Rodeo hall of famer to host youth clinic

Retired world champion bronc rider Tom Reeves told the Sundance City Council last week that he is planning to bring his youth program to the county fairgrounds, promising to offer an economic boost to the community alongside a “rite of passage” opportunity for local kids.

Reeves told the council he began the Wild Horses Building Champions program in 2018. The next year, he said, saw the group host 53 events from Oregon to New York.

The event includes a professional rodeo, sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, that aims to offer affordable family entertainment and promote the western lifestyle while attracting visitors – including both audience members and judges and participants – to stay within the community and drive commerce.

The youth program is described as a free opportunity for students to examine the world around them and provides awareness of the dangers they face daily, such as “stranger danger”, empowering kids with self-confidence, an anti-bullying mindset, community accountability and involvement through equine therapy.

It also encourages peer mentorship and includes team-building activities where all participants are equal, promoting problem solving alone and as a team, and encourages each child to understand they are a community asset.

“It draws upon their voice for self and community activism,” states the description Reeves distributed to the council. “Though their voice is small, together, it is mighty.”

The Wild Horses Building Champions program also includes “Prairie Dog’s Pack”, the first ever human trafficking prevention program in the United States. Mayor Paul Brooks expressed support for this, stating that, “Whether we like it or not, Sturgis [Motorcycle Rally] is there, and there is fallout from Sturgis.”

Reeves also explained that the program is designed to be inclusive and welcomes all kids. Unlike most sports, he said, it isn’t all about the champions.

“We want them all – the western lifestyle accepts all,” he said.

Reeves approached the council to introduce the program and and present a request for $12,000 towards the overall $30,000 cost of putting on the event. However, said his wife, Casey, if the city is unable to contribute, the team will go out and raise the needed amount.

When Mayor Paul Brooks pointed out that the council is happy to give its blessing to the event but lodging tax revenue is channeled to the Sundance Chamber of Commerce, Casey clarified that the Reeves are aware of this and have made contact with the chamber, but wanted to visit with the council to give them a first-hand description of the plan and request.

Casey also informed the council that the events are usually scheduled to coincide with a week during which there is nothing else exciting going on in town – “a statistically slower week,” she explained, so as to potentially provide an economic boost at a time that would not usually see one.

According to the National Rodeo Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2022, Reeves became PRCA World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider in 2001. He had a 25-year rodeo career, qualifying for the National Finals 18 times, and served on the PRCA Board of Directors for a decade.

Reeves was also captain of the U.S. Olympic Rodeo Team during the Salt Lake City Olympics, started the PRCA Remuda of the Year Awards, won the PRCA Mentoring Youth in Rodeo Award in 2007 and coached the Ranger College Rodeo Team to the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Men’s National Title the same year.

Wild Horses Building Champions is a 501c3 charity that focuses on mentoring underprivileged youth.