Oh June.
That kind of sounds like the start of a song lyric, but this morning the thought came across my mind of how it’s nearly the middle of June. Plus, June is already halfway through the year.
I woke up on a recent rainy morning and headed out the door to feed the boys’ goats. My youngest went to stay the night with grandma and the other had an early morning assignment working cattle with his dad. Before I stepped outside, I thought I better have my mud boots on.
In the last three weeks we’ve gotten a good amount of rain and more often than not, I’ve needed my mud boots and didn’t have them on. This certain pair of boots I wear is insulated and meant more for wintertime and not June. I despise wearing socks any time of the year and this recent morning was no different. Promptly the boots began rubbing the back of my heel and not making life very fun. But I managed to survive the minor inconvenience it had thrown my way.
A few days later I was at my sister’s house tromping through her muddy pens to feed livestock since they were out of town. Again, that minor inconvenience reared its ugly head and my heel was nice and sore. The next morning, I tried to head the blister making off at the pass and put some socks on. I’m sure I was a sight with my shorts, knee high white socks and my black and purple mud boots. But the start of a blister never started, thanks to the appropriate coverings on my feet.
That little inconvenience on my heel probably made me want to sign up for the umpteenth product invite that showed up in my email inbox. However, this one piqued my interest a lot more because it had Will Lummus as a featured speaker. He’s a three-time reserve world champion steer wrestler and seven-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier.
Hailing from Mississippi, Lummus spends the majority of his year on the road going to rodeos and trying to qualify for the NFR. Most recently he won a $100,000 check at the American Rodeo in April. But he’s no stranger to winning and has a rodeo family right at home.
“I grew up in a rodeo family. My dad was a bull rider, my uncle was a steer wrestler and an NFR qualifier,” he said. “It was just kind of a way of life for us. I grew up on a ranch or a farm, and we worked our whole lives outside.”
Lummus has been “blessed more than anything,” and has had some great horses and great success in his career. When asked what the best part of living the rodeo lifestyle is, he said it has its blessings and downfalls. Being away from home is the biggest caveat for him.
“But on the same note, I get to see a lot of the world, or a lot of the country, I guess, that a lot of other people (don’t),” he said. “I get to see all different landscapes and different places and go to Canada. There’s opportunities to go to Australia with rodeo and there’s so many opportunities that I’ve been presented (with) rodeoing for a living.”
But for him, the best part still is “just going up and down the road and being able to see the landscape.”
Lummus will see a lot of the landscape of the United States as the rodeo season heats up in June and into the 4th of July run. Cowboy Christmas is where many rodeo athletes will gather quite a bit of money for the year end standings in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The 2025 rodeo year will end Sept. 30, and Lummus hopes to be in the top 15 to make it to another NFR. As of June 13, Lummus is ranked fourth in steer wrestling with $51,063.
“There’s not many days off, but again, I’d rather not have any days off if I’m going to be gone,” Lummus said.
Farmers and ranchers are a lot like that, too. Many are eyeball deep in planting and harvest prep during June and early July. Most in the High Plains region are getting ready for wheat harvest or are in the middle of it. They’re all racing to the finish line. And that makes it all the more important to have the right footwear. For me that means socks in my mud boots, even when I don’t want to.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
