January 27. 1985
Rick Cantu
Nineteen-year-old Casey Lambert must have been born with ice in his veins. Under pressure, he’s a cool customer.
At a mere 118 pounds, Lambert doesn’t look like the kind of athlete who would grace a Wheaties box. A beach bully might be tempted to kick sand in his face.
Looks, however, can be deceiving.
Lambert is a jockey at Sunland Park and Ruidoso Downs. He also rides raging bulls in rodeos for a living.
“I’m kinda big to be a jockey and kinda small to be a bullrider,” the likeable Lambert said recently at his brother’s Upper Valley ranch.
The Lambert brothers, Casey and Cody, are preparing for the annual rodeo Feb. 1-9 at the El Paso County Coliseum.
Casey Lambert doesn’t think his size – or lack of it – is a disadvantage. “It doesn’t matter how big you are. If you want to win bad enough, you’ll do OK.”
Surprisingly, the youngster said riding bulls is safer than being aboard a racehorse. A jockey for three years, Lambert said the speed of a racehorse makes that sport more dangerous.
The Lamberts admitted that danger is prevalent in horse racing and rodeos but, being raised on a farm, they’ve lost their fear of animals.
The Lamberts’ bloodlines probably dictated that they would be involved with animals in their adult lives. They practically were born with a rope in their hands.
Their grandfather, George Cosper, was a rodeo champion in the 1940s. Their father, Cliff Lambert, is a horse trainer at Ruidoso Downs and Sunland Park.
Cliff Lambert’s advice to his sons: “If you’re going to try something, jump into it fully with both feet, not halfway.”
Cody Lambert, 23, took his dad’s words to heart and is a professional bullrider and saddle bronc rider. He wants to be on the circuit another seven years. And why not? Last year, he earned over $60,000 in 120 rodeos.
Most of that money goes into feed for his animals, gas mileage and rodeo entry fees, he said.
“This is the best life I can imagine,” Cody said, a pinch of tobacco between his cheek and gum. “I’m my own boss and I set my own hours.
“Everything I do is because I want to do it. I’d say I’m a hard worker. But if I decided I didn’t want to work this hard, it wouldn’t be very profitable.”
Cody Lambert is a classic example of the local boy makes good. He has dozens of rodeo trophies and belt buckles and earned a berth in the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City in 1981.
As far as he’s concerned, being involved in rodeos is the life of kings. Forget the concussions, the broken ribs and the broken wrists. Riding wild animals – and getting paid for it – is a treat.
“Sure, you take chances every time you get on a bull,” Cody said. “It’s like boxing or football. There’s always a gamble involved. But if that’s what it takes to make it in the business, it’s worth the gamble.
The joy of rodeo is not in the money, but in the challenge, Cody said. His ultimate challenge came in 1981 at a Fort Worth rodeo. Cody was scheduled to ride the rodeo circuit’s top-ranked bull – 777. No rider had successfully ridden 777 in four years.
With a standing room only crowd in attendance, Cody rode 777 for the entire eight-second duration.
“I was walking on air,” Cody recalled. “All the guys told me that the crowd gave me a standing ovation, but I was too excited to notice. That’s the feeling that’s so hard to describe to someone who’s never tried this.”
Cody’s wife of 2 1/2 years, Leanne, said she worries when he rides bulls. She rode horses, not bulls, when she was growing up in Fort Worth. And Cody, even after a successful ride, usually comes home sore, she said.
“She’s getting used to the idea of me riding bulls, but she’d rather I didn’t do it so often,” Cody said.
Cody and Leanne travel together to most of the rodeos. They left in their pickup truck Thursday to Fort Worth, where he will participate in a weeklong rodeo. They’ll drive back in time for next week’s rodeo in El Paso.
Cody will never be mistaken for his kid brother. Years of work on the farm, including lifting bales of hay and tending to the animals, has packed muscle onto his 185-pound frame.
He stays in condition by running and swimming.
The Lambert boys say the future of rodeo is looking brighter all the time. Prize money for this year’s National Finals Rodeo – the Super Bowl of rodeos – will be $1.8 million.
Casey, who admitted he gets more satisfaction from riding bulls than he does while riding racehorses, said the image of rodeo riders is getting better, too.
“Most people used to think we were a bunch of bums, some ol’ scrounges,” Casey said. “They don’t understand that we’re professional athletes and we take this sport real seriously.”
Cody said more spectators are attending rodeos. Last year he performed in front of 40,000 people at the Astrodome. He compared rodeo crowds with crowds who attend auto races.
“Some people go to auto races to see the wrecks and others go to see the winners,” Cody said. “It’s like that at rodeos, too. Some people like to see us get hurt and some will go to see good performances.”
He remembered a rodeo a few years back when he nearly got hammered after falling off a wild bull. The crowd roared with delight when Cody finally climbed to his feet.
One cowboy walked over to Cody and said, “Hey, you really got the crowd going with that one.”
Cody and Casey said they’re looking forward to next week’s date in El Paso. Even though most rodeo crowds are polite to all contestants, they said performing in front of the home folks gives them extra incentive.
Casey, Sunland Park’s leading jockey this season with 39 victories in 249 starts, said he hopes to become as skilled as his older brother at riding bulls. Sitting back on a couch at Cody’s trailer last week, he pointed at a wall, decorated with Cody’s 1981 National Finals Rodeo certificate.
“I’m going to get me one of those some day,” Casey said. “I mean, I hope to get one of those some day.”
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