(background photo by Andy Watson)

 

Local Cowboy, Colby Yates
To Watch For In Weekend PBR Event

by: Bobby McDonald

 

The Colby Yates PBR Challenge will unfold in the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center, Friday and Saturday nights, and local fans will be "rooting" for Yates, who now makes his home in Hopkins County. Yates purchased a farm in the Pine Forest Community in 2004, where he raises some top rodeo bulls. "I found the property and fell in love with it!" express Yates, as he describes being "hooked" on country living in Hopkins County. "I was reared in the Ft. Worth area, graduating from Azel High School in 1999!"

Colby Yates is a man of many talents, as he is a top bull rider, a ranch owner and rodeo stock breeder, and now is trying his hand with a guitar, songwriting, and developing his first CD, that is due for release in 2009. "It all keeps me busy," allows Yates, with a grin. "But, that's what keeps life interesting!"

 

Colby Yates stands before the bucking chutes in the Hopkins County
Regional Civic Center in anticipation of his appointment on
Saturday night with "Maverick," for a showdown you won't
want to miss!

 

Yates first began his bull riding career when he was eight years old. "My dad was a former bull rider and I watched my brother, Casey, ride a couple of bulls and decided I'd try my hand at it!"

Yates rode bulls in Junior Rodeos throughout high school and got his PRCA card when he was old enough, going to the PRCA Finals, in Las Vegas, in 2002. "I got hurt after the 2002 finals and decided that I was just going to focus on the PBR and began riding in those events in 2006," states Colby. "I've been fortunate enough to make it to the finals every year, since joining the tour!"

 

 

Yates is currently ranked #19 in the PBR standings for the year, having won over $62,000.00 this season. "I need about 700 points before the end of October to be moved up into the top ten, and that's what I'll be working on Saturday night, when I board 'Maverick,' the bull that I've drawn for this competition!"

 

Yates "picked-up" these two local girls, as they were attending the Grand Opening of Lone Star Dodge's
new facilities on I-30, Thursday.

 

The top 45 cowboys in the PBR will be going to the finals in Las Vegas the last week in October and the first week in November. Yates has plans to be toward the top by that time. "It's great to be able to bring this PBR Challenge to my hometown and have all of my friends to come to Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County," continued Yates. "They're going to see just what I did, and fall in love with this place!"

"My bull breeding business was just another way for me to get involved with rodeo," expresses Yates. "It's a way for my land to pay for itself and for me to be able to become involved in another facet of the rodoe industry!"

 

 

Yates has his "Rocking Y Cattle Company," located on his property in Pine Forest, where he has approximately 45 "rodeo bred" cows. He sold a bull last year, named "Smooth Criminal," for $50,000.00, that is bucking nicely on the tour this year. "And, I've got one bull calf that is super special, this year," allowed Yates. "He is a Playboy Skoal son out of the dam of Smooth Criminal, a cow called Slim Sam #20. #20 was an own daughter of the great bull, Panhandle Slim, and died last year, so this makes her son that much more special! There won't be any more of them! "

Like other bull breeders, Colby Yates finds the breeding aspect of the sport an interesting facet and one that is fun to follow and promote. "It's great to see your bulls do well and to follow them week to week, as they make their way through the circuit," expressed Yates. "It keeps you interested in what is happening throughout the sport! I may have a bull that is being bucked in Washington State or California, while I'm riding in Florida, so it gives you another aspect of following the sport!"

 

Spent a few minutes signing autographs for a "birthday boy," Austin Navarro......

 

When asked about his music career, Yates says that he guesses he has his grandmother is to "blame." "My grandmother, Ruth Ellen Yates, was a member of the Gospel "Chuck Wagon Gang," and sang with them for years," states Yates. "I've sang always and began taking it seriously when I was at Vernon Junior College and Tarleton State University. I enjoy both the singing and songwriting!"

"Of course, the songs that I write all seem to have something about the cowboy way of life in them, as that is the life I know!" continued Yates. "They're about traveling from town to town, riding bulls, working on the ranch, and all the many, many obstacles that the life entails."

To hear Yates' unique voice and the songs that will be on his upcoming compact disc, go to his MySpace Music page. You'll find "Texas Time," a song he wrote with Tracy Byrd and Kevin Denney, about rushing from place to place and longing to be back home in Texas. "It's true to form for me, traveling all over the U.S. and longing to be able to come back home to Texas," states Yates. "I'm always longing to get back to my place in Pine Forest, now!"

 

And, attended this "bull session" with some local cowboys!

 

Other songs include: "When A Cowboy Cries," "Wild Ride," "She Beats All I Ever Dreamed," and "Three Stooges on the 4th of July!

You'll enjoy hearing your favorite hometown cowboy, Colby Yates, sing and will want to be in the crowd Saturday night, when he boards "Maverick" and attempts to move-up in this year's PBR standings!

 

Best of Luck, Saturday Night, Colby!!!

_____