TGIF POU!
Today we feature the unheralded but oh so important pickup man. Meet the only African American in the history of rodeo to take on this role.
Jeff Rector
Jeff Rector never set out to make history. The Minnesota rodeo rider is just doing what he’s always wanted to do.
“I’ve been dreaming of doing this since I was 5 years old,” he said.
Rector, who tours with the World’s Toughest Rodeo, is what’s called a pickup man. It’s a job that goes unnoticed by most rodeo fans, but it’s one of the most important because the safety of both rider and animal is at stake.
Rector is the only black professional pickup man in the country. In fact, its believed he’s the only one in history.
For Rector, who grew up in Kansas City, Mo., it started with the horses.
“I really, really loved horses,” said Rector, 36. They were the reason he liked to watch Westerns as a kid.
Although none of his family members knew anything about riding, a generous grandfather gave him a horse when he was in eighth grade. “They saw it was something I was passionate about,” Rector said.
At 16, he was exposed to rodeo and at 18 he was working for one, becoming the first African-American “pickup man” in the sport.
A pickup man is a cowboy on horseback who helps bareback and saddle bronco riders to safely dismount at the end of a ride.
When the eight-second ride is over, the bronco rider doesn’t have to jump off and risk injury because a pickup man like Rector will ride alongside and pull him off the bucking horse.
“It’s fast-paced,” Rector said. “You have to be a good horseman.”
The job is nonstop action: At full gallop, Rector and a cowboy on another horse will race up to bucking broncos and bulls, 1,500-pound animals thrashing and flailing their deadly hooves. One pickup man will grab the rider and pull him to safety while the other works frantically to bring the beast under control.
Rector doesn’t know why other African-Americans haven’t become pickup men. He just knows why he has.
“A bull rider gets to compete for eight seconds,” he said. “I’m out there for 80 percent of the rodeo. And I love every minute of it. I love the pageantry, the music, the excitement. Every rodeo is like Christmas for me.”
Although the spectators might not notice the pickup men, the riders do.
“The two [pickup men] and their mounts are, by far, the hardest working members of the World’s Toughest Rodeo team,” said Tommy Joe Lucia, the organization’s vice president. “The cowboys of WTR ride at ease knowing Jeff will be riding to their rescue after the eight-second horn blows.”
In the arena, pickup men have to be ready for anything — from having an angry bull turn on them to a rider getting tangled in a bronco’s reins, a situation that can quickly turn disastrous. Rector plays down the danger, especially when his wife is within earshot.
“I’ve had a few broken bones and a lot of bumps and bruises and dislocated fingers, but nothing too serious,” he said. “I’m actually pretty good at what I do.”
But they take precautions at the World’s Toughest Rodeo.
“You will notice the pickup men wearing heavily padded chaps,” Lucia said. “This is because pretty much in every rodeo they endure multiple shots from the kick of a bucking horse.”
Rector worries more about injuries to his steed than to himself. He spends years training the horses. It’s exhausting work for the animals, which is why he travels with five of them so he can rotate their rodeo duties.
“Having a really good horse is 50 percent of the job,” he said. To race up next to a bucking bronco, “they have to be fearless and fast. They have to know which angle to take so they don’t get kicked. You want to stay away from the back feet.” He paused before amending that comment: “Actually, you want to stay away from all the hooves.”
He figures that he can work the rodeo circuit for another 10 to 15 years. After that, he has his sociology degree “to fall back on.” But first he has one more goal: to make it to the annual National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s equivalent of an all-star game, held each fall at the end of the outdoor season. Only two pickup men are selected from the 30 touring pros.
“It’s a very elite crowd,” he said. “But I think I can make it.”
He hasn’t had trouble making history before.