Tis the season for Cowboy Christmas! Yeehaw.
Each year, dozens of rodeos are held around the Fourth of July holiday. For spectators, it's a lot of fun to see their favorite rodeo athletes competing.
For rodeo athletes, it's an opportunity to increase their chances for qualifying at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this December in Las Vegas as well as earn additional income. Typically, rodeos around the 4th of July have higher payouts, and there are certainly more rodeos happening to choose from.
Because of this fast-paced, hectic season with the opportunities for big money and nailing the possibility of competing in Vegas, it's referred to as Cowboy Christmas.
Cowboys who go join in the craziness might compete in Prescott, Arizona and be back on the road before the dust in the arena has a chance to settle. Those who travel to my home state of Oregon will find PRCA sanctioned rodeos in Molalla and St. Paul. Or their travels might take them to Colorado, or Cody, Wyoming, or Red Lodge, Montana before heading up into Canada for the Calgary Stampede - an event that could be a cowboy's Christmas dreams come true since the winnings are rich.
My love for rodeo started when I was old enough to attend our local rodeo, held over the Fourth of July. Growing up on a farm twenty miles from the closest town, we generally took our excitement anywhere we could get it.
Each summer, I eagerly anticipated our small town’s biggest event of the year – the Fourth of July Rodeo. Back in those days, it was a PRCA-sanctioned rodeo. Some of the top names in the circuit would join hundreds of rodeo fans for four days of rodeo, events in the park, a parade through town, and the annual Suicide Race (a crazy horseback race down a steep butte, across the highway, through the river, and into the rodeo arena -clink to link to watch if from a participants viewpoint - start at the 2 minute mark).
For a horse-crazy little girl who loved the smell of leather and the sight of cowboy hats, it was amazing.
One of the few stores we had in town was a saddle-maker with a boot shop. When I was five, my dad took me to Leroy’s shop to pick out a new belt for the rodeo. It was the first time I got to choose my own and I was so excited.
As we walked inside, the welcoming aroma of leather filled the air. Dad led me to where Leroy worked on saddle at the back of the shop and they talked a few minutes. Impatiently waiting, they finally told me to go see what I could find. My gaze – and heart – immediately settled on a hand-tooled belt with little flowers and a silver buckle with a gold saddle that glistened in the overhead lights.
I still have that little belt today along with my love of rodeo. It’s because of how much I enjoy the watching rodeos that led to the creation of my Rodeo Romance series, set near Kennewick, Washington.
Read about rodeo cowboys, their adventures in competing, and the women who can't help but fall for them in my Rodeo Romances series!
Tate Morgan is as tough as they come. He can handle the wildest bronc on the rodeo circuit, but he loses the ability to think straight around the beautiful woman he keeps running into at the airport. Completely captivated by the uptight executive who makes it clear she detests cowboys, Tate will have to work a little holiday magic if he wants to win her heart.
Married to her job as a corporate trainer for a successful direct sales company, Kenzie Beckett doesn’t have time for a man. Besides, after being burned twice by two-timing losers, she refuses to allow a third opportunity to exist. Unfortunately, no one told that to the handsome rodeo cowboy who catches her eye at the airport. He’ll need more than a pair of fine-fitting jeans, dusty boots, and dimpled smile to break past her resistance and bring her a heaping helping of holiday cheer.
Full of laughter and tender romance, The Christmas Cowboy takes readers on a sweet Christmas adventure to a happily ever after.
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