Just a little adventure on my annual trip to the Lee Bellows Memorial Bucking Bronc School this May. This blog is to feature RV travel, RV living and places visited focusing heavily on Truck camping, if you’re here for the bucking broncs you can skip this part and go directly to the images. Being as I have past posts on the Bronc School I will include the short write up I did on the 2025 school for information on that or you can go to the archives for more.
Back to the broken truck, Friday started great, little wind, truck camper unwinterized and I was on my way taking it slow conserving fuel. Around Douglas Provincial Park my red battery light appeared, I stopped and checked and my battery read 21.3 V. I knew I had a problem but was not going to fix it there so try and make Moose Jaw. Just before Eyebrow, Saskatchewan, approx. 50 some kms down the road, all my warning lights appeared, not good the truck started to loose power and a wrench symbol appeared. I just made it to a deserted service station and pulled off the road the truck dash went black and the truck died.
I checked the battery again and it registered zero so good chance it was the alternator. Now Eybrow is a beautiful little community approx. 55 kms from Moose Jaw but there would not be and alternator or battery to be found here. I had just purchased my new Renogy Suitcase 200 watt solar panel, I needed a battery charge and had nothing else but bringing the battery back from zero I had my doubts. Coffee, dinner and my home was with me so it was a great quiet place to pass 3 hours. An elderly local couple stopped by and said they could boost me but I knew I needed battery power to continue and they said they would stop back later. The owner of the shop stopped by and we had a great visit waiting for my solar to do its thing. They along with myself could not believe that panel was putting out 10.2 amps in the sunshine and it was bringing my battery up. Thank you Renogy you were the only source available to charge that battery.
If it wasn’t for my desire to get to the bronc school, Eyebrow and the folks I met it would have been a good place to spend some time. As soon as the battery hit 12.3 V I figured I could get to Moose Jaw or at least closer. A boost to save power the old Ford fired up and I was gone not worrying about fuel economy just battery time so a little excessive on the fuel end. Made right to the Bellows/Gommersal arena where I would normally park and the truck died right there, zero battery but I made it. I had called around and found a new alternator in stock, Ford dealer did not have one (of course why would they), it was approx. 4 kms away. I hooked up my trusty Renogy solar panel and started hiking to pick up my new Bosch alternator. Well it turned out to be closer to 5 kms each way but I had my problem solved and in hand. Changed it out that evening on the rodeo grounds, I figured the solar would top up the battery enough I would not damage the new charger and I could return the core to the parts store and get a new battery, when you discharge an old battery to zero twice the writings on the wall as to how long it will last and I had had enough excitement for one weekend.
All is good now, let’s buck some broncs! Hope you enjoy the images as much as I did taking them, these are some determined and tough young men and women. May they add to the great sport of Rodeo and go on to earn some travel money.
This was an article explaining the school I posted last year. A few faces and names can be added to this year but a big thanks to all those who made it possible to give these cowboys and cowgirls a safe start to a great sport.
Thanks to having a complete self-contained home in the back of our truck we have been able to experience our beautiful country in our travels, if interested check out our past posts. It’s not the places we have been but the great people one meets along the way from different walks of life that makes our travels special.
Again this year I was fortunate enough to have attended the Lee Bellows Memorial Annual Bucking Bronc School held at the Bellows/ Gommersal Arena in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. Lee, along with Don Gillespie and Kelly Brice 17 years ago saw a need for a school to not only promote the sport of bareback and saddle bronc riding, but to share the experience of past rodeo champions to make the sport safer.
Over the three-day weekend they introduced 38 new students to the sport, a new high total this year that would have put a big smile on Lee’s face. Students, both cowboys and cowgirls, come from all over to learn the basic skills. Starting with ground school, equipment checks, physical conditioning and riding techniques on mechanical horses, is just the beginning. It’s about learning the proper techniques of the sport and safety, to get them started in the very action packed sport, I was told. Staying on the back of one of these trained bucking horses for eight seconds is job one, then one must learn how to safely get off preferably with the help of the pickup men. If your eight seconds was cut short and one finds themselves on the ground there are also techniques for staying out of the way of flying hooves. All good lessons learned from the experience being handed down.
In my past life I did a lot of rodeo photography, following the circuit where I got to know and even photograph many of the professional cowboys who are now older and wiser sharing their knowledge with those wanting to participate in either saddle bronc or bareback riding. Rodeo people are like family and I have been very blessed to have had the opportunity to meet many of them with camera in hand. There are many ways to participate in the sport, this was mine. So my annual trip to catch up with old friends I have a lot of respect for is always special. There is a fee to attend the school, and that money is used to help cover a little fuel expense for the stock contractors that haul in the horses, and pick up men who also have to transport several horses to the event. The rest of the crew are all volunteers gladly sharing their experience to keep the sport of rodeo alive, safe and exciting. Over 50 horses chosen by the stock contractors that would be suitable to start students on were hauled in. These are the real thing, trained to buck so the students are not getting a free pass, these horses do not like passengers. Francis Rodeo stock, a longtime supporter of the school, along with Tom Bingham, Don and Rebecca Helmeczi and Kaycee Ericson of 4E Buckers supplied the stock this year. For the students safety the best pick up men in the business, Wade Rempel, Luke Ellingson and Dwight Dokken, are brought in. I think one of the toughest jobs in rodeo is being a pick up man rescuing riders from bucking broncs and seeing to the riders safety. Lee Sinclair, Ross Smith, Don Gillespie, Steve Glenn, Dallas Bessey, and Matt Campbell are just a few of the many involved that carry on the tradition in memory of our friend Lee Bellows.