Daddy’s cowgirl takes over the rodeo business

This is the Cheyenne Rodeo. It’s a rough and tumble world. The primordial battle of man and beast. At the heart of this masculine testing ground stands a woman whose business keeps those broncos bucking, no matter what. Her name? Kirsten Vold. And she’s the manager (and future owner) of the Harry Vold Rodeo Company. She loves the business, and she’s known across the west for supplying so-called "rough-stock," the bucking horses and bulls that the daredevil cowboys at rodeos like this one, love to ride.

“We raise bucking horses and we raise bucking bulls,” explains Vold during a break in the morning’s preparations for the nation’s largest rodeo. “We own and sub-contract the animals that the contestants need to compete on when they come here.”

These horses and bulls are not your typical farmyard animals. They’re known as “rough-stock” because they are, well, rough.

When things go well for Vold she knows it in her bones. “When you have a great performance, and, it was quick, it was snappy, it was fast, and there were no lulls... you come out of that and I mean, you're on an adrenaline rush.”

At the opening ceremony — which includes a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, horse drawn carriages, beauty queens and other notables — is Kirsten’s father, Harry Vold. He founded the business in 1948 with a few horses he borrowed from his father: “My father was an auctioneer and traded horses. And we had accumulated quite a few and got a little bit of rent by taking some of them to a rodeo show.”

Today, after more than 60 years in the livestock entertainment business, he’s gradually letting his youngest daughter, Kirsten take over.

Did he always expect one of his children to take over the business?

“Well, I was thinking that that should probably happen. And of course I had no idea that it would be the youngest one and a girl, as Kirsten has,” the elder Vold says.

It’s a viewpoint that his daughter has come to understand well. “My dad's 85-years-old. So in his era, women just didn't take over the business. I mean he's certainly changed a lot since then, but at the time he was starting his company, I can guarantee you that was not his plan.” the daughter says, laughing.

Some rodeo veterans, like Cheyenne chute-manager Bill Obermeier, who have worked for the Vold family for several decades, pay little attention to Kirsten’s gender.

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