Young people are embracing ranch life. known as the “Yellowstone effect”

Riley Pirkle stood astride a sorrel-colored horse at the fence gate inside WR Watt Arena in Fort Worth.

“Let's go, girl,” the University of North Central Texas freshman whispers to his horse, Cat, before grabbing a rope and using a lasso to jump into the pen.

At the same time as the whip and the snap of his wrist, Mr. Pirkle tried to place the lassoed rope around the cow's neck. Passersby consider the show to be just another rodeo event.

She and the 39 other students competing in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Bridles & Brains last week are considering it a substitute for a job interview. In her third year of the competition, billed as the Collegiate Ranch Horse Team Competition, the competing students couldn't be more excited about ranching.

“We call this the 'Yellowstone' wave of popularity,” said Lance Baker, coach of the West Texas A&M University Ranch Horse Racing Team. “Pop culture has all the ingredients for young people to get excited about. …The industry is definitely growing.”

Bridles & Brains is no different, says Texas Cowboy Hall of Famer Patty Colbert. He helped establish the event in 2022 and has been producing it ever since.

In the first year of the tournament, six universities participated. Just two years later, 10 different schools bused their teams to the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

“We want to be the Rose Bowl,” Colbert said. “For Fort Worth and the Equity Show, we want to build this event for universities that have programs that will be the focus of the year of competition.”

On the first day of the tournament, about 200 people sat in the 1,100-seat W.R. Watt Arena, where Pirkle and his friends competed in roping and penning events. Colbert hopes to eventually see all 1,100 seats filled.

“We truly believe this has the potential to grow into something where you see school banners and fans cheering,” Colbert said. “It’s just like any other sport.”

Several fans and parents wearing Texas Tech red and black were scattered throughout the arena. Some wore Tarleton State University purple.

Several people were at the stands with laptops, notebooks, and scraps of paper. Colbert said several of these people are “recruiters.”

“A lot of students are entering the job market, and they better start figuring out what they want to do,” Colbert says.

Many of them plan to work on ranches or related industries. Most of these students have been raised in the ranching world all their lives, she said.

Pirkle is one of the few who didn't, she said. She grew up in Waco.

“My father is a lawyer. My mother was a housewife. She wanted to take horse riding lessons,” Pirkle said. “That was their biggest mistake, their best mistake ever.”

She said the competition really helped her open her eyes to the industry.

“This might be my favorite show I've ever performed,” Pirkle said.

However, she is fascinated by horse reproduction and is considering becoming a veterinarian.

For the players who participated, including Clarendon University's Ry Reynolds, who won the tournament's Most Valuable Player Award, and Texas Tech University's Connor Cowdrey and his teammates, ranching has been their passion since they learned to speak the language. It had become a part of life.

That's part of the reason Texas Tech earned the title of 2024 Bridles & Brains Champions. Cowdrey won first place in ranch penning.

Tech's team also took first place in the team speech category of the competition and second place in the event's media interviews.

In this industry, Colbert says, you have to know how to communicate. She said the practice emphasizes that and teaches her how to define her place within her team and ultimately the ranch.

“Being able to communicate and looking people in the eye is so important,” Colbert said. “If you're successful, someone is going to want to talk to you. So they need to keep that in mind.”

That's what many “recruiters” are looking for, along with technical ability in ranch workers, she said.

“They have to work as a team,” Coach Baker said. “This teaches them to think about others other than themselves.”

The students are all for it, he said.

“Ranch horses gave these students an opportunity to get hired,” Baker said. “And then things got weird.”

Although Pirkle may not be riding or working with horses in the future, her passion for the industry will always be there.

“Everyone is welcome. Everyone is welcome,” Pirkle said. “It's that sense of community where young people are really accepted by adults, industry leaders and professionals. It's really cool.”

Pirkul wasn't born into this lifestyle. She rode a pony for the first time at age 11. But her “Yellowstone” effect surprised her. The world of her ranch is open to her if she wishes.

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for The Fort Worth Report. Please contact matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1 X, formerly known as Twitter. At The Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independent of board members and financial supporters.Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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