The Rodeo Babe Story

The founder of Rodeo Babe was previously the marketing director for a nationally-known equine and livestock feed supplement company, and on a business trip back in 2006, he found himself “backstage” at his first barrel race in Waco, Texas. Being a city kid with no familiarity with rodeo, this was a weird “fish outta water” experience for him. He got the opportunity to chat with several of the contestants, to pet their horses and talk to them about their sport, and he was immediately struck by a certain vibe these girls all possessed. They were all very pretty, feminine, and polite, sweet and good-natured, but stalwart and fiercely competitive.

Tough. Gritty. Self-assured. Resilient. Tenacious. Unbowed by injury. There was a 16 or 17 year old girl competing with a filthy pink-mesh cast on her broken wrist. Another woman bolted out of the gate, rounded the first barrel, and as she approached the second, her horse spazzed out sideways, launching her out of her saddle and smashing her head-first into the steel barrel. She laid motionless on the dirt for a solid ten seconds before slowly getting up, picking up her hat, and walking her horse back to the gate. He saw her about a half-hour later, holding a makeup mirror and dabbing peroxide onto a inch-long gash just above her hairline. Those girls were the inspiration for the original Bleeding On My Boot and Lie There And Bleed designs.

They were good sports, but not above a little good-natured trash talk. Magnanimous in victory, but dedicated to improvement in defeat. No complaints, no excuses, just determined to train more and do better next time.

He also saw a vendor at that show selling cheap, crappy iron-on tee shirts that didn’t speak to their intrinsic qualities, and he never saw that tee shirt vendor sell one single shirt. He thought, “This guy doesn’t understand these rodeo babes at all…”

Being a web designer and graphic artist, he recognized the unique niche these girls occupied, and decided to give them shirts and gear that reflected the kind of women they are… tough, strong, confident, resilient, competitive, sexy, feminine, flirty, sassy, and absolutely crushing their sport. When he got home, he pitched the idea to a top-notch screen printer he knew, and Scotty the printer (later dubbed “Scotty the Shop Dog” by Beth P, one of our biggest supporters and promotors) liked the idea.

He asked, “What should we call this?”

Scotty replied, “Didn’t you call them rodeo babes?”

And the brand was born.

They started small, with perhaps twenty designs, when they happened upon a fantastic Barrel Racing discussion forum (now gone, sadly) that was looking for someone to print custom tee shirts for a fundraiser. Joining that forum was both a blessing and a windfall, and soon Rodeo Babe gear was popping up at races all over the country, from Pennsylvania to Texas to Washington State, and even Canada. Rodeo Babe was running full page ads in Barrel Horse News and Barrel Racer News, and the brand was really taking off.

But the best part was the amazing online friends and customers never met, only known by their online usernames… Kellie, Don’tGoEasy, GiddyUp, Kate, OldCowboy, Joey, DirtDoll, Ima, Mandi, TXSweetie, JustJettin, Deanna, DebHorses, CoolYourJetz, Crazeybabe Karen, and two or three dozen others now long forgotten. Some Friday evenings it felt like we had our own rodeo version of Cheers, where we could enjoy a cold beverage and laugh all night at wildly inappropriate things, and everybody knows your name.

The 2008 economic collapse put an end to the original Rodeo Babe, but now we are back, with new tech that allows us to expand our product line. We are dedicated to the spirit of the women that saddle up seven days a week and work hard to improve themselves, every damned day.

If they can do it, so can we.

Rodeo Babe is back.