The beginning of July, otherwise known as “Cowboy Christmas,” is the most wonderful time of the year for rodeo cowboys across the nation.
“It’s the busiest time of the year where there’s rodeos stretched out all across the northwest that add a lot of money,” explains Leighton Berry, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bareback rider. “We try to coordinate through planes, trains and automobiles to hit as many of them as possible and to win as much money as we can because there’s just so much to be offered.”
Cowboy Christmas traditionally takes place around the 4th of July weekend with rodeo stops found in cities such as Livingston, Montana, St. Paul, Oregon, and Cody, Wyoming. Over the course of the next week, many cowboys will compete at upwards of ten rodeos, which sometimes will include traveling to three different states on the same day. To many, this may sound hectic but for Leighton Berry, he thinks it’s a blast. Berry has been a member of the PRCA since 2018 and is no stranger to planning out a Cowboy Christmas run.
“We’re looking to obviously try to go to the biggest rodeos that they have to offer but all while making a travel map of what makes sense, so we don’t miss any of them.”
Many times, throughout Cowboy Christmas, cowboys will hitch a ride with anyone available to ensure they can make the rodeo on time. Berry goes on to explain how quickly plans can change and the importance of being flexible in your travel plans.
“Sometimes it’s definitely just any bull rider or bronc rider that you can hop in with to get to the rodeo and then get back to the airport, it’s kind of a free for all. But that’s the cool part about the sport we do is that everyone’s competing against each other but everyone’s helping each other get to where they need to go so they can compete.”
Cowboys simply getting to these rodeos is only half the equation as the horse they draw plays an important factor towards the success seen. One of the strategies competitors have found during Cowboy Christmas is to enter multiple rodeos on the same day and ultimately make the decision on where to compete solely based on the horse they draw. For Leighton, getting to make your choice based on the horse is the best-case scenario.
“Even if it came down to the decision of picking between a TV pen horse or an NFR eliminator, I mean you’d rather have that choice than know that you only have the one. Or maybe you get a younger horse that hasn’t been very proven one place, but you got an old veteran horse over here, you’re going to go give yourself the better chance. So, doubling yourself up and hoping for good draws across the board is kind of ideal.”
Because of the chaotic schedules, you never know who’s going to be turning out where or who you’re inevitably competing against. Leighton goes on to explain how you can’t make assumptions and at the end of the day, it’s a competition of you against yourself.
“During Cowboy Christmas, there’s so many guys coming and going and turning out, you can’t really try to base who’s going to win the rodeo off of the draw because the guy who has the best horse, he may be in Ponoka, Alberta’s short round and he may turn that horse out. So, you pretty much need to go try everything this week because you never know what the judges are going to be looking for and it can be anybody’s game. I’ve seen a lot of guys win first or second on horses that they haven’t been placing on all year so it’s definitely a time to just go showcase your spur ride and try to have fun.”
As the dust settles at the end of the Cowboy Christmas run, if a cowboy can find success, the potential to set you up well for the rest of the rodeo season is astronomical.
“It can be anywhere from a game changer for a guy that’s not in the top 15 to a real dominant step forward for a guy that’s in the top maybe five in the world. There’s usually a couple of guys that dang sure seem to have really great 4th of July run where a guy can win up to $30,000-$40,000 in the course of six or seven days,” says Leighton Berry.
Although it’s still early in the rodeo season, success during Cowboy Christmas can help a cowboy punch his ticket to the National Finals Rodeo come December.
Rodeoing for multiple days on end can be jarring to some, but these cowboys live for it. The experiences and memories made are unmatched along with the stories that are sure to follow.
“It’s definitely a really neat time of the year and getting to do stuff like rodeo in Red Lodge, Montana at 2:45 pm and then being up in Cody at 5 pm. There’s a runway literally right behind the bucking chutes at Red Lodge where you just grab your bag and hop over the fence. It’s just whatever it takes to get to as many rodeos as you can,” Berry adds.
Many cowboys are hitting the road this weekend to get their Cowboy Christmas run underway, hoping to draw good horses, earn high scores, and see big paydays.
