story by Michele Toberer
Roping roots run deep for Wellington, Alabama cowboy, Bo Brown, and riding and living in the roping arena is as natural to him as walking and talking. Some of his fondest memories include family enjoying roping together, as Bo was born and raised in Calhoun County, Alabama, with his brother Dustin, and parents, Dale and Theresa Brown. “My brother is 8 years older than me, and not long after I was born, he and my dad really got involved in team roping. My dad built a nice covered arena and produced some of the first USTRC ropings in the area.” It was during these years that Bo remembers that arena being the place to be for weekly practices and roping events. His dad handled the cattle and running the ropings, while his mom was a secretary extraordinaire, very involved in running the books, keeping rules straight and being a big part of the events running successfully. Bo’s dad has cowboyed his whole life, and back then would travel to Mexico every 90 days to bring back a fresh load of Mexican roping cattle to sell, and to supply his ropings. When Bo was 5-years-old, he remembers his dad bringing back 12 to 15 horses from Mexico, when he had picked up only a half-load of cattle, and in that trailer his dad had chosen a special one to be his first full-sized horse to learn on. It was a paint horse they simply called “Old Paint”, and Bo’s beginnings of tracking cattle and swinging his rope, were on his back. Bo rode the forgiving and faithful paint horse until he was about 10 years old, and took his new skills on to new horses. Growing up in a roping family gave Bo a leg up, as everything he needed to be a successful team roper was available to him. It also put Bo at many ropings, and his first buckle he ever won was at a USTRC dummy roping in Gulfport, Mississippi when he was just 6 years old.
Bo competed in the Alabama Junior High and High School Rodeo Associations, and in his junior and senior years he competed in the Georgia High School Rodeo Association, due to living closer to most of their season rodeos. After high school he went to Frank Phillips Community College in Borger, Texas on a rodeo scholarship, before coming back to Alabama. In these associations, he dabbled in several timed events, such as team roping, breakaway roping, chute dogging, tie-down roping and steer wrestling. He has predominantly been a header in team roping, but has often heeled over the years as well. One of the highlights of his rodeo career came during a family USTRC roping weekend in Perry, Georgia, where as he headed for his brother Dustin, they won two separate ropings together, and he won 3rd in another jackpot, taking home two saddles, buckles and over $11,000.
Today, Bo still spends many hours in the arena with his two main mentors, his dad and brother, as they own a stock contracting company, providing timed event cattle for the Oubre Rodeo Company, Double Creek Rodeo Company, and Southern Rodeo Company. At these rodeos, that are either SPRA, IPRA, or co-sanctioned events, Bo is also a pick-up man, while his dad and brother are judges. He and Dustin still team rope together regularly, and outside of their rodeo endeavors, the two brothers own and operate a fencing company.
Bo has been a SPRA member since its inception in 2011, and looks forward to the 2017 SPRA Finals, where he has qualified as a header and steer wrestler. In addition to rodeo in 2018, Bo and his girlfriend, Lacy Malone, plan to marry next fall, and build a home on a tract of land they purchased recently. He plans to help Lacy work on her roping skills so that she can join the family fun in the future. “Rodeo connects you with the rest of the world. So, when you get into some weird spot and need something, you have someone to call all over the world, that has the same lifestyle as you. There is a comradery in rodeo that is amazing.”
