.”
It’s one of the many logistical challenges producers must overcome, but it’s vital to the growth of rodeo across North America
