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Today’s Longhorn World Championship Rodeo traces its roots to a quiet summer in 1964 when a young Jack Lynn wanted to try his hand at riding bucking horses on his parents small farm just outside what was then a traditional southern town that just happened to be the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Jack’s parents were not cut from the traditional Nashville mold. They did things a little differently. Jack’s mother married at the age of 13 in Kentucky’s coal mining region. His father was somewhat of a Jack-of-all-trades. Were they traditional in a Nashville sense? Not on your life! Were they traditional in a country sense? Consummately! After all, Jack’s mother was Loretta Lynn and his father was O. V. “Mooney” Lynn.
The small arena erected on the
Lynn spread became a focal point for neighbors with horses they could
not break. Crowds gathered on the weekends to watch the action, and
Mooney, who had cowboyed on ranches in the Northwest, seized the
opportunity. He created the Loretta Lynn Rodeo Company. Combining
Loretta Lynn’s growing stature as “The Coal Miner’s
Daughter” with the appeal of a traditional rodeo company was a
music promoter’s dream. Unfortunately, few country music agents
know much about the complexities of the rodeo industry. What began as
a dream idea rapidly turned into a nightmare of reality.
O.
V. "Mooney" and Loretta Lynn, pictured at left, founded
the company that eventually became today's Longhorn World
Championship Rodeo. In fact, Lynn performed at every performance of
what was then known as Loretta Lynn's Longhorn Rodeo.
It was 1966 when the Lynns met
Bruce Lehrke, a rodeo producer from the Midwest who also sat on the
Board of Governors of the International Pro Rodeo Association. Mooney
recognized what was happening with his rodeo and quickly enlisted
Lehrke to take the reins of the operation. Mooney’s instructions
to Lehrke were short and simple -- create the best production
possible. After all, Loretta’s name was on it.
During the next 12 months Lehrke revamped the entire rodeo operation. New, experienced and knowledgeable personnel were hired. A priority was placed on locating and purchasing championship livestock. Productions were painstakingly pieced together. Four years later, those concepts formed the nucleus of what became the Longhorn World Championship Rodeo. Under Lehrke’s direction, the rodeos moved to indoor facilities with seasoned personnel handling all aspects of the business.
The Lynns sold the company to Lehrke in the 1970s. For nearly four decades, Bruce Lehrke was at the forefront of rodeo innovation with Longhorn World Championship Rodeo. Following his death in March 2007, Bruce's daughter Heather Lehrke is following in her father's bootsteps. Her company, Wonago Productions LLC, now brings "The Next Generation of a Family Tradition" to Longhorn World Championship Rodeo.
Started as Loretta Lynn’s Longhorn Rodeo, today’s Longhorn World Championship Rodeo is among the pacesetters in a rapidly expanding and popular entertainment and sports business.
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