Alsbaugh, Walt

Rodeo was Walt Alsbaugh’s life for more than 60 years. He won the tie-down roping title in Monte Vista, Colo., when he was 13, and again 22 years later. During those years he competed in every event except bareback riding. Walt Alsbaugh Rodeo began with the purchase of three professional outfits. Alsbaugh, born Nov. 15, 1918, raised 75 percent of his bucking stock. His bucking horses and bulls were selected for the National Finals Rodeo every year but one since the first NFR in 1959. Alsbaugh, 1986 PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year, also provided stock for a number of Western county fairs, high school, college and all-Indian rodeos. He was the Turquoise Circuit Stock Contractor of the Year three times. “If there is such a thing as a hereafter, I’d want to be a bucking horse. You eat your grain, buck and eat your grain,” said Alsbaugh. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1990.