Keeping Stories Alive
If you’ve ever wondered what 14-year-old cowboys do in their free time, it may be shooting armadillos to keep the horse pastures hole free or chasing after the ranch goat “Baaatman” on foot while swinging a rope.
At least, if you’re Dugan Caldwell this might be true. This fun-loving young man is a team roper and budding horse trainer in Wynnewood, Oklahoma.
Kevin Weatherby is the leader of the nonprofit Save the Cowboy, the largest independent cowboy ministry in the world. Born on a West Texas forty-two section ranch, Weatherby’s roots were planted deep. Although his formative years were spent in Big Lake, Texas, a town where his father was sheriff (you may remember it from the Dennis Quaid movie The Rookie), he soon returned to his ranch roots. He started college at Texas Tech but found the classrooms no comparison to the wide-open spaces and became a full-time cowboy. The long hours he logged in the saddle over the years weren’t a passing trend and continue to be a part of his life today. In fact, it is this core of his identity that led him to a deeper relationship with Christ and the start of the ministry.
So often in life when we find something we are passionate about, we dwell inside its existing realms, rather than envisioning new ways to pursue it. Yet on occasion, our experiences allow us to dream of something new and expand the industry.
There have been several well-known cowboys and cowgirls in the western horse world that have made a statement by doing things with their own unique approach. From purple clad Saddle Bronc star Casey Tibbs to brightly adorned helmet wearing Fallon Taylor, these folks’ pair their personal style and charisma with honest talent and hard work.
