Reno Rodeo, started in 1919, known as the “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West,” is a 10-day event and takes place every year in mid June. Reno Rodeo is a PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association)sanctioned sporting event and is made up of almost 1000 volunteers. Over 140,000 fans attend the 4th richest PRCA tour rodeo. The event impacts the Reno/Sparks area economy with over $42 million going to hotels, casinos, restaurants, and retail.
In 2019, 100 years after launching their first rodeo they started the Reno Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Clint Corey, 1991 PRCA world champion bareback rider and 18 time National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifier has been selected as one of the first bareback inductees to the class of 2024 Reno Rodeo Hall of Fame which took place March 9 in Reno, NV. Clint joins other champions, barrel racer Kristie Peterson, announcer and team roper Bob Feist as well as Reno Rodeo’s past association presidents Grant Dalen and Bob Beach and long time sponsor Gurrs Roofing.
Clint Corey, is known in and out of the arena as being one of the nicest guys in rodeo and a diplomat who always works to find a solution. A fierce competitor in his career his accomplishments and firsts as a bareback rider will outlive most in the rodeo world, with many records broken. One of them being the only bareback rider to hold 4 sets of Reno Rodeo champion spurs with 3 of those consecutive years 1988,1989, 1990 and then again in 1996.
When looking at Clint’s rodeo career from the beginning in 1981-1983 competing first in the International Professional Rodeo (IRA now the IRPRA) which he holds a world title and an IFR average title and is only one of 5 rodeo athletes ever to hold championships in both the PRCA and the IPRA. In 1984 he went over to the PRCA where in his first two full years 1985 and 1986 he was runner up to the great world champion Lewis Feild. Since then he won first at countless rodeos and holds the record consecutively as the 12 time champion of the Columbia River Circuit and 3 Dodge National Circuit Finals Championships. If you were to equate his buckle case with a military persons career he would be a decorated general, he does have 18 stars on his last NFR jacket.
Clint was born in Silverdale, Washington in 1961 to Nick and Coleta Corey. He has 4 brothers all of whom rodeoed growing up, in the Northwest Junior Rodeo Association, which his parents helped pioneer and is still a very active and robust association today. At the age of 19, Clint embarked on his rodeo career and continued to ride bareback horses till the age of 43. He retired from riding in 2004 and that same year was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado as well as 6 other rodeo hall of fames.
Clint has three children and five grandchildren and lives in the rodeo capital of the world, Stephenville, Texas, with his wife, Beverly. There, he continues to contribute his time as a rodeo judge in the IPRA, UPRA, NIRA, Texas Region 3 NHSRA, PBR, and other associations, as well as coaching and training younger cowboys entering the sport of rodeo.
Clint and his wife also started an Insurance Benefits and advocacy company, “WestAssure”, where they help the Western industry navigate the complex healthcare and insurance industry, making sure their clients are properly covered for any accident or event. Coming in May they’re launching the CC Rider Relief organization that helps raise money for organizations such as JCCF (Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund) and Cowboys Helping Cowboys that help injured contestants financially.
Next in the list of famous cowboys is none other than Bob Feist of Lodi, California. Bob has one of the most distinctive and recognizable voices in the rodeo industry and has been an integral part of the sport for decades.
Born September 10, 1940, in Santa Rosa, California, Feist grew up in love with rodeo and the Western way of life while working on his family’s cattle ranch. Bob graduated from Oklahoma State University, and then served in the U.S. Army ranking up to 2nd Lieutenant in the infantry before embarking on his career in rodeo.
Feist joined RCA the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1968, the same year he published the first issue of Ropers Sports News which went nationwide and became the largest team roping magazine of its time. Bob has announced some of the biggest rodeos from Denver and Reno to Cheyenne and Calgary.
In 1977, Bob started the Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping and went on to announce the 1979 National Finals Steer Roping, the 1980 National Finals Rodeo, as well as the Wrangler Timed Event Championship and the Professional Bull Riders Finals.
And lastly, the great Kristie Peterson was born on October 10, 1955, in Dayton, Ohio. Peterson grew up on a ranch near Parker, Colorado where she became interested in rodeo. Peterson started her rodeo career in National Little Britches Rodeo and competed in many events, but eventually settled on barrel racing.
As well as being a hall of fame barrel racer, she and her prized horse Bozo took her to becoming a 4-time NFR World Champion barrel racer in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1996 and 1997 she and Bozo placed in all 10 rounds at the NFR giving her one of very few ladies to place 20 consecutive rounds at the world’s most prestigious rodeo finals.
Her horse Bozo is also inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs. Kristie Peterson was unable to attend the event due to a busy rodeo schedule.
The event was held at the Reno Rodeo Arena in conjunction with the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino. When you see these wonderful rodeo legends feel free to congratulate them on their recent accomplishments.