Cowboys of Color Find Way On Back of Horse
The Cowboys of Color To Showcase Rodeo Skills
at the Central Texas State Fair Sunday, September 4, 2016
August 31, 2016
By Annette Nevins
Temple Daily Telegram
It was obvious when Cleo Hearn was 5 years old that he had found his passion. “I was always riding stick horses around the yard,” he said.
When he was 17, he wanted to ride in the rodeo.
“But they told me I couldn’t because I was black,” he said. Don’t ever tell Hearn he can’t do something.
“It only made me more determined that I would,” he exclaimed.
At 77 years old, Hearn is a champion roper and leader behind the Cowboys of Color Invitational Rodeo Tour, which teaches about minority cowboys of the past and promotes the talents of young cattle wrestlers of today.
For the first time in the 29 years of the Central Texas State Fair in Belton, Cowboys of Color will be performing at the Labor Day weekend event next Sunday, September 4, 2016.
The audience is one of the most important elements of the show, said Hearn, who has been producing rodeos since 1968.
“We’ve got the most diverse and enthusiastic audiences you’ll ever find,” he said. “They’re hungry to learn about our history.”
The rodeo features traditional calf roping, steer wrestling, bronco busting, women’s barrel racing, bull riding and junior events.
It also highlights cultural events such as the Spanish ladies’ side-saddle teams and Native American dancers while teaching about the role black and American Indian cowboys played in settling the West.
“We educate while we entertain, telling the stories of cowboys of color who got left out of many history books,” Hearn said.
Born to a family of educators in Seminole, Oklahoma, Hearn found his way through college as a member of the rodeo team at Oklahoma State University.
After landing a job with Ford Motor Co. in Dallas, where he worked for 33 years, he began producing rodeos for blacks and some of the proceeds go toward establishing scholarships.
“Just like in football, you can win scholarships to college for competing in the rodeo,” he said.
Russell Smith, originally of Killeen, and event coordinator for the Cowboys of Color Rodeo, said horseback riding wasn’t the typical activity for those in many of the neighborhoods where he hung out growing up.
He said he met Hearn and learned that it’s possible to go to college on a rodeo scholarship.
The son of a single mother, Smith said he found male mentors in the black cowboys of the rodeo. He began going on trail rides. He learned how to rope and he began working to shoe horses at Taylormade Stables. He has his own radio show.
He lives in Lampasas with his three young children who are learning to ride. And he continues to help mentor young black cowboys in Central Texas. Several have attended college on rodeo scholarships.
At first, Smith said, he hid the fact that he was with the rodeo. It wasn’t cool.
“Some young men had left the farm behind never to look back; others had never seen a horse before,” he said. “But when they found out I rode one, they all wanted to come see what it was like.”
He said young people find discipline in getting up early and caring for an animal larger than them and then going to school.
“The kind of peace you find on the back of a horse you can’t find anywhere else,” Smith said. “And then to use that passion to help you get an education, that’s awesome.”
Hearn, who lives in Lancaster south of Dallas, found his way on the back of the horse. He was one of the first African Americans to serve in the Presidential Honor Guard under John F. Kennedy’s administration.
Producing minority rodeos has been a work in progress. When one of his friends, who is white, told him he didn’t come to the rodeo because he thought it was just for blacks, Hearn began to expand his shows. He changed the name to Cowboys of Color to include Hispanics, women and whites as well as cowboys of all ethnicities.
“Horses help us become better people,” Hearn said.
All four of his sons have competed in calf roping and some of them help produce Cowboys of Color.
Hearn continues to follow his love of horses around the nation, performing and mentoring.
“I’m 77 and still roping,” he said. “I probably will until the day I die.”
The Cowboys of Color To Showcase Rodeo Skills
at the Central Texas State Fair Sunday, September 4, 2016
August 31, 2016
By Annette Nevins
Temple Daily Telegram
 |
| The Cowboys of Color Invitational Rodeo Tour teaches about minority cowboys of the past and promotes the talents of young cowboys and cattle wrestlers of today. Cowboys of Color will be at the Central Texas State Fair Sunday, September 4, 2016, at the Bell County Expo Center in Belton. |
When he was 17, he wanted to ride in the rodeo.
“But they told me I couldn’t because I was black,” he said. Don’t ever tell Hearn he can’t do something.
“It only made me more determined that I would,” he exclaimed.
At 77 years old, Hearn is a champion roper and leader behind the Cowboys of Color Invitational Rodeo Tour, which teaches about minority cowboys of the past and promotes the talents of young cattle wrestlers of today.
For the first time in the 29 years of the Central Texas State Fair in Belton, Cowboys of Color will be performing at the Labor Day weekend event next Sunday, September 4, 2016.
The audience is one of the most important elements of the show, said Hearn, who has been producing rodeos since 1968.
“We’ve got the most diverse and enthusiastic audiences you’ll ever find,” he said. “They’re hungry to learn about our history.”
The rodeo features traditional calf roping, steer wrestling, bronco busting, women’s barrel racing, bull riding and junior events.
It also highlights cultural events such as the Spanish ladies’ side-saddle teams and Native American dancers while teaching about the role black and American Indian cowboys played in settling the West.
“We educate while we entertain, telling the stories of cowboys of color who got left out of many history books,” Hearn said.
Born to a family of educators in Seminole, Oklahoma, Hearn found his way through college as a member of the rodeo team at Oklahoma State University.
After landing a job with Ford Motor Co. in Dallas, where he worked for 33 years, he began producing rodeos for blacks and some of the proceeds go toward establishing scholarships.
“Just like in football, you can win scholarships to college for competing in the rodeo,” he said.
Russell Smith, originally of Killeen, and event coordinator for the Cowboys of Color Rodeo, said horseback riding wasn’t the typical activity for those in many of the neighborhoods where he hung out growing up.
He said he met Hearn and learned that it’s possible to go to college on a rodeo scholarship.
The son of a single mother, Smith said he found male mentors in the black cowboys of the rodeo. He began going on trail rides. He learned how to rope and he began working to shoe horses at Taylormade Stables. He has his own radio show.
He lives in Lampasas with his three young children who are learning to ride. And he continues to help mentor young black cowboys in Central Texas. Several have attended college on rodeo scholarships.
At first, Smith said, he hid the fact that he was with the rodeo. It wasn’t cool.
“Some young men had left the farm behind never to look back; others had never seen a horse before,” he said. “But when they found out I rode one, they all wanted to come see what it was like.”
He said young people find discipline in getting up early and caring for an animal larger than them and then going to school.
“The kind of peace you find on the back of a horse you can’t find anywhere else,” Smith said. “And then to use that passion to help you get an education, that’s awesome.”
Hearn, who lives in Lancaster south of Dallas, found his way on the back of the horse. He was one of the first African Americans to serve in the Presidential Honor Guard under John F. Kennedy’s administration.
Producing minority rodeos has been a work in progress. When one of his friends, who is white, told him he didn’t come to the rodeo because he thought it was just for blacks, Hearn began to expand his shows. He changed the name to Cowboys of Color to include Hispanics, women and whites as well as cowboys of all ethnicities.
“Horses help us become better people,” Hearn said.
All four of his sons have competed in calf roping and some of them help produce Cowboys of Color.
Hearn continues to follow his love of horses around the nation, performing and mentoring.
“I’m 77 and still roping,” he said. “I probably will until the day I die.”
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