by Terry Lidral
Cindy Rosser has always been in love with horses. Growing up on the Rosser Ranch, her life evolved around these animals from her earliest memories.
“I’m a horseaholic,” Rosser told us. “I started riding as a little tiny kid and you could hardly get me off a horse once I got on. I’ve spent my entire life with horses.”
Rosser came by her love of ranch livestock, rodeo and horses naturally. Her father, Cotton Rosser, is one of the most legendary figures in the history of rodeo. And her mother, Linda, was an avid horse woman and livestock champion who committed her children to horse shows at an early age.
“My mother showed horses. She had my brother and me competing in horse shows when we were really little,” said Rosser. “We competed in the Pleasure classes and we had to wear chaps, fancy shirts and put on ties. I hated dressing up. And, I just wanted to go fast,” said Rosser of her show experiences. “I’ve always been a cowgirl.”
“I had this onery Quarter pony – “Buttons” – that I rode in shows. It liked to kick but I was used to horses being onery so it didn’t bother me. Once you got on, it was a good pony to ride.”
Happily, horse shows were only a part of Rosser’s childhood experiences. She was doing ranch chores as soon as she could handle the tasks.
“Dad kept some horses in the barn. My brother and I had to go feed them,” Rosser told us about her first ranch chore. “It was a job I really liked.”
As Rosser got older and her horse skills increased, she was given more and bigger ranch responsibilities. Many of them involved working the ranch alongside her dad.
“We raised black commercial cows. When I was about 12 years old, my dad had me working in the feed lot and gathering cattle. Back in the day, I’d saddle up and go get the cows. On Saturdays, when we weren’t rodeoing, I’d have to get up and go to work in the feed lot,” Rosser told us about her younger life on the ranch.
“Dad leased ranches where he turned out cattle and bucking horses. I’d go with him to gather them up and drive them from one ranch to the other. I remember driving horses for 2 days straight to get them from Williams to Arbuckle,” she went on to say.
“I tried my hand at other things besides horses. I participated in 4-H and even raised a lamb. That didn’t work out well. It wasn’t my forte.”
Another job Rosser started doing when she was about 12 was to halter break the bucking horses on the Rosser Ranch. It was hard work, especially for a youngster.
“Back when I was a kid, all bucking horses were halter broke. In the early days, they were transported back East by train to rodeos in Madison Square Garden and Boston Garden,” Rosser explained. “All the horses would have to be led up by hand and put into the train cars. So, they had to be used to working with a halter.”
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, rodeo was a regular attraction at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. World Championship Rodeo brought the thrills of the West to nearly sell-out crowds before it closed in 1968. Watch an historic clip here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=231307862669958
Rosser did have some free moments growing up on the family ranch. And of course, all of her fond memories include horses.
“It was all about work around the Rosser Ranch. But there were times when I was able to slip away for some fun.”
“Some of my best memories are of riding bareback in the creek. I’d get together with some friends and we’d just hang out doing kid things. “
Besides her chores on the ranch, Rosser spent a good share of her childhood working in the family’s Flying U Rodeo Company. She also continued riding in horse shows and competed in rodeo events, sometimes all in the same weekend.
“I remember being all dressed up for the performance at the Sacramento State Fair and running out cattle for the rodeo,” Rosser related a memory. “I was all about being a cowgirl and I loved competing in rodeo events.”
“At Red Bluff, I competed in junior rodeo. I beat out the boys on a $50 horse,” said Rosser with a laugh. “And I would run barrels at the Flying U rodeos,” she went on to say.
“I got a $50 sorrel horse that came from Filer, Idaho. He was a step up from my onery “Buttons” pony. My dad was told he was a bucker, but he didn’t buck. That horse was a fluke who was born to compete. His name was Rango and he turned out to be a good barrel horse.”
Thanks to her $50 horse Ringo, Rosser had a lot of success running barrels in her high school years.
In fact, Ringo and Rosser did so well that they made the National High School Finals Rodeo.
“I made it to the National High School Finals Rodeo in 1972 with my high school team. It was a really big deal. That was the first time a California team had made the high school national finals,” Rosser told us of her high school accomplishments.
Rosser loved running barrels but she considered competing in other events. After high school, she competed in all-girl rodeos.
“I wanted an all-around title but it wasn’t to be,” she told us. The fact is, I rode one bronc and it didn’t go well. I got on a bull and thought I was tough – not!”
It was necessary for Rosser to balance working at the Flying U Rodeos and be in regular attendance at school.
“The Flying U Rodeo Company worked rodeos all over the. We’d be in Vancouver, British Columbia one weekend and San Diego the next. We did a lot of rodeos,” said Rosser. “I’d go to work at the rodeo over the weekend and then fly home to California so I’d get to school on Monday morning. It was a lot of traveling.”
There’s more than a lot involved in putting on a rodeo. Even in her younger years, Rosser had a big workload.
“From early on, a major part of my job in the rodeo was to ride in the opening ceremonies. When I was in 8th grade, I gained the responsibility of carrying the American flag. It became my deal,” Rosser related about her most important duty.
“The entrance was a big affair with a huge crew. There were all kinds of special things we built,” Rosser told about the Flying U’s elaborate props used in the grand entry parade. “There was a tee pee, the Liberty Bell, a birthday cake and even a spaceship. And we raised the colts that were ridden in the entry parade along with a set of black horses from our program.”
Taking care of the horses was Rosser’s favorite part of working the rodeo. But at the age of 17, her duties were shifted to the administrative end of things.
“We had a rodeo secretary that just up and left. It was in the middle of the event,” Rosser explained as to how she came to take over the duties of secretary for the Flying U operation. “I loved the horses and I took care of them. That’s the job I preferred. But it was in the middle of the rodeo and there was no secretary. So I had to learn quickly.”
Rosser was selected Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s Secretary of the year in 1998 and was the National Finals Rodeo Secretary in 1998 and the RAM National Circuit Finals Secretary in 2012.
Rosser’s dad needed an instant replacement and his daughter was the one who was available. He had no doubt that she could handle the duties.
“My dad told me I could do it. So, I did – with a little help from my friends,” said Rosser with a little laugh. “Ellen Backstrom was a rodeo secretary working an event in Bishop, California. There was a pay phone at the bottom of the stairs of the announcer’s stand and I’d run down and call her to find out what I was supposed to be doing next. She got me through it. It was learning trial by error.”
Rosser’s duties increased and she became responsible for the creation and execution of the rodeo grand entries. These were affairs that involved a large number of horses and people who had to be organized and synchronized in order to make things work.
“I was in charge of both openings and closings. I developed the concepts and designed the line-ups. When the National Finals Rodeo moved to Las Vegas, Flying U Rodeo was hired to put on the grand entry – flags, horses, walkers. It was a job I did for 10 years.”
