Minick, Billy

Billy Minick began his professional rodeo career in 1959, enlisting in the Rodeo Cowboys Association after winning titles in both high school and college. Minick qualified for the National Finals Rodeo as a bull rider in 1966. In 1968, Minick purchased the Harry Knight Rodeo Company from Knight and legendary entertainer Gene Autry. The Billy Minick Rodeo Company produced top bucking stock, including the 1972 NFR top bucking horse Streamer and the 1973 NFR top bull Tiger. Tiger would also win Bull of the Year in 1974. Other famous stock in the Minick herd included bulls Mr. Bubbles and V61 and horses Lonesome, Crazy 1, and My Fair Lady. Through the years, Minick helped to produce rodeos such as the Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show and Rodeo, Rodeo Houston, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, the Santa Rosa Roundup (Vernon, Texas) and Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days. “It took my breath away at first,” said the 79-year-old Minick. “I got a few tears. To be among those guys, even the past and the present and future cowboys, it’s kind of like that famous old quote that’s been said by all the cowboys, and even in song: ‘All I ever wanted to be was a cowboy.’” He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2018.