Weather can't stop the rodeo
International Finals Rodeo

By Ed Godfrey

Published: January 18, 2007

The 37th annual International Finals Rodeo opens tonight at State Fair Arena, and qualifying for the event is never easy. Only the top 15 money earners in each event during the season make it to the IFR, where they will compete this year for more than $250,000 in cash and prizes.

But this year, making it to Oklahoma City was difficult — literally. The ice storm that hit the Southern Plains had some cowboys and stock contractors scrambling for flights and driving twice as long to get here. They've all made it, but not without some trouble.

Colby Stufflebean, a steer wrestler from Krebs currently third in the International Professional Rodeo Association standings, had two ice-crumpled trees fall on his home Saturday and rip the power lines away from his house. After two days without electricity and water, he and his family decided to arrive early.

"We came to Oklahoma City to get better conditions — a motel room with electricity and running water,” he said. "It looks like a war zone back home. My daughter called it a creepy forest. All of the trees are hanging over with a good inch of ice.”

The drive from McAlester to Oklahoma City wasn't bad, though, until they neared Choctaw Road, he said.

"The roads in the city are a lot worse than at home,” he said.

Stufflebean said his father has remained in Krebs to make sure there is gas in the generator that is powering the house.

Bull rider Bronson Butcher of Muskogee said it took him two days to drive to Oklahoma from Wisconsin, where he was competing last weekend in a rodeo. In Iowa, his vehicle did a complete spin while attempting to pull over for gas, something that didn't faze him.

"I am used to spinning, but it scared my girlfriend,” he said.

Mike Latting, a stock contractor from the Chicago area, pulled a 32-foot trailer along treacherous roads containing a bull and seven horses for the bareback and saddle bronc events.

Because of the news reports of ice throughout Missouri and northeast Oklahoma, Latting decided to drive to Memphis and take Interstate 40 to Oklahoma City instead of traveling I-44 through St. Louis.

"I went about 180 miles out of the way,” he said. "Turns out, I-44 probably wasn't worse than I-40, but at least I-40 was flatter.”

Latting said he did do some sliding along the way but avoided any accidents.

"It's kind of hairy driving a regular pickup on ice, much less pulling those trailers. I saw a lot of downed power lines along the way and a lot of ice. To make a long story short, we are here and everything is safe.”

This kind of weather is not uncommon for Chicago, he said.

"We are used to driving on ice. That's a way of life for us. People not used to driving on it, I can see where they are having some issues with it.”