09/20/2026
Well with the completion of Saturday’s Last Cowboy Standing event in Strathmore, that’s a wrap on the 2026 rodeo season.
It was a good one and I’m grateful for all the committees, contract personnel, volunteers and cowboys and cowgirls that I got to work alongside.
Beyond the rodeos I was contracted to photograph, I didn’t get to as many other CPRA rodeos or BRC bull ridings as I usually do. The summer was a blur. Hopefully next year.
With the completion of this year I’m struggling on whether to retire these old broken down cowboy boots. I’ve had them over 20 years.
I bought them in Denver directly from Justin Boots while attending the Denver Rodeo with Wrangler’s Jeff Chadwick and my old travel buddy Bryan Mandeville.
The second I put these Justin boots on they fit like a pair of slippers. I’ve never had a pair of boots fit as well since.
I’ve had the soles replaced three times and the boot guy says there’s not enough left to do a fourth.
They have some cracks in what’s left of the soles and there are some “vent holes” in some seams.
But they are like a loyal old friend and they’ve been with me many miles and we’ve hopped a lot of rodeo arena fences together escaping danger.
I had committed to retire them at the end of this rodeo season but I put them back on the shelf while I sleep on it. Good chance they’ll get a pension and retire but keep your eye out next season for the final verdict.
