Keeping Stories Alive
Maelee Wade is one determined lady. A cowgirl from Georgia, she made headlines by winning the 2023 World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) Rodeo Carolina. Not only did she take home $25,000, but she reminded folks roping talent goes far beyond the western states with a smoking 2.45 second run.
It’s that time of the year–for NFR and holiday cheer. Custom saddle maker and PRCA steer wrestler Pat Hooper of Pat Hooper Leatherwrks will be …
On Saturday, November 11, horse trailers lined the roads of Athens, Texas as the top steer wrestlers from across the country descended upon Pat Hooper Leatherwrks Annual Veterans Day Jackpot.
Hooper, a PRCA steer wrestler, saddle maker, and veteran, proudly hosts this jackpot every year with the intention of providing quality competition and top notch prizes.
With the support of multiple sponsors, Hooper delivered on both, and winner Chase Crane took home $7,000, plus a saddle and other assorted prizes.
This week Athens, TX saddlemaker and PRCA steer wrestler Pat Hooper was on site at the State Fair of Texas delivering 14 beautiful trophy saddles for the event champions to be awarded during the upcoming United Pro Rodeo Association (UPRA) finals.
If you started this journey with us and read A Saddle is Born: Part 1, you know we’ve joined Pat Hooper for an inside glimpse of the custom saddle making process. So far, the Texas saddlemaker and PRCA steer wrestler has set the ground seats and is now focusing on the horn, swells and riggings as he moves towards the back housing parts and skirt moldings around the tree.
Have you ever wondered how a custom saddle is built? In partnership with Texas saddle maker and PRCA steer wrestler Pat Hooper of Pat Hooper Leatherwrks, I’m proud to walk you through the process from start to finish.
Erin Crider is passionate about women in the outdoors–not as volunteers, observers, or paid customers, but as leaders, teachers, and confident guides. Out of this desire to see change in the industry, Crider founded Uncharted Outdoorswomen, an organization “creating space for women in the outdoors.”
Matthew Puckett, a Texas born bird dog man, has been named the new state director for the Oklahoma division of the National Bird Hunters Association (NBHA) and is using his passion to preserve the sporting tradition throughout the state.
Pat Hooper may have grown up in east Texas, but he has been a part of rodeo culture all across America. His father James Hooper owned and operated Rawhide Productions and was one of the leading producers in the black rodeo movement of the early 1970s. The rodeos ranged from Memphis to D.C. and attracted greats such as the Bobby Blue Bland and B.B. King to add melody to the magic. These adventures continued at RFK Stadium and even led to a Saudi Arabian sheik calling the elder Hooper and asking him to come produce a rodeo. Pat traveled across the U.S. with his father and followed in his footsteps as a calf roper.
A native of Sulphur, Oklahoma, Treptow didn’t start out walking the cowboy way. He spent his earlier years with a distinctive skater punk style, enjoying the adrenaline of four wheels over four legs. A time of transition started during junior high when he purchased a film camera at a local pawn shop and quickly became the kid carrying it around and taking pictures of everything in sight. Repetitive practice, paired with YouTube videos and internet tutorials, slowly took him beyond the point and click phase and gave him an interest in furthering his knowledge. His determination and dedication served him well, and his talents began to grow.
