Steer-wrestling clinic boils sport down to basics

Thursday, August 10, 2017
Fourteen-year-old Rylan Hays of Phillipsburg, Kan., below, eases off his horse, “Tooter,” onto the back of a steer running full-bore down the outdoor Kiplinger arena on the Red Willow County fairgrounds in McCook. Rylan, and fellow student Brody Forsyth of Ranburne, Ala., above, were among the cowboys who attended a steer-wrestling clinic put on July 31 and Aug. 1 by brothers Garrett Nokes of McCook and Justen Nokes of Juniata and their buddy Dru Melvin of Hebron. Kenny Smith of Wauneta and “Popeye” hazed for Rylan and many of the other bull-doggers.
Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — McCook’s world-class steer-wrestler Garrett Nokes describes his sport: “What it boils down to is two people and three animals all trying to get on the same page.”

Add speed while learning the necessary precision coordination, and the page gets crowded. Someone’s liable to end up doing a face-plant in the arena dirt.

“These big boys are tough,” Garrett chuckled as he, his brother, Justen of Juniata, and their buddy Dru Melvin of Hebron picked up and dusted off students at the two-day bull-dogging clinic they put on in the outdoor Kiplinger arena on the fairgrounds in McCook July 31 and Aug. 1.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

What did the students learn? “You’re about to see,” said a grinning Garrett, as he and his horse trotted over to a line of cowboys and horses lined up at the chute.

The cowboys learned that they are industrial-strength … that they bounce … that they’ll probably hurt tomorrow … that sometimes their horses know more than they do right now. And that the steers definitely do.

But they also learned that when all the pieces come together, it’s magic. And everybody enjoys even the smallest success and explodes with laughter, cheers and a “Hey, man! Good run! Way to go!”

Garrett said they taught the kids to catch cattle on the “Horse Saver” and “Steer Saver” pulled by ATVs on the first day of the clinic. It was the second day that they jumped steers from the back of a real horse.

Friends of the three instructors and fellow steer-wrestling greats who showed up to help at the clinic were Justen’s brother-in-law Richard Coats of Juanita, Tristan Martin and his cousin reserve world champion Casey Martin of Sulphur, La., Sean Mulligan of Coleman, Okla., Cole Edge of Durant, Okla., Justus Johnson of Weatherford, Texas, Lane Herl of Goodland, Kan., and Chris Rasmussen of Amherst, Neb.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: