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A One-Legged Rodeo Legend
119 Plays2 years ago
In this episode, we hear stories from Mike Haverty, grandson of the famed rodeo cowboy "Oklahoma Pete" and son of a rodeo world champion, as he shares stories about his one-legged rodeo cowboy grandfather. From his upbringing in the shadow of his family's cowboy and Western way of life legacy to carving his own path in the Western industry, Mike shares insights into heritage, determination, and the enduring spirit of a cowboy. For a full episode transcript, visit our website HERE.
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Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, and thank you for listening to the Kick Your Boots Up podcast. We're so excited you're here. Don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe, tell us how you feel about this episode, what you want to see more in the future. We'd love to get some guests on, so tell us all about it, but for sure share it with your friends. Thank you for listening and
00:00:16
Speaker
Today's episode is
Meet Mike Haverty
00:00:18
Speaker
a treat. I know I say that every week, but we don't have bad guests. So that's exactly what we're going to do. This is Mr. Mike Haverty. Mike, you don't need an introduction because your reputation precedes you. You are a legend in the industry and you paved the way, but something I just learned the other day and exactly why you're on the podcast is your rodeo roots go way, way back. And it's, we're going to get, we're going to dive really full into that in a little bit, but before we do, we got to
Career Beginnings and Growth
00:00:43
Speaker
know about you. So tell us about yourself. You grew up in Arizona.
00:00:46
Speaker
You grew up in Arizona till I was in junior high and then we moved to Las Vegas. So I actually grew up in Las Vegas. Oh, I see. I'm just learning that for the first time. Yeah, I have. I tell people I'm from Arizona and from Las Vegas also. You claim both depending on the day, I guess, depending on who I'm talking to.
00:01:03
Speaker
Absolutely. Okay, so you are a sales manager here at Justin Brands. Tell us about your experience there and how you got to become this new role. So my first experience was with Wrangler jeans. So I worked for Wrangler jeans for about 18 years. Came to work for Justin. So I've been with Justin about 16, 17 years. Wow. And so I finally made it to manager.
00:01:27
Speaker
Finally, that's how many years it takes, right? 16, 17 years. So we have plenty of years in the industry, so that's good. You know, there's a lot of people in our industry that have as many or more years than I do, so.
00:01:39
Speaker
And that's what I love about it too, because even though you're at Justin now, you were at Wrangler and you have friends with other brands and you all get together this. We're like, you guys just get together and any opportunity you have, you go to parties and you go to dinner and in the camaraderie, there's good. Very good friends with all my Wrangler buddies, you know, from working with them for years. And of course, all the Justin guys do so.
00:01:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
The Evolution of Boot Styles
00:02:00
Speaker
And you had to have started in your humble beginnings. You know, I know Wrangler helped you, but you had to transition into boots. That's a little bit different from jeans. So tell us about when you first got started at Justin to now, some of the things you've seen change, the trends, even whatever, whatever comes to mind. You know, there's been a lot of changes in the boot world with Western. The main one has been the wide square toe. So when I went to work for Justin, it was still Ropers and
00:02:28
Speaker
Our toes, western toe, western heel, and about three or four years into when I came into Justin, white square toes started becoming very popular. And now that's probably 75% of our business. Now you do see some things now trending back to maybe some our toes and some round toes and things like that.
00:02:53
Speaker
I basically tell everybody that every toe is in right now. You don't have a toe that's really not acceptable right now. I'll second that too because even speaking with fashion influencers and getting their opinions on things, truly Western is so cool. I mean, you walk down the streets of Nashville, everyone wants to be a cowboy. You walk down the streets of LA, everyone wants to be a cowboy. You work. I just left Los Angeles and there's a lot of cowgirls and cowboys out in LA right now buying boots.
00:03:20
Speaker
And in the ladies business, it's even more so. Fashion, a lot of tall boots right now, a lot of tall, colorful boots with western toe, western heel type looks. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, it's kind of fun to see how it's kind of graduated into multi-toes and multi-heels and things.
00:03:42
Speaker
Well, and I can't help but ask out of all the toes, what's your personal favorite? Because you probably sell it the best. You know what? I'm still a wide square toe guy, but I just. Are you? Yes, I am. Just because they're hard to get off and they're not off physically, but they're hard to get off my feet. I've recently gotten a couple of our cutter toe boots. I love them. So there may be some additions to my boot selection in my in my
00:04:12
Speaker
closet. Yeah, my closet. Well, you guys hear that? Mike Haverty might be changing his favorite boot style. That is going to be news right there, which is so interesting though, because a lot of people never got on board with the wide square. A lot of people want to stick to the traditional Roper. And so I can end you for that.
00:04:30
Speaker
You know what, there's a feature to the wide square toe that people don't talk about unless your toes can move. So that's important. You know, wide square toe, your toes can move in a rope where you're kind of, they're kind of a little bit tighter. So there is a physical feature benefit that comes with the wide square toe.
00:04:49
Speaker
Well, I know you didn't get on here to sell boots, even though I do appreciate you talking
A Legacy of Rodeo Legends
00:04:53
Speaker
about them. The real story here is your family and more specifically your grandpa and your dad. Yesterday we were casually talking and one of the sales reps, David King, we got to give him a shout out, was like, do you know who his dad is? And it just got into this.
00:05:07
Speaker
history. I'm sure you know my on my search history we went down a history rabbit hole of all the rodeo legends but what was so impressive to me is let's start with your dad specifically because you have pictures of your dad and your grandpa with Casey Tibbs, Jim Shoulders. Talk about all that. Dad was in that same era and he was you know top five top ten in the early 50s Madison Square Garden all around Saddle. I've got it in my garage.
00:05:33
Speaker
No big deal. Just literally. I'm sure this would be a museum saddle. Four Calgary bronzes. Yes, that's right because he's kind of, your dad was kind of known as like, he's the guy that's gotten second and out on almost all the legendary road is Calgary. Cheyenne, Pendleton, Prescott. I think he won Prescott. Yeah, won Prescott. Won all around at Pendleton also. Yeah.
00:05:53
Speaker
Wow, that's so legendary. And all of this happened before the PRCA, too. Right. It was kind of when the Cowboy Turtle Association and the IRA were all kind of trying to figure out what their path was going to be that morphed into the PRCA. So, yes.
00:06:11
Speaker
He was a history and even getting to see the pictures that you have your home photos, which is not like anyone else's home photos. It's the the turtle cowboy turtles Association card. So my grandfather, he was Oklahoma Pete Haverty. He was the one who had one leg.
00:06:27
Speaker
who was actively going to rodeos also and roping. He had- Wait, what? He had one leg? Yes. Oh, you didn't see those pictures? Let's tell everyone about it. I knew that. So let's tell everyone out there then because that is like the main point right there. One leg, how are you successful with one leg and a common one? I don't know how he did it, but I've got pictures to prove it. So anyway, he has, I've got pictures of his physical catwalk turtle association.
00:06:58
Speaker
Cards, yeah. Wow. Which is kind of cool. Very cool. And then, you know, he was probably a great athlete that could only do it halfway, if that makes sense. Because of the one leg. And I think you have to bust a myth too, because a lot of articles out there said that he had blood poisoning and that's why he lost his leg. Because back then, in the 1800s, they didn't really know. So tell us what happened. And he was eight years old, I believe, and
00:07:26
Speaker
I think it was from a spider by anyway. It was a blood poisoning that happened and he did lose his leg because of that. And you were telling me too that people would pay his entry fees, pay for him to go to Rodeos just so they could see him rope. Yeah, they'd bring him to Pendleton, to Salinas. I've got pictures of him at Pendleton's here roping and Salinas. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it's quite...
00:07:48
Speaker
The pictures are quite legendary, so. And he did team roping, but more specifically, steer roping. Yeah. And we had to get off and tie. That's the thing. Like so many people out there don't know what steer roping is. And think of calf roping where they're small calves. Steers are big. You have to jerk them down. And also, team roping wasn't a dally deal. It was a connected onto the saddle horn. So team roping back then, the header
00:08:15
Speaker
When the healer healed his steers, he had to get off his horse and go tie the steers. So that's some of those pictures are him team roping. Okay, that was probably the confusion there. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. But still nonetheless with one leg. I feel like the other one in Pendleton was a steer roping picture. So that humbles you a little bit because a lot of people can't even do that with two legs. Yeah, absolutely. And I, you know, I cry when I do something, you know, I go, God, my grandfather, you know,
00:08:41
Speaker
Oh, yeah. My back hurts from picking up all these salesman sample bags. Yeah. But kind of going back to your dad a little bit, too, I know that he had his dad to look up to, first of all, because of the grit that he had with the one leg. But moving on to like the overall growing up being his son and knowing that he had a saddle from Madison Square Garden and he had all that experience with with Casey Tibbs and Jim Shoulders, like I said, big legends. You know, what's funny about him is he
00:09:11
Speaker
And I think it was probably maybe that generation. So when he won a saddle, he didn't put it in his trophy case. He put it on a horse and he was roping or
Growing Up in Rodeo Culture
00:09:21
Speaker
riding or training. And he won a saddle at Scottsdale. And I remember this distinctly because it had a huge deal on the back of it.
00:09:35
Speaker
and a silver insignia about Scottsdale and Scottsdale Rodeo. And that's the only thing that made it out of that. He took the silver off. Yes. And he put the saddle on one of his colts and, you know, and used it. And they use either using it as a rope. So the saddle I have from Madison Square Garden, I had to get it oiled because it was used so much by dad.
00:10:01
Speaker
the all-around saddle for Madison Square Garden. He didn't even put it in the back. He put it on a horse's back and used it. And I had to get it all oiled up and redone just so the letters barely showed up. Have you ever reached out to any museums and asked, hey, do you want the saddle? What would it be like? Yeah, he was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 94, I believe it was. And so at some point,
00:10:27
Speaker
It may end up there. I've talked to them to see if they said, yeah, they take it. And, uh, I did that last year. So they said, anytime you want to bring it by or bring it to us, you know, we'll take it. So it may end up there at some point. Well, I know being an Oakey, I loved touring those halls and they do a good job. The hall of fame, cowboy hall of fame does so good switching things out and making it new for everyone that goes there. So that's cool. But again, going back to your dad, he was an all around, I think it's super important to say 1951 all around champion cowboy before the PRCA, his events were bareback riding.
00:10:57
Speaker
Bear back. Steer roping. Steer roping, calf roping. He didn't ride bulls, did he? Did he ride bulls? Every once in a while. Bull riding too. Yeah. We have a picture of him riding a bull at the Coliseum in LA. Wow. That was the one picture that I think I showed you that. Yes.
00:11:15
Speaker
you know, there's 100,000 people in that Coliseum. So it was before the or after the Olympics, you know, back in somewhere in the 50s, 51 or 52. But it's kind of an amazing photo because the background is is.
00:11:31
Speaker
You know the Coliseum, you know, so an iconic and it'll never yeah You'll never get to recreate that again for sure and to kind of tie things up and in this interview I've got to ask what was it like for you growing up with knowing that your grandpa was a legend But now your dad was a legend hung out with the legends, you know, is that a lot of pressure for you? Yeah, it really wasn't Because growing up that way you don't realize all I knew is that
00:11:56
Speaker
Since I had grown up to know anything, we were going to rodeos. That's how he made a living back then at that time, among other things. But during the summer, spring and summer and fall, we were going to rodeos. And he started slowing down as me and my sister got older. But when I was younger, that's what we did. So I guess we could call you a rodeo brat. Yes, yeah.
00:12:21
Speaker
And you learned at a young age, then, not only how to stay in a saddle, but how to start roping yourself. And you roped today, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I roped quite a bit. And I roped in PRCA for about 20 years. And it was great. You know, great experiences. I loved it. Mainly tie-down roping, cash roping. And I did some team roping also, and some steer roping. But I loved everything. But I loved my job. And I could kind of do that plus my job. So that worked out great, too.
Balancing Rodeo and Career
00:12:51
Speaker
If it did, and you realize at one point in time that you weren't just good enough to make all the money in rodeos, so you had to figure out how to get a job, right? You're smart enough sometimes. We all had to figure out at that point that you had to have money for your interest room. So I knew I had to have a job for my interest. To get it going. Well, I commend you. And before we go, will you show everyone? Do you still have both your thumbs since you're a team roper? Oh, yeah. No, yeah. They're still there. Yeah. They've gotten caught a couple of times, but I've been pretty lucky.
00:13:18
Speaker
My dad would never let me actually try team roping because he was afraid I would get my thumb in. So I did a lot of dummy roping and told myself one day I would, but never. He was probably a smart guy. Having girls, for sure.
Closing and Appreciation
00:13:32
Speaker
Well, Mike, thank you for taking the time to talk with us and share your story. Thank you.
00:13:35
Speaker
your dad and grandpa will go down in history, already have gone down in history. And it's important to share their legacies and to live it on. And so thank you for not only living the way that Justin lives, you know, standard of the West and keep upholding those standards, but for sharing their legacy as well. Thank you. Of course. Thank you for listening to the Kick Your Boots Up podcast. Tune in next time when we come back with more to Kick Your Boots Up. Thank you, guys. I'm your host, Taylor McAdams. Enjoy your time.
00:14:03
Speaker
Thanks for joining us on Kick Your Boots Up. I'm your host, Taylor McAdams, and we can't wait to share the next story of the West. Until then, feel free to like, subscribe, and leave us a review. Follow us on social media at Justin Boots to keep up with our next episode, and we'll see you the next time you kick your boots up.