story by Lily Weinacht
Throughout his rodeo career, Jack Roe has competed in many events, though his primary focus was bareback riding and team roping. He started out in Little Britches, and following high school rodeo, he competed for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. By 1982, he set aside his bareback rigging and did more team ropings and jackpots. These days, the 57-year-old from Black Forest, Colorado, is on the other side of the competition, judging everything from Little Britches and high school rodeos to professional rodeos including the PRCA and CPRA. “I’ve always been a fan of rodeo, and when I started hauling my son Craig to Little Britches and high school rodeos, it seemed like there was a shortage of judges,” says Jack. “Some people on the committees asked if I wanted to judge, and I was never one for sitting in the stands, so I started judging and working on my craft. When Craig went to college, I kept on judging as a way to be around the sport.”
Jack judged his first Little Britches rodeo in 1996 and went on to judge their finals five times, along with judging the CSHSRA finals. He’s had his card with the CPRA since 2001, and has been selected to judge their finals three times. “The youth rodeos are probably the hardest to judge because a lot of the contestants don’t know the rules,” Jack explains. “As you go on up to associations like the CPRA, the contestant knows when they’ve made a good ride and you really have to be on your game. Judging isn’t for everybody – you really have to want to do it – and you only have a split second make the call as the judge. The more you judge, the less mistakes you make.”
While Jack achieved his goal of judging in the PRCA, his main focus is the CPRA, judging 6 – 9 rodeos a season for them. “Brush, Colorado, over the Fourth of July is one of the bigger ones I’ve judged, however, I like judging smaller ones like Calhan or Hugo. They’re all great – the stock is good and so are the contestants that are competing. I love traveling to the rodeos, and the whole atmosphere of it.”
Jack and his wife, Judy, have been married for 30 years and enjoy traveling to destinations like Cancún, Mexico. Jack worked for the county highway department for 28 years before retiring in 2013, and presently, he works for Latigo Equestrian Center in Falcon, Colorado. “We prepare the facility during the week for weekend events such as rodeos, horse shows, barrel races, dog shows, and other events,” says Jack. His son Craig is a steer wrestler in the PRCA and works for Powder River Rodeo Company, while his oldest son, Jason, pursued sports like soccer and basketball and now works for RMC Distributor in Colorado Springs.
“I think I’ve accomplished about everything I wanted to do in judging,” Jack finishes. “Almost all the contestants in the CPRA have their PRCA cards too, and then we have the younger ones coming out of high school. That’s what I like to see as a judge. I enjoy watching the new, upcoming contestants rodeo, and I feel that the sport of rodeo is continuing to grow and has a lot of good talent.”
