story by Lillian Landreth
Many a high school rodeo athlete has been shaped by Joe Stoddard’s contributions to the sport, from his blood relations to his rodeo family. Serving on rodeo boards, judging, and hauling horses across the country were all part of simply paying it forward for the South Dakota cowboy.
“I always felt like somebody did it for my kids and helped me, and I felt that I should help them,” says Joe, whose children and grandchildren continue to compete, or serve on rodeo boards themselves. Joe grew up in Norris, South Dakota on his family’s cattle ranch, which was founded in 1918. “We were very rural and school was a big problem, so my dad ended up moving us to Rapid City so my brother and I could go to school. We spent every summer at the ranch. My dad was dead set against rodeo, but I wound up going to a neighbor’s and doing some roping. After I got married I joined the Long Valley Roping Club and I even tried to ride a bull or two,” says Joe. “When my kids got old enough for youth rodeo, I knew they were going to be way better than I was, so I stopped rodeoing and supported them.”
The Stoddards joined Little Britches and also became involved with the SDRA. “Long Valley put on the largest SDRA rodeo, or rodeo of any kind, with eighty bull riders and bronc riders. I wound up on the SDRA board, and then my kids started high school rodeoing.” Joe was elected SDHSRA National Director, and during his eight years serving, he chaired nearly every committee. He eventually stepped down as national director and talked his friend Tom Miller into taking his place. “I had a couple things I wanted to get done at the national level, and Tom had the influence to get them done. I really wanted to see the bareback rigging regulations become more consistent, because they were changing every few years and that was a hardship on the kids and parents. Tom Miller got that done, and also backups for personnel in the arena. When I chaired that committee, we only had two bullfighters and no backup, and the same with pickup men.”
Joe was also president of the SDHSRA state board, which he served on for seven years. “I like to see the responsibility rodeo teaches kids. For anyone to succeed, they have to practice, and if you want your horses to do well for you, you have to take care of them. You become a rodeo contestant because you have your butt in the saddle, and that’s the Western way of life. It’s family oriented, and I’ve made friends all over South Dakota and all over America really through rodeo. The majority of them have strong family values and support each other, and it’s hard to put into words other than it’s just a good life.”
He’s proud to watch his children and grandchildren continue in that way of life, and even continued to provide the horsepower for other high schoolers after his children graduated.
Joe received an award in 2021 from the South Dakota Quarter Horse Association for his contributions to youth rodeo, and that of his horses. One horse in particular, Buckeye’s Captain, qualified 19 times for the NHSFR in cutting, some years with both a boy and a girl. Joe’s daughter Jodi won state on Buckeye twice, his other daughter Lori, now deceased, won state with Buckeye, followed by Joe’s son, Sam, who also won state twice on the double bred Leo Quarter Horse. “At least three other kids were state champs on him, and several other kids that rode him made it to the short round at Nationals. He never left the ranch without me taking him. Most of the time I was still a national director, but there were a couple times when my kids weren’t in high school rodeo anymore but other kids qualified on him. One year, when Nationals was in Pueblo, Colorado, the draw was on Sunday night and I didn’t find out until eight o’clock that night that the girl drew Monday morning. I drove all night so she could ride him.
“I’d like to think my kids inherited some of my desire for rodeo,” adds Joe, who has also judged the NLBRA Finals and helped behind the scenes there many times. Both Jodi and Sam are past NLBRA National Presidents. Joe and Sam are also members of the Western South Dakota Buckaroos, and have each served as president of the organization, which has been a sponsor of the SDHSRA since 1971. Since then, they have funded $750,000 in donations, awards, and scholarships for SDHSRA students.
At 78 years young, Joe continues to support rodeo through his grandchildren. His wife of 53 years, Linda, passed away in 2019, and he expected to be a bachelor from then on, but reconnected with his junior high sweetheart, Jo, and they married in April of 2022. They now divide their time between Southern California in the winter and the family ranch in South Dakota in the summer, which Sam and his family now own. “We’re very happy and we have the best of both worlds,” says Joe. “If I had to sum my life up, I’d say I worked hard and played hard.”
