NSRA member, Thad Emerson with family – courtesy of family
story by Lily Weinacht
Thad Emerson competed in his first NSRA rodeo as a high school senior in 1987, and 28 years later, he is active as ever in the association. He serves on the board of directors as the judge representative, while continuing to judge for the NSRA. He was the 2013 NSRA Judge of the Year, while ten years earlier, he won the bareback riding in 2002, and was the reserve bareback champion in 2003 and 2004. Today, the 45 year old rancher judges a variety of rodeos including high school, roughstock, and ranch rodeos.
Rodeo was the official sport of the Emerson family while Thad was growing up. He competed in his first event when he was four, though he and his brother rodeoed daily at home, riding their family’s feeder calves. After trying all three roughstock events, Thad landed on bareback riding for his rodeo career, and attended Pratt Community College in Kansas on a rodeo scholarship. About that time, his PRCA rodeoing took off, and he qualified for the Prairie Circuit Finals on four different occasions, with another six qualifications for the Badlands Circuit Finals.
In 2005, Thad retired from riding bareback horses. By that time, he had already been judging high school rodeos for ten years. “Rodeo has been the most constant thing in my life, and when I was competing it gave me the opportunity to go to college. Travelling with the PRCA, I got to see parts of the country that I never would’ve seen without rodeo,” says Thad. “When I’m judging, there’s no better seat in the house, and I’m a rodeo fan. I’m always pulling for the contestants, and I enjoy all the people.”
Thad and his wife of 18 years, June, make their home in Whitman, Neb., with their two children, Brittney, 15, and Jaden, 11. “Brittney junior high rodeoed for a year, but she didn’t catch the rodeo bug, and Jaden has entered some junior rodeos, but the jury’s still out on him,” Thad jokes. “There’s plenty of time for them to make a decision about rodeo – they both do other sports. Brittney does basketball and volleyball, and they’re both pretty involved in 4-H shooting sports.” The Emersons recently returned home from the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match in Rogers, Ark., where both Brittney and Jaden competed, Brittney for the third time, and Jaden for the second time.
The Emersons also spend hours of family time working on their ranch, where they run 300 head of cow/calf pairs and another 100 head of yearlings. The Emerson ranch was started in 1979, and Thad and June have taken over the ranching for Thad’s dad. In their very spare time, they enjoy hunting and golfing. “But we mainly chase kids around!” he says.
In addition to summer fun with his family, Thad’s favorite times of the year are the rodeos, particularly the NSRA rodeos in Sutherland and Alliance, and the finals in North Platte. “It’s been a lot of fun to judge the finals, but I really like all the rodeos,” he says. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing. I was lucky enough to win judge of the year in 2013, and if that were to happen again, that would be great, but I don’t have to travel far from home to be with a lot of great people, and I’ve had the privilege of watching some of them grow up. I’m content!”
