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New Mexico Rodeo Association (NMRA)
Phone: 505-366-4929
Email: rodeojudgenm@gmail.com
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Members

Meet the Member Fletcher Tigner
story by Lindsay Humphrey It wasn’t enough that Fletcher Tigner competed in all three roughstock events through 4-H and high school rodeo in New Mexico, he also ended up becoming a bull fighter. “I started out just fighting bulls in high school at practice and then I fought bulls for college practice too. My first paying rodeo was a bull sale put on by Blaine Muncy. I got hired by several other contractors from that…
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Meet the Member Travis Wimberley
story by Lindsay Humphrey “Bull riding is different from every other sport, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. Ever since I started, I haven’t really wanted to quit; I’m not sure how you could quit honestly,” said 17-year-old Travis Wimberley. The high school junior has never met a bull he didn’t want to climb on. That’s been the case since he was introduced to the sport by his father, Nathan, when…
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Meet the Member Robert Murphy
story by Lindsay Humphrey “I’ll go to whatever is left of the amateur rodeos for the rest of this season, and in October, when the next pro rodeo season starts, I’m going to buy my card,” said Robert Murphy of the somewhat frayed rodeo season 2020 has become. He’s essentially just waiting on October to kick it into high gear again, that’s when he’ll head to California to hit some pro rodeos. Robert calls Congress,…
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Meet the Member Anita Cruse
story by Lindsay Humphrey “I like the super slow looking runs because they aren’t wasting motion,” said Anita Cruse who still considers herself a student of the event and probably always will. “I like to study other disciplines that translate to barrel racing. I just enjoy the horsemanship aspect of the event.” This Durango, Colorado, barrel racer always jokes with people that she loves running the clover leaf pattern simply because of her need for…
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Meet the Member John Birkholz
story by Lindsay King If John Birkholz is driving by a rodeo, there is a good chance he won’t be able to pass up entering. He’s fresh out of college and eager to spur as many down as he can. Of course, just when John had the freedom from school he needed to hit the rodeo trail hard, the coronavirus shut everything down and there simply weren’t any rodeos to enter. Last December John graduated…
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Meet the Member Chad Shaw
story by Lindsay King At 9 years old Chad Shaw found himself aboard an Appaloosa in the western pleasure arena. For the next three years Chad continued down the path that his grandpa Dave also chose. Eventually, he got bored and decided roping was more his speed. “Growing up in Pagosa Springs, my grandpa had more than 70 head of horses. I saw how much he was spending and decided to learn how to be…
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Meet the Member Brandon Gipson
story by Lindsay King “When I was 7, my mom took me to a rodeo and put me on my first steer. The next year we came back to that same rodeo and I got on another one,” said Brandon Gipson from Los Lunas, New Mexico. That was back in 2005. At just 9 years old, Brandon starting getting serious about steer riding. “I started riding in the Bosque Farms Junior Rodeo series and that’s…
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Meet the Member Bethany Ray
story by Lindsay King Blanco, New Mexico, native Bethany Ray has seen every aspect of the rodeo industry so far. Bethany was always at the arena long before the rodeo kicked off, behind the chutes unloading bulls with her dad, Richard Hodgson. “My dad took bulls over to a bull rider’s house in town and they bucked them out. It just took off from there,” said the mom of three boys who are slowly but…
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Meet the Member Rob Frassanito
story by Lindsay King Born and raised by natives of New Jersey, Rob Frassanito didn’t have rodeo in his blood from day one. Despite this, the sport crept into his heart just the same. He said he is simply a product of his environment. “I was born and raised in New Mexico. My friends were into rodeo in high school, so I learned how to swing a rope,” said the Cave Creek, Arizona, resident. Attending…
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Meet the Member David Wilson
story by Lindsay King “I just want to be a soldier for the Lord,” said David Wilson from Artesia, New Mexico. This ordained minister doesn’t give his sermons inside a building, his message of love and grace can be heard just about anywhere but inside a church. “It’s just something I felt like I needed to do. I lost a good friend of mine to suicide along with my father (BR Wilson), so I like…
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Meet the Member Wes McConnel
story by Lindsay King Some might say Wes McConnel and his wife Kelly are the Lane and Kelly of modern-day rodeo. After growing up as acquaintances in Bloomfield, New Mexico, the couple hauled to a rodeo together as their first date after returning to their hometown. “We had known each other for a long time and my mom used to be a principal here. Kelly started teaching at the school, so my mom told me…
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Meet the Member Tyler Montano
story by Lindsay King Tyler Montano is shooting for the stars, to land among the rodeo ones that is. This Gallup, New Mexico, troubadour has set his sights on breaching the top fifty PRCA ropers in the next five years so he can hit the bigger rodeos. For now, he spreads his time between Arizona, New Mexico and Stephenville, Texas. “I did junior rodeo for a while but then I quit. In seventh grade my…
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