story by Lindsay King
Armed with a flag and a good view of each chute, Dustin Barthel from Ainsworth, Nebraska, found his way back into the rodeo arena after work kept him from it for a few years. “I grew up on a ranch and my siblings and I went to rodeo Bible camp. That essentially got me hooked on rodeo,” said the M-SRA judge. He worked his way up through rodeo ranks, attending Colby Community College to pursue a degree in animal science and rodeo. “I decided that I wanted to try something different than what I knew and at the time that was cattle. I transferred to Northeast Community College in Norfolk to get my electrical degree.” After acquiring his journeyman’s license, Dustin and a partner started Ainsworth Electric Motor, providing commercial, residential, agricultural and emergency services of the electrical variety. “I got married, had kids and started a business, there was no time to rope after work anymore. If I don’t have time to practice, it is not worth competing in my eyes.” Dustin was an avid competitor in team roping, calf roping and steer wrestling.
Dustin judging an M-SRA rodeo – Susan Hoover
After a stint away from rodeo, Dustin got talked into attending a judging clinic for the M-SRA. “It is fun getting back into it and seeing some of my old classmates and friends from high school rodeo.” Ainsworth Electric Motor is now armed with five employees, allowing Dustin time to get away for rodeos during the summer. “We sell and service a lot of electric motors, Zimmatic pivots and do commercial wiring. We run hard all summer long with those. Now that we are a bigger company, it is easier for me to take off for rodeos.” The balance between rodeo and work is still teetering for Dustin, taking service and employee calls before and after rodeos. “Judging a rodeo is a great vacation from work, juggling the calls can be challenging at times but I am still away from work, so it is nice.”
Easily his favorite event to judge is the bull riding, partially because it was the event his brother competed in. “There is a lot of time that goes into judging that people don’t see. We do the best that we can, but we are still human and make mistakes.” The hardest part about judging is making those tough calls from only one position in the arena. “Trying to get the best angle for the mark out in the bronc riding almost makes me break into a nervous sweat. It always seems like there is a chute man in the way or something. We are making a call from our position, whether it is right or wrong.” With so many eyes around the arena, it is easy for a judge to be in the wrong spot. “We are out there to make sure everyone abides by the rules and gets a fair shake. Sometimes we have to make tough calls and that is what I don’t like about the job.”
Dustin and his wife Tiffany are approaching 17 years of marriage and boast three daughters: twins Terrin and Tessa, 12, and Ava, 5. “The twins are in the middle of their junior high mid-life crisis where they have to decide if they want to rodeo or do other sports. If Eva could rodeo tomorrow I think she would. It does not matter to me what they choose, as long as they put 100% into it.” Dustin was first introduced to the M-SRA at the Madison County Fair in 1990 at 11 years old where his family used to show horses every year. “What I like best about the M-SRA is simply that it is rodeo and I am back involved in it again. It is great seeing everyone that I grew up with doing what we all did and still do love: rodeo.”
