When I first met Mike Kemp, he was sitting by the front entrance to the arena of the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka, Kansas with a black felt cowboy hat and a presence that seemed to indicate he was an integral part of the passion that keeps rodeo alive.
His dedicated offering of time and talent helps several different rodeo associations and his love for the sport has now led him back into the bucking chutes after a multi-year hiatus.
As a child growing up in Iowa, Mike had an attraction to horses from an early age. He was able to explore this interest and gain exposure to the rodeo world while spending summers with his grandparents and their horses. Rodeo was a family-wide hobby for the Kemps, with his mom’s uncle a competitive roper and his brother David a bareback rider in high school rodeo.
In 1991, Mike had just finished a stint in the army and joined his brother in riding bareback horses. Choosing bareback riding over saddle bronc as his main event came easily as he enjoyed the healthy sibling rivalry with his brother David and was quick to recognize the added dangers of getting caught up in the stirrup and dragged in the saddle bronc.
Mike competed in bareback in the International Pro Rodeo Association (IPRA) and several other local associations, making a good run of it before being severely injured during a ride in Missouri in 2000. He took the spring of that year off to heal, but then discovered he would soon be a father, and decided to quit rodeoing and focus on family and a career. It was a cold turkey transition, and he didn’t watch or follow rodeos for over twenty years.
Over the past few years, he decided to return to rodeo, dabbling in some senior rodeo associations before discovering the Legends Rough Stock Series and Team Don’t Weaken. This group targets competitors over forty interested in rough stock and provides a showcase format with a handful of larger, live streamed events in major cities making it more accessible to compete in while providing the opportunity to qualify for finals without burning up the road constantly.
He has worked hard on his comeback and is active at local practice pens. Overall, he has taken a straightforward approach, choosing to climb in the chute, clear his mind, let muscle memory kick in, keep on center and stay pulled up. He currently uses a medium lift rigging set by Larry “Wild Man” Sandvick of Wild Man Riggings.
He also spends a lot of time at the gym working on balance. He knows you can’t outpower an 1800-pound horse, but you can learn to move with them, so he focuses on technique.
Mike remembers his favorite horse from back in the day being Classy Lady from the DeLayne Long Rodeo Company who was a star in the 90s and whose bloodlines still prevail today. Since climbing back in the chutes, he has found that the bareback horses are being bred bigger and thicker compared to the smaller, quicker horses of previous years. In some cases, this allows them to be a crossover for saddle bronc competitions too.
While he doesn’t have a favorite pro rider, Mike feels very fortunate to have his brother David by his side for the journey as well as having the support and encouragement of long-time friend Don Simonsen of Omaha, Nebraska. He is also grateful to the people giving him the opportunity to make a go of it now: Jason Olsen, a bareback rider and sponsored athlete of Team Don’t Weaken, and all the guys that used to help Mike back in the day. Many of these mentors were world champions he competed against who were humble enough to dole out tips and encouragement at the chutes, and include big names such as Cody Sosebee, Milburn Outhier, and Craig Cooper.
Mike Kemp is a testament to the power of returning to your dreams. Today, he makes his home in Omaha, Nebraska. He has built a career as an architectural designer and will soon be a licensed architect. In addition, he is certified to judge for the Iowa Rodeo Association (IRA) and the United Rodeo Association (URA).
And now, once again, he is a bucking horse man.
You can livestream the Legends Roughstock Series on their website and see Mike in action this season.
