BIG SPRING, Texas – When Jeffrey Collins looks around the expanse that is the Carr Pro Rodeo ranch near Athens, Texas, his lips curl into a smile that reveals pride.
You see, Collins is foreman at the ranch, and what he sees are acres of hard work that is culminating in one of the fastest growing rodeo livestock companies in the sport of rodeo. He’s sees tremendous athletes – horses that have developed quite a reputation for being tremendous buckers and bulls that can leap high, spin fast and throw in some nasty moves.
“I get to do what I love every day,” said Collins, a rodeo cowboy who spent year on the rodeo trail and on the backs of bucking horses across North America. “It’s a great way to make a living. I don’t get to go to many rodeos, but I still get to see my old rodeo friends every now and then. It’s a win-win situation for me, because I’m still around the sport I love.
“It’s a pretty good life.”
It’s good, but it’s not easy. The care of animals involves much. Collins works with a good group of folks like Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo, and Scotty Spencer, a professional bullfighter who works side by side with Collins on caring for the ranch.
“Jeff does everything from feeding the animals, making our hay, worming and doctoring the animals, cutting grass, building fence … whatever it takes,” Carr said. “There is nothing I have found that he can’t do.”
The reality of a rodeo stock company is that the care of the animals shows up in the arena, like the Big Spring Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo, set for 8 p.m. Thursday, June 17-Saturday, June 19. All that tender loving care is on display when the bucking beasts perform at their bests. It’s a win-win situation for the rodeo – the cowboys love the opportunity to win money on the backs of the animal athletes, and the fans get to see tremendous action.
Collins knows all about that. Not only did he ride bareback horses for a living for a couple of decades, he was one of the best in the world for most of his storied career. The buckle he wears is gold, given only to the best in the business each year – Collins won the 2000 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback riding world championship. He is a six-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the grand finale each year that features only the top 15 contestants in each event at the conclusion of the regular season.
“I still have a passion for bucking horses,” Collins said. “I just go about it differently.”
That’s just fine for Carr, who has known Collins for a decade and a half and who hired the cowboy three years ago. A former rough-stock cowboy himself, Carr felt a strong connection.
“With the ranch, all the livestock, houses, equipment, machinery and vehicles, that’s a big investment to have down in Athens when our main office is in Dallas,” Carr said. “But it’s been a blessing for my wife, Sherrill, and I to have someone as consciences as Jeff and Scotty down there taking care of everything like it was their own.”
It’s a trust Collins takes seriously.
“Pete and I both have the same desire, and that’s to develop and have great bucking stock,” Collins said. “With the same goals and objectives, we’re able to work through all the other things it takes to get there.”
The foundation for producing premier events is laid on the Carr Pro Rodeo ranch, and it involves an enormous amount of care for the livestock and a lot of sweat equity.
“I’ve just always try to focus on the infrastructure, surrounding myself with the best people possible and build for the inside out, then just try to control the growth,” Carr said.
It seems to be working. Whether it’s having the 2005 bareback riding horse of the year in Real Deal or the 2007 runner-up in Riverboat Annie, owning the Texas Circuit Bull of the Year or the horse that carried Ryan Gray to the record-tying 94-point bareback ride last year, the word about Carr Pro Rodeo is getting around.
“Our goal is to raise great livestock and put on premier events,” Carr said.
