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Pinedale Online > News > August 2016 > Cowboy Shop Classic 2016

Bob Bing. Photo by Bing Family.
Bob Bing
Around 1968 on Franklin street in Pinedale. Photo courtesy Bing family.

Head and Heel. Photo by Terry Allen.
Head and Heel

Emry and Grady. Photo by Terry Allen.
Emry and Grady

Ice Cream Kiss. Photo by Terry Allen.
Ice Cream Kiss
Cora tries to plant one on Daddy Phil.

A Couple of Cowgirls. Photo by Terry Allen.
A Couple of Cowgirls
Rylee and Kristen

Winners!. Photo by Terry Allen.
Winners!

Kyndall and Tayson. Photo by Pinedale Online.
Kyndall and Tayson

Nice hat, Travis Bing.. Photo by Terry Allen.
Nice hat, Travis Bing.

Cast of Legend of Earl Durand. Photo by Bing Family Collection.
Cast of Legend of Earl Durand
Bob Bing. 2nd from right, top. With rifle, white shirt and tough look. This is a movie that was made around here.
Cowboy Shop Classic 2016
by Terry Allen
August 31, 2016

The Pinedale Rodeo Grounds was the site of the 17th Annual Cowboy Shop Classic Roping Invitational this past Sunday, August 28, 2016. 440 teams competed for prizes and Bob Bing said it was the biggest turnout since it started in 1990. "In 1990, which was our first year, a gal won the top prize which was a saddle," he said. "This year we are awarding two saddles, one each to the top two finishers."

The Cowboy Shop was established by Bob’s folks in 1947 and has remained in the same location. "Dad tended bar and Mother was a school teacher for 30 years," he said. "They hired a lady to run it during the day, and then they would come in and work the evenings. I started working in the shop full-time in 1975."

It is an invitation-only event and everyone who shows up to compete is required to be in western attire, which is a cowboy hat, a button down shirt, and boots. A couple ropers showed up without hats and learned they had just barely enough time to go down to the store to buy one or find someone with an extra that fit.

Todd Stevie was the guy in charge of the various aspects of the event, including lining up the roping steers, dragging the arena, doing some announcing and doing a bit of auctioneering. A team of folks got things running smoothly, including full-time announcers, record and money keepers, chute openers and steer chasers.

Milt at the Burger Barn must have been in charge over there, because the ladies did the cooking and he did the sitting. But it seemed to work out okay, because it didn’t matter if you walked over or rode your horse over, you got your food and I didn’t hear any complaints.

Bob said there were no age limits for competitors on either end of the scale. "If you think you can rope, then we’ll let you," he said. "I guess today we have a 10 year old and upwards of 75 years old entered."

I was curious about how those 75 year olds would do, so I figured out who they might be and watched them work. Well, once that steer left the chute those old guys were like one with the horse. They shot out of their gate like finely tuned athletes and didn’t miss any more steers than anyone else…and there were very few misses.

I was curious how fast they were going once the rope settled over the head of the steer and I got a wide range of opinion. One guy I talked with over a beer the night before thought they had to be going around 50 mph. That seemed pretty fast to me, so the next day I asked Todd Stevie what he thought. "Maybe around 20 mph," he said. Hmmm…that seemed sort of slow to me, so I decided to go to Google and see what those guys said. Turns out, around 40 mph is the answer I liked best. More people were saying it, so I guess I’ll call that science.

I guess I shouldn’t have wondered at all. Clayton Lunde told me that Mike Miller still rides broncs in Jackson. "He is 63 and still riding bucking horses," he said. "I think he has rode three or four and got bucked off once…and he’ll be up there this Wednesday doing it again."

I’m always looking at new ways to take a photo of western people, so I brought an old pre-World War Two medium format film camera, an old 35mm film camera, and my reliable digital street shooter. Bob and Todd said I could tack up a photo back drop on the old shed by the bucking chutes and take natural light pictures of folks. I think it turned out real good. A few friends and friendly people came by and posed, and then a few folks came over with their kids, ponies and horses.

For folks that are reading this story who might not live around here, I just want you to know that these are real western people. They are not actors. I don’t know why I get asked about that so often, but I guess might have something to do with folks having a harder time telling the difference between real life and the movies than they used to.

If you have ever wondered how someone gets good at roping...and so good, so young...there is a photo of a group of boys roping a dummy steer at sunset. It was after 7:00pm and I was loaded up and driving out when I saw them. Some of them had been in the saddle under the hot sun and in the dust all day, but here they were still throwing their ropes. That is the secret and it ain't no secret. Just a lot of hard work, practice, loving it and never giving up.

I realize I might be a little light on the actual roping photos, so I’ll post some more in a little while.


A big thank you to The Cowboy Shop for their generous support of this story and photos. We wouldn't have been able to do a full story this year without their sponsorship.

Thank you to Justin at Pinedale Lumber for kindly supplying the plywood I used to make my photo back drops.

The special portraits taken at the ropings will form my exhibit at the Pinedale Library starting October 1.

The photos on this site are low resolution and are not print quality. To purchase high resolution photos, text Terry Allen: 307-231-5355 or email: txpartisan@gmail.com

*Group photo of Legend of Earl Durand movie: Lower right: Bud Steel, Tony Olson, Hank Ruland, Albert Salmi, Leonard Preibe, Bear Steele.
Upper left: Alex Thios, Mike Nystrom, Fred Petersen, Kent Snidecor, Bob Bing, _______?
Guy in middle left: _____?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Durand

Photos and story by Terry Allen



Cora, Jubal Lee and Merry Legs. Photo by Terry Allen.
Cora, Jubal Lee and Merry Legs
...and Mr. Gransden

Ella and Emry. Photo by Terry Allen.
Ella and Emry

Kyndall. Photo by Terry Allen.
Kyndall

Bob from Riverton. Photo by Terry Allen.
Bob from Riverton

Jubal Lee and Merry Legs. Photo by Terry Allen.
Jubal Lee and Merry Legs

Clayton Lunde. Photo by Terry Allen.
Clayton Lunde

Roping horses. Photo by Terry Allen.
Roping horses

Head and Heel. Photo by Terry Allen.
Head and Heel

Head and Heel. Photo by Terry Allen.
Head and Heel

Mike Miller. Photo by Terry Allen.
Mike Miller

Mike, Wes and Tara. Photo by Terry Allen.
Mike, Wes and Tara

Am I in the wrong line of work?. Photo by Terry Allen.
Am I in the wrong line of work?

Saul and Kent. Photo by Terry Allen.
Saul and Kent

Payoff Sheet. Photo by Terry Allen.
Payoff Sheet

Trevor. Photo by Terry Allen.
Trevor

Saddle Winner. Photo by Terry Allen.
Saddle Winner

Saddle Winner. Photo by Terry Allen.
Saddle Winner

Head. Photo by Terry Allen.
Head

George Licking. Photo by Terry Allen.
George Licking
Georges ex-wife Karen won the first saddle back in 1990.

Landa Scheer. Photo by Terry Allen.
Landa Scheer

Arye. Photo by Terry Allen.
Arye

Buckle Winners. Photo by Terry Allen.
Buckle Winners

Roping Practice at Sunset. Photo by Terry Allen.
Roping Practice at Sunset

JJ. Photo by Terry Allen.
JJ

Silver Saddle Art. Photo by Terry Allen.
Silver Saddle Art

Talli Manning. Photo by Terry Allen.
Talli Manning

Nicole Drummond-Selby. Photo by Terry Allen.
Nicole Drummond-Selby

Boone and Rooster. Photo by Terry Allen.
Boone and Rooster

Photographer and the kids. Photo by Kyndall Tibbits.
Photographer and the kids

Next thing I knew.... Photo by Terry Allen.
Next thing I knew...
...all these kids showed up for a photo.

Rooster waiting for a burger. Photo by Terry Allen.
Rooster waiting for a burger

Kolby Bradley. Photo by Terry Allen.
Kolby Bradley
Won two fast times

The Phil Jr. Selby Family. Photo by Terry Allen.
The Phil Jr. Selby Family

Mike and Wes. Photo by Terry Allen.
Mike and Wes

Jaden Burnett. Photo by Terry Allen.
Jaden Burnett
Got first and a fifth.

Bob and the prizes. Photo by Terry Allen.
Bob and the prizes

Holli and her boys. Photo by Terry Allen.
Holli and her boys

Bob Bing. Photo by Terry Allen.
Bob Bing

Keith Manning. Photo by Terry Allen.
Keith Manning

Cool Brand. Photo by Terry Allen.
Cool Brand
  
Pinedale Online > News > August 2016 > Cowboy Shop Classic 2016

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