Once again the cowboy image has been misrepresented in the name of entertainment. Last year CMT put out the casting call, looking for “real ranch cowboys” for a new “reality” show called “Americas Top Cowboy.” Judging by the contestants cast, the producers couldn’t tell the difference between the Pillsbury® Doughboy and a cowboy. Out of the six contestants only two are what you might call actual ranch cowboys. Scott Whinfrey and Jason Patrick. The rest of the pack may have been a bunch of good guys, but they were not real cowboys. They are “rodeo cowboys” which are professional athletes, not working ranch cowboys. In fact, twenty or thirty years ago these men would have been describes not as cowboys, but rodeo bums.
From the judges to the events, it was plain the producers have no idea of what real cowboys do, nor how they do it. To have a calf leave the herd at the beginning of the show was a sure sign they were not all real cowboys. Calves don’t leave like that unless someone is doing something wroing. Cowboy mounted shooting is not what they do out there and has no real correlation to their job. Cowboy mounted shooting is an arena event, and no matter how good one is at it, this does not qualify you to be judging the abilities of ranch cowboys doing their job. Neither does being a world champion in an arena event which is banned in several states because of how hard it is on the cattle. Nor do the arena events these rodeo bums…er athletes chose for the freestyle competition. Scott Whinfrey and Jason Patrick were the only two contestants who demonstrated things having to do with ranch cowboys. Scott’s whip demonstration, while it did not go as good as he wanted, should have prevented him from elimination as it did demonstrate an actual cowboy skill. Showing skills in a rodeo event that has no correlation to being a real ranch cowboy should have been ignored rather than winning this phase of the competition. No doubt, it was a great bareback ride, but it had nothing to do with what the show was about, being a top ranch cowboy.
The biggest disappointment of the show was the colt breaking competition. If the judges would have been judging based on actual ability, Jason Patrick would have won. The only reason he didn’t is because Bradley Harter managed to make a ride in spite of the fact he made every conceivable mistake he could have.
If this show is to have a second episode, there needs to be some changes made. The contestants need to be actual ranch cowboys, not professional athletes with marketing degrees. Second, the judges need to be people who know cattle handling and horsemanship. They should be people like , Bud Williams, who gives cattle handling seminars, Horsemanship clinician Ray Hunt, and ranch roping clinician Dave Weaver. Thirdly, the contests should have something to do with real ranch work. Why not have contestants move a couple hundred head of steers to another pasture? Or move a couple hundred cow calf pairs through a couple of different gates without un-pairing the cattle?
This show has some real potential to be both entertaining and educational. As it stands, the premier was a disappointment and insult to real ranch cowboys. One has to wonder about the selection process and of how many real cowboys were rejected because of age or the fact they were not educated rodeo bums.

The author has either worked a as ranch cowboy or trained horses for most of the last thirty-three years. He currently works on a stocker cattle operation where he may have to move several hundred steers at a time without help.



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