Amy Parsons: Hi, I’m Amy Parsons, President of Colorado State University and host of The Next 150 podcast. We have so many remarkable people in our community, and this is where we’re going to hear their stories. We’re going to get their perspectives on CSU’s next 150 years and gather their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Let’s get started, Rams.

Well, hi, Rams and PBR fans and rodeo fans. Welcome back to our next episode of The Next 150. We’re recording just next door to Canvas Stadium and we’ve had a couple of really special days here on campus. It’s our inaugural PBR Last Cowboy Standing at Canvas Stadium at CSU.

We had an incredible night last night with our professional bull riders and we hosted our first really major concert at Canvas Stadium with Cross Canadian Ragweed. It was amazing. And tonight we have Jon Pardi joining us after the second night of PBR.

Really historic nights on campus at CSU. Our first big major concerts and the first time of hosting professional bull riding. PBR has been such a great organization to work with. We’ve been so happy to host them on campus. And happily, we’ve already announced that we’re going to do it again next year, because it’s just been so great for Ram Country.

So, of course, today we’re going to be talking about all things rodeo. Rodeo runs really deep in our history at Colorado State University. We’ll get into that a little bit more in the episode, but I’m honored to have two esteemed guests with us this morning to talk about rodeo and CSU and what’s going on with PBR.

So thank you both for joining me this morning. Our first guest has been at the heart of rodeo and PBR in America for a long time.

Flint Rasmussen: Forever, actually.

Amy Parsons: Forever. For a long time. A household name in western sports entertainment and a legend in the arena for three decades, Flint Rasmussen is one of the most recognized figures in rodeo entertainment. As a graduate of Western Montana College with a bachelor’s in secondary education, Flint went on to teach. What did you teach? Math?

Flint Rasmussen: Math and history.

Amy Parsons: Coach football, too?

Flint Rasmussen: And I coached football and track. Yeah.

Amy Parsons: You did all the things?

Flint Rasmussen: I did everything a small town guy’s supposed to do.

Amy Parsons: Yea?

Flint Rasmussen: Yes.

Amy Parsons: Yes. But then at some point you traded all that in for the arena.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah. I can say though, everybody wants that story of a school teacher says, “I want to be a rodeo clown.” And there’s such a long story behind it. I grew up with a dad that was a rodeo announcer, and so I knew every single thing about the sport, ya know.

YD: Yep.

Flint Rasmussen: He can tell me any event he’s in and I know everything about it. But never wanted to be a cowboy. I was an athlete and music and drama, I did all that stuff. And it was kind of on a dare when I was 19 years old. I was bad-mouthing rodeo clowns that I didn’t think they were funny. And so it was my summer job in college while my other friends were doing real jobs.

Amy Parsons: That’s a summer job? To be a rodeo clown?

Flint Rasmussen: I had a guy see me-

Amy Parsons: Kind of a dangerous summer job.

Flint Rasmussen: I know. I had a stock contractor producer up in Montana see me, and he said, “Come do all my rodeos.” So you don’t automatically get to go to Cheyenne Frontier Days or the Pendleton Roundup. I did little rodeos in Montana all summer.

And then word was getting out. And as I was teaching school, I was getting calls and talked about resigning from teaching and pursuing this. And a couple old teachers said I’d never do it because we’re all stuck here. So I resigned the next day just to prove to them.

Amy Parsons: Oh, my gosh.

Flint Rasmussen: And finished the year, anyway, and it really took off for me.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. Well, you said you originally didn’t think that rodeo clowns were funny. But the role of a rodeo clown is to both entertain, but also it’s a very serious job to protect the cowboys and the riders.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah. And the history of rodeo clowns, it used to be the same, there was one guy. And he would entertain the crowd until the bull riding, then be the protection man, too. And through the decades, it separated a little bit where they’re now the bullfighters and the clown.

So I was the guy in the barrel and did all the comedy. So I never intended to be that guy saving cowboys. I was not all that brave. I mean, you’re still out there. There’s still that element.

So I, growing up, wanted to be on stage. That’s all I wanted. I’d play the tennis racket in front of the mirror with music really loud. Wanted to be either an actor…I was in a lot of school plays. I was in “The Sound of Music” in high school, by the way.

Amy Parsons: Congratulations.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah, thank you. So I wanted to be a performer, and so that’s the direction…it just happened to be my avenue to get into that. And I think that’s why I was…changed the game a little bit, was so successful because I didn’t approach it as a rodeo person.

The guy that used to be a bull rider that now is a rodeo clown. I went after it as a performer and always had an intention, we were very intentional in what I was doing in rodeo to PBR. And my career was about 30 years and now my knees hurt. So lucky me.

Amy Parsons: Yeah, I bet they do.

Flint Rasmussen: Lucky me.

Amy Parsons: I bet they do. Well, you’ve had really an amazing career jumping from that to all the way to today working on the corporate side of PBR. And just bear with me where I am going to read just a few of the accolades and your accomplishments over the years.

He’s an eight-time Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association Clown of the year. Eight-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Clown and Barrelman. Served as the exclusive entertainer for PBR’s Premier Tour for nearly two decades, 26-time PBR World Finals Arena Entertainer.

Flint Rasmussen: All in my 35 years.

Amy Parsons: All in your 35 years.

YD: Wow.

Flint Rasmussen: That was a joke about being 35.

Amy Parsons: So for 20 years you hosted “Outside the Barrel with Flint Rasmussen” as the National Finals Rodeo, the original talk show of the Western lifestyle. That’s pretty cool. 2024 inductee into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. 2025 inductee into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. And now, like I said, you’re on the corporate side of PBR making things happen like, Last Cowboy Standing right here at CSU.

Flint Rasmussen: Yea, I think the way that PBR has grown, cowboys don’t necessarily like to hear it, but our corporate office, there’s a lot of business aspects that are run by guys who are not cowboys. They don’t know bull riding in particular. They know marketing, they know finance, they know partnerships and revenue.

When I retired from the arena, I really didn’t know what I was going to do. And rodeo is a scary business. I have mixed feelings about rodeo sometimes, and this will be good for you, advice later.

YD: Yep.

Flint Rasmussen: There’s a lot of people who get stuck in it because they’re so dedicated and so loyal. Cowboys are a pretty loyal bunch to their lifestyle, that a lot of them retire and end up with nothing, honestly. We see it in other sports, too.

And I just didn’t want to do that. And our CEO, Sean Gleason said, “I need somebody in a cowboy hat in this office, so that when we get two points like this, or if something about actual bull riding comes up, they say, “What do you think the fans would like? What about the process of getting cowboys there?”” And I kind of know that stuff.

So my title is SVP of Fan Engagement. So anything that engages with fans, I get to step in. Well, when you think about it, that’s a lot of stuff. And now I oversee the competition committee too, which means rules and how guys qualify and discrepancies in judging, things like that, which I actually like that more. So yeah, my hand is in a lot of cookie jars.

Amy Parsons: That’s great. Well, I mean, we saw incredible fan engagement last night at Last Cowboy Standing in Canvas. We’ll come back to that in a minute because there’s a lot of new fans last night. People who were seeing rodeo and PBR for the first time filling the stands last night. That’s really exciting for the sport.

So let’s talk to RalShaun for a few minutes here because he really represents the future of the sport and current. I mean, you’re doing great in competition right now. We’re proud that you’re a Ram on our rodeo team right now. So I think we can call you YD, that’s what your friends call you.

Flint Rasmussen: I’m going with YD.

Amy Parsons: We’re going with YD.

YD: Yeah, that’s easy. Yep. Nope.

Amy Parsons: YD is one of our own students on our team. A Navajo student from Rock Point, Arizona, transferred to CSU from Diné College, and now you’re a senior studying equine science in the College of Ag Sciences. Competes on the team as a header. You’re going to have to explain to everybody what that is in a minute.

You earned recognition as one of the top five headers in the Central Rocky Mountain Region. And just on Sunday, you competed in the 2025 World Series Team Roping Championships in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and won a nice little purse. So congratulations on that. So, YD, tell us a little bit about how you got to be where you are now on the CSU team and your entry into rodeo.

YD: Okay, yep. So I come from a two-generation ranch back home and stuff. And my great-grandfather back in the late 1800s and stuff came back from the military, bought himself a little flock of cattle and stuff and whatnot. And maybe started with three cows and two bulls and started his herd from there and then just took off.

And little by little with the income that they were making at the time, they were able to buy bucking bulls. And sooner or later they were able to get a group of bulls, young bulls together, and then was pretty much known as one of the first stock contractors on a Navajo reservation. And it took off ever since.

So rodeo’s always been in my blood. Grandpa done it, dad done it. So then it was time for us to come up. And dad’s a rodeo announcer too, and I grew up being in the crow’s nest with him. But I really saw myself not behind the bucking shoots necessarily, but I saw myself behind the roping shoots. Just because of the fact that you would see guys throwing so much nylon out there and riding good horses. And I kind of saw myself in that part of the arena.

But dad was a bull rider. Dad, he always wanted me to be a bull rider, too. So then I started from the youth category, from the mutton busting to the calf riding to the steer riding. I got into the novice bulls and then I got into the junior bulls. But then I got into my first open bull and it did not go good. And I was like, “You know what? I’m not going to touch it ever again.”

So I found myself behind a roping shoot. But yeah, come from a little town called Rock Point, Arizona. It’s a small town. We got a high school there, gas station, we’ve got a church, we’ve got a community building. I mean you can pretty miss it. It’s on 191. So if you’re going through from here to, I don’t know, Phoenix or something, and you go through 160, you cut down right there, 191.

Flint Rasmussen: I might’ve gone through there actually.

YD: Yep. So it’s only about 16 miles off of 160 and stuff. So yes. So when I was in high school, I did sports and I had high school rodeo my sophomore year. My partner graduated obviously. So then I was like, you know what? I took sports a little bit more seriously. I did all the sports. It was a small school, so you could do-

Amy Parsons: Everything.

YD: You could do basically everything. So I did football, cross country at the same time with track and then basketball, baseball, and never did wrestling. I have a little brother, he’s twice the size as me. He did more wrestling than me.

So I took sports pretty seriously, junior and senior year in high school. And then as soon as I was done with that, I got ahold of Lamar Community College. But before that I went to Diné College and I did my summer classes there. I did my prerequisites there.

And because of COVID hit when I graduated, I didn’t have a traditional graduation or anything like that. COVID hit that year. So then parents, it kind of put the whole reservation in scares too. They were taking it pretty seriously. Weekend curfews, lockdowns. And it was tough to be there and stuff when COVID was around.

And then obviously my family was pretty scared of me to go out there and stuff. And they were like, “You know, COVID’s still here, you should kind of lay low a little bit.” So I took online courses the fall semester through Diné College. Spring semester was coming around, and then Lamar Community College rodeo coach gave me an offer to come up there. I didn’t know where Lamar, Colorado was at. I looked in the maps and it was like 14 hours away from home.

I was like, “You know what?” I told my parents, “Hey, I’m going to Lamar Community College.” And then they were like, “Where’s that at?” I was like, “14 hours that way.” And ended up heading to Lamar spring of ’21, was on the rodeo team for them. And so I was already rodeoing in this region and stuff.

And I did my two years there and I got my associates in equine business management and horse training management. So I did my two degrees there. And then I went to Texas for the summer. Just when I was done with my internship down there, the rodeo coach for CSU reached out and gave me a really good offer to refuse.

So then I thought I was done with school. I was like, “You know what? I’m going to start my pro career and stuff.” And I got my good string of head horses going for me. So I was like, “You know what? We’re going to hit the road and we’re not going to look back.” And then CSU, obviously Seth Peterson gave me a really good offer. And he brought me here to CSU and I’ve just missed the college finals just by 15 points.

Amy Parsons: Is that right?

YD: Just by 15 points. But I was pretty fortunate to meet a lot of good people in this region, specifically because CSU is a good university to rodeo out of because it’s central for all the college rodeos. So you’re traveling four hours to Lamar, Colorado, and then you’re going to travel four hours to Sheridan, Wyoming.

So you’re in pretty much in a central area versus tracking from Lamar to Sheridan or from Lamar to here. So I mean, I’d done the drive, so I mean it’s not intimidating anymore and stuff. And we stacked a lot of miles on some rigs and stuff.

Amy Parsons: It’s a historic program too at CSU and it’s really special to be part of. I don’t know if you know this, but we have the longest running collegiate rodeo in the country here at CSU.

Flint Rasmussen: I did know that.

Amy Parsons: So we’re really proud of that.

Flint Rasmussen: And I know this through the years that the Navajo Nation, that rodeo and roping is embedded in their culture now. We really pay attention. We have, you know, you mentioned Cody Jesus, Keyshawn Whitehorse. There’s been guys, Spud Jones made it to the NFR years ago. He just passed away actually. And Derrick Begay and Aaron Tsinigine.

YD: Erich Rogers.

Flint Rasmussen: And I mean, Erich Rogers. But I think you’re the new roping sensation from the Navajo Nation.

Amy Parsons: Yes, YD.

Flint Rasmussen: So we really pay attention. They ride such nice horses. I have a good friend lives right by the Navajo Nation. And he goes to little jackpot ropings out on some dusty field and he said, “You’ve never seen such great cowboys in your life.”

Amy Parsons: Amazing.

Flint Rasmussen: So yeah, I could relate to what you’re saying.

YD: Yeah, there’s a lot of talent back home, for sure.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. So what did it mean to you, YD, to be in Canvas Stadium last night? To see us bring PBR and all that energy around rodeo and bull riding to the stadium?

YD: It brought me goosebumps, I’m not going to lie. It really did. I was like, because the last time I saw the stadium that full, it was when we played the CU Boulder team and stuff with the football game.

Amy Parsons: Big sold out football. Yeah.

YD: Correct. And then it’s just a different atmosphere. I was really impressed. We saw dirt on the field and we saw bulls on the deal and stuff. We saw trailers on the field, too. It brought a really good impression to me, and I could speak for the rest of the rodeo team, too. Everyone was amazed and we heard a lot of good feedback and stuff.

Flint Rasmussen:

I got to say, I’m going to tell you this, I talked to my daughter on the phone this morning who works with the CSU Rodeo Team with Learfield, and she has connections to PBR. She wants to make out a night and make it a college rodeo match. I knew he’d like that.

YD: That would be a good deal.

Amy Parsons: Well, let’s talk about the momentum because you see what we pulled off last night. And I agree, the transformation of Canvas Stadium last night was spectacular.

YD: Oh, absolutely.

Amy Parsons: Into the arena with the gigantic stage and all the fans was just a site to behold. There were a lot of new rodeo fans there last night. I mean, rodeo, Learfield getting involved. I mean those are all indicators that rodeo as a sport is continuing to grow in momentum and fans. And what do you make of that?

Flint Rasmussen: We call it, in our organization, we call it Western curious. That’s the term we use. Because we sold out, we sell out Madison Square Garden three nights in a row. You think, those people don’t know a bull from a rhino. But the Yellowstone effect, Western curious, whatever you want to call it, people want to be cowboys again.

Amy Parsons: Cute outfits.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah, exactly. They want to be cowboys. And this is all the places I go across the country. And it feels like besides the rodeo team and the college rodeo, there needs to be a little more here. I mean, big news outside of Colorado, when people think of Colorado, they now think of Denver and Boulder. This town is neither of those.

When I pulled in, I told you, I have so many friends that are Wyoming fans. I didn’t know what to expect here. What a great town, and just prime for people to be excited about Western sports, bull riding, rodeo, whatever it is.

And the college, again, I talked to my daughter this morning. She had a meeting with East Texas A&M, and they’re actually pointing some of their graduates to CSU for vet school instead of Texas A&M because it’s such a cool, inviting community. So yeah, this is a market that can be tapped into a little more for sure.

Amy Parsons: Absolutely. I mean it’s history for us. Obviously we’ve got really deep roots in rodeo and our students and our team, but we also have a long-standing connection with National Western Stock Show in Denver. I mean, we’ve been partners with the National Western for over 100 years. We have new buildings down there as well.

And the CEO of the Stock Show, Wes Allison, was here in our suite last night. And so co-promoting what’s happening with Last Cowboy Standing in July in Fort Collins and National Western in January and Denver makes a lot of sense. And we’re the state’s land-grant institution. We come from agriculture, we’ve got these deep roots. So it’s really time for us to show that off. And you see that big response last night.

Flint Rasmussen: I remember, I used to work Denver, the Denver Rodeo, and I remember CSU night and giving out CSU stuff.

Amy Parsons: It’s the biggest day at the Stock Show. It always is.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah, I remember. It always was. Yeah.

YD: No, especially for CSU and stuff, going back to being, it’s one of the best in the nation for the vet programs and stuff. With the equine programs and stuff too.

Amy Parsons: Top programs in the nation. And bringing in big events like last night gives a lot of new people a chance to come to campus to see what we’re all about, right, at CSU and to get a new audience in the stands.

I’m curious from both of you what advice you give to new fans, and especially for PBR and for rodeo, like last night. What do you two look at as professionals in this sport as you’re watching the riders? And what advice do you give to new people who are like, “What am I supposed to be looking for in these rides?”

YD: Yep. I would just say, come to Canvas Stadium and you get to see the full action. And what to look for, the high rides and stuff, both from the animals’ perspective and then also the athlete’s perspective because the bulls, they’re athletes too. They got stats behind them. They’ve had so much money earned, too. And it’s the stock contractor’s pride and joy.

And then you’re looking at it from the athlete’s perspective too, that these guys in the business stuff, they make it to a point where they have to do good to put food on the table and to provide for their family. And then some of them do it just to have fun.

So when you come to these events and stuff, I’d really pay attention to both performances of the bull and the rider. And it’s very good to see 90-point rides. And it’s good to see the steam come out and stuff and you like to see the horns and stuff.

Flint Rasmussen: You touched on probably what I would. New fans, it’s always, “Hey, just enjoy the… Take it all in.” New fans, you can’t get in the weeds too much. But I do try to educate them on why one score is higher than the other. We have a lot in this sport. Bull riding’s a little easier to sell in cities than an actual rodeo because rodeo’s got seven, eight events and it’s a lot.

But I think probably the biggest misconception is we don’t just take bulls out of somebody’s pasture and run them in. They’re bred like racehorses. And that’s always my analogy when people bring up the fact that what do you do to these bulls to make them jump and kick and be mad? Well, for one, the great ones aren’t always mad, like the greatest football players weren’t always mean.

But that’s our analogy that we always use is I say, “Now you know I can’t take a horse from somebody’s ranch and take it to the Kentucky Derby and do something to it to make it the fastest horse in the world.” “Well, yeah.” “Well, why is it so hard for you to believe that it’s the same with bulls?” They are bred to do this job, you know this.

And they have as much… There’s two great athletes in every ride, the rider and the bull, and they work together. It’s not a rider dominating a beast, it’s a dance. They’re a team. They talk to each other and go, “Okay, this is what we’re going to do a little bit.”

You see a lot of guys back behind the chutes when their bull is loaded, they’ll get with the bull and take their hat off and kind of pray over the bull as a team thing. Most people don’t see that aspect of what they’re doing.

Amy Parsons: What’s interesting too, you talk about fan engagement, there’s so much interesting characters around the bulls themselves and their names and where they come from and all of that. I think that’s sort of new in bull riding, isn’t it?

Flint Rasmussen: It is.

Amy Parsons: So people are cheering for both and they feel like they know the bulls and their personalities and where they come from.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah. And what’s interesting, they have become a lot like racehorses, where when you look at, there’s a lead bull owner that owns the bull. This bull’s owned by Blake Sharp and like last night, Blake Sharp and Brantley Gilbert, country music singer. If you look at the list, Koe Wetzel owned a bunch of bulls.

There’s people wanting in the business, so they’ll buy a quarter of the bull or half the bull because they want their name up there to say, “That’s my bull.”

Amy Parsons: Oh, interesting.

Flint Rasmussen: There was a time, the first time I ever met, or the only time, the first time like we’re old friends. I met Parker McCollum, country music star. He was in Fort Worth videoing because he owned three of the bulls. So we get a lot of…that makes it fun for us when those people come around because they own bulls.

Amy Parsons: Well, tonight is night two. What do we expect to be different tonight from last night? Besides Jon Pardi playing the concert tonight. But in terms of the competition tonight versus last night?

Flint Rasmussen: There is, the reason this is called Last Cowboy Standing, it’s a format that we came up with in the PBR where it originally was a one-night format where we started with 40 guys. Everybody who rode their bull, regardless of the score, moved to the next round. Everybody who rode their bull moved to the next round and we narrowed it down to the last cowboy standing.

So last night there was 35. We started with a smaller field because there’s a concert. And out of 35, 17 guys rode. Well, the other 18 are pretty much gone. What we guaranteed was 20 tonight. So we brought three guys back on standings.

So tonight we start with 20. So all 20 will ride and everybody who rides, moves on. And we bring in their old score. Anyway, it’s going to narrow down tonight to the last cowboy standing and the last cowboy standing gets $100,000.

YD: Wow.

Flint Rasmussen: I know.

YD: So we get to see John Crimber tonight again, right?

Flint Rasmussen: He got bucked off, but we brought three guys. His standings brought him back.

YD: There you go.

Flint Rasmussen: So John Crimber, who’s one of our young superstars.

Amy Parsons: Oh, okay.

Flint Rasmussen: The lineup tonight is pretty loaded with cool guys.

YD: With cool guys. I really enjoyed watching John ride and stuff, and especially where he grew up and stuff and listening to his little story and stuff. And I mean, it’s very inspiring.

Flint Rasmussen: His dad was one of the first Brazilian riders to leave his home and come over. Adriano Morães was kind of the first, then Paulo Crimber. And so John was born in the U.S., so he switches from English to Portuguese.

Amy Parsons: Oh, really?

Flint Rasmussen: And young little guy. He’s kind of a superstar. Yeah. Social media sensation. Yeah.

Amy Parsons: We’ll be looking for that.

Flint Rasmussen: There’s all of that.

Amy Parsons: We’ll be looking for that tonight.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah.

YD:That’s it.

Amy Parsons: What else are you looking for tonight?

YD: I’m looking forward to just watching the high rides again. And also who’s going to be able to get that 100,000. Just is the process of elimination. And I’ve been a fan of the PBR ever since I was little and stuff. And going back as far as Mossy Oak Mudslinger.

Flint Rasmussen: Look at this guy

YD: Going way back.

Flint Rasmussen: You’re an old soul.

YD: Yeah. And then you go back through the years and stuff. Bushwhacker, Pearl Harbor, the bulls that made their name, made their mark in the PBR and stuff. And that made me…through the bulls too, you also got guys like J.B. Mauney, Silvano Alves, everybody. The list keeps getting better.

Amy Parsons: Check him out.

Flint Rasmussen: I do got to tell you. Growing up, first of all, we do an event in Albuquerque. It’s one of our biggest. And the Navajo Nation, they’re the greatest bull riding fans. And I have a connection for some reason. My dad, when we were young, he taught school and coached on a lot of reservations in Montana and he announced, as an announcer, he announced Indian rodeos. The Indian National Finals is a big one.

And so growing up, I didn’t know any different. We hung out. We have great friends. So for some reason my whole life I’ve had a connection to kids on the reservation and the ropers. And so I understand, too, what a great thing and how hard it can be for a guy like this to leave and come to a place like Colorado State. So he’s a great ambassador for your college…

Amy Parsons: Sure is.

Flint Rasmussen:… going back there. Yeah.

Amy Parsons: We’re proud of him.

YD: Thank you.

Amy Parsons: And I promised I’d give you a chance to tell us about your event and what a header is. Explain that to us.

YD: Yeah, so I did the sport of team roping, and it’s the only team sport in the rodeo. You got a header and a heeler. What the header does is basically you just rope the steer around the head. There’s three legal head catches: slick horns, around the neck, and a half head.

So your objective as a header is to be able to, you got to worry about a lot of stuff. I mean, the heeler does too, but the header is more, you have to worry about your scoring, you got to worry about all the whatever. But basically your main job is to get up there, to rope your steer, and try to set up the steer to where your heeler can catch the fastest, too.

So basically, the fastest team wins. And not necessarily all the time, because sometimes you get a rodeo that’s a two-header rodeo. You get a rodeo that’s a three-header rodeo. So you may not-

Flint Rasmussen: They get three runs.

Amy Parsons: Okay.

YD: Pretty much. And then sometimes it’s for the most of the rodeos It’s just basically a single run. So that, which means the fastest time wins. I do the heading chores. And then the heeler, all he does basically, he ropes the two hind feet.

Flint Rasmussen: That’s all he does.

YD: That’s all he does.

Flint Rasmussen:

That’s it.

YD: That’s it. Try not to lose his fingers, too.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah, when we line up, he’s heading and I’m the heeler over here and the horsemanship is unreal.

YD: Yeah.

Flint Rasmussen: They want to ease them off. My daughter’s a good header. So as a heeler, I come around the corner and throw a loop and try to catch both hind feet. If I only catch one, it’s a five-second penalty. So in other words, you cock ’em, I’ll double hawk ’em.

YD: That’s right.

Amy Parsons: Nice.

Flint Rasmussen: That’s old team roping talk right there.

YD: Shake and bake right here.

Amy Parsons: Shake and bake. So you have two daughters who competed in collegiate rodeo.

Flint Rasmussen: I do.

Amy Parsons: What were their events?

Flint Rasmussen: They did everything. My daughter, Shelby, there’s four events girls can do. Goat tying, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and team roping. And she would earn points in all four at some rodeos. She was on, they were both on the National Championship Team in 2021 for Montana State. And then she was an assistant coach there for a year.

My daughter Paige was the National All-Around one year and the National Goat Tying Champion one year. Considered one of the best ever. So they’re MSU Bobcats to the core man.

YD: Oh, yeah.

Amy Parsons: Well, congratulations on that. That’s really cool.

Flint Rasmussen: Yeah, they’re great. Yeah.

Amy Parsons: I think I told you I grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. So I grew up on Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. So I’ve been watching it and I just have so much respect for the skill involved in what you do. And I know I’ve seen you out there growing up, going to Frontier Days Rodeo and seeing you out there.

Flint Rasmussen:

I was the guy in the arena when you were young. I was dancing and you were going, “Oh.”

Amy Parsons: It it so hot out there.

YD: It’s hot out here.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. Flint, I’m really interested from your perspective and just all the experience that you’ve had in this and your daughters in rodeo, what advice do you have for our young up and coming stars like YD?

Flint Rasmussen: Well, YD’s taken care of some of it. Getting out, he’s seeing the world. And there’s just so much. The more you see and the more you learn, the more you can contribute back. I always call it the Western sports world because that takes in rodeo, it takes in anything in the equine business, bull riding. The Western sports world can get kind of tunnel vision a little bit once in a while.

And that’s why a lot of times people don’t always agree with the PBR because we look outside of those boundaries of rodeo a little bit, just like the event we’re doing here. So he’s taking in a lot of the advice I give.

It doesn’t always have to be college, but I see a lot of rodeo cowboys and cowgirls when their careers are over, they have nothing and they have nowhere to go. And it’s hard on mental health. And so as you go through this world of the Western sports world, prepare yourself for what’s next. Because even I at times just thought this was going to keep going.

And it’s a hard transition out of it, but if you set yourself up, it’s the more you know. There used to be commercials on TV, “the more you know.” But you’re as a horse trainer, like I’m sure he is, the horse business is really good.

YD: Oh, it’s so good right now.

Flint Rasmussen: Really good. So if you do business right. But the biggest piece of advice, my dad taught it to me, every speech I ever give, be careful of whose toes you step on for they may be connected to the rear end you have to kiss.

YD: Yep.

Flint Rasmussen: People. I told my daughters all the way through school, relationships and connections. Your entire career is based on that. And the people that argue with that don’t have them. Everything in life, relationships and connections make you better. So he’s on his way.

Amy Parsons: Absolutely.

Flint Rasmussen: Pretty good. Pretty nice guy.

Amy Parsons: Great advice for this nice guy. Great advice for really all of our students at CSU. And whatever their sport too is when you think about looking ahead, that’s the same for football, basketball, people who are really absorbed in their sport and are great at it. So that’s great advice.

And, YD, I’m going to ask for your advice too. For students who are just maybe starting their journey at CSU or starting their journey in rodeo. I mean you’re young, but you’re now a senior at CSU.

YD:

Yep.

Amy Parsons: Kind of what advice would you have for those who are younger than you just starting out?

YD: I’d just say never give up. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. And if you really want certain stuff in your life, you would do anything for it. And that was the same with me, same deal. It’s not what you know it’s who you know. And I was able to find good mentors along the way. And I’m very blessed to meet the people I’ve met, to make me who I am, too.

And then also in just learning how to adapt to the culture, the culture shock, just because when you leave the reservation, it’s a whole different ball game. And learning how to be able to trust in yourself and believe in yourself.

And if your dreams are not big enough, if they don’t scare you, they’re not big enough. And after, I’m very excited, very excited to be here and very thankful and grateful. And I’m really happy to see the PBR here at the Canvas Stadium.

Amy Parsons: Right.

Flint Rasmussen: This guy.

Amy Parsons: Amazing. I know.

Flint Rasmussen: Do you know how many kids can’t do this?

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Flint Rasmussen: This is hard.

Amy Parsons: For sure.

Flint Rasmussen: Flawless, this guy.

Amy Parsons: I know. Well, YD, thanks for joining us today.

YD: Anytime.

Amy Parsons: We’re proud of you. We’re proud that you’re a Ram. Proud of all your success that you’ve had in the classroom and in the rodeo arena. We can’t wait to see what’s next for you and to support you. So I hope you have a blast tonight.

YD: Thank you.

Amy Parsons: And, Flint, really glad that you could just join us today and spend your time.

Flint Rasmussen: Thanks, yeah.

Amy Parsons: Thanks for what you’ve done for the sport, what you’ve done for rodeo over the years, what you’re doing for PBR and helping to make Last Cowboy Standing a great event for CSU.

Flint Rasmussen: Well, on behalf of all the PBR, I can say that just you guys have been… I get to be in pretty high-level meetings and the biggest discussion is what a true great partner CSU has been. It’s come up every time we talk about this. CSU wants to do this, they want this. This is going to work because of them. So it’s been, now that I’m here, I get it. It’s a great place.

Amy Parsons: That’s great.

Flint Rasmussen: Go Rams.

Amy Parsons: Go Rams.

Flint Rasmussen: Don’t tell my Wyoming friends.

Amy Parsons: We’re going to tell them. Don’t worry. You just said it so they already know. Yeah.

Flint Rasmussen: Go Pokes. Go Rams.

Amy Parsons: We’ll just stick with go Rams for today.

Flint Rasmussen: That’s right. That’s right.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. Well, let’s go have a blast tonight…

YD: Let’s do it.

Amy Parsons: …at the last night and enjoy the concert tonight with Jon Pardi too.

YD: Oh, yeah.

Amy Parsons: So, Rams, that’s a wrap. And remember, we’ve already announced our dates for next summer for PBR. It’s going to be July 10 to 12 here for Last Cowboy Standing. So mark your calendars now and we’re going to do it all again. So thanks for joining us. Go Rams.

Flint Rasmussen: Rams.

YD: Rams.

Amy Parsons: Rams.

YD: That’s it.

Flint Rasmussen: Do you have a signal? Do you have a?

Amy Parsons:

Yeah, check it out.

YD: It’s this.

Amy Parsons: You can do it. Now we look in the camera. Let’s do this. We’re going to say, “Go Rams.”

Flint Rasmussen: Go Rams.

YD: Go Rams.

Amy Parsons: Go Rams. Thank you for listening. I’m Amy Parsons, President of Colorado State University, and you’re listening to CSU’s The Next 150, where we explore what comes next for CSU by chatting with change makers who are already leading the charge and shaping our next 150 years. I’m gathering their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Stay tuned to wherever you get podcasts for our next outstanding conversation. Go Rams.