Contributed photo2017 Spray Rodeo Grand Marshal Archie Osburn of Monument, his grandson Tavin and his horse Pudding pose wearing the All-Round saddle Osburn won at the Spray Rodeo in 1976.

Archie Osburn, a longtime Monument rancher, has been named grand marshal of the 2017 Spray Rodeo.

In making the announcement, Spray rodeo board president Earl Mortimore said, “I’ve been going to the Spray rodeo since I was knee-high to a grasshopper and have never seen a time when Archie wasn’t there. As far as I know, Archie is the oldest living member of the Spray Rodeo Association, and he has always been there, always helping. If anyone deserves to be Grand Marshall, Archie does.”

Osburn attended his first Spray Rodeo in 1963 when he was 6 years old. It was the first time he stepped into the Spray arena and already he had competition on his mind. Dragging a gunny sack, Osburn was determined to collect more empty beer cans than the other kids.

He was about 8 when he competed in his first rodeo event at Spray, the kids quarter-mile race. A couple years later he rode a steer – straight out of the roping chute. Osburn had to duck his head but stayed on to win a silver dollar. His first bareback ride happened at Spray when he was 14. He rode against 60 other competitors in a borrowed right-hand rigging that he rode left-handed. He stayed on, but finished out of the money behind older, more experienced riders.

Osburn won his first buckle in 1975 and went on to win seven buckles that year including two at the Western States Finals, all in bareback and saddle bronc. Before he hung up his spurs at the ripe old age of 27, Osburn had won 20 buckles including bareback, bronc or both at Sisters, Heppner, Lakeview, Halfway, Paulina and Fossil, the Vale suicide race, the Pendleton wild cow milking and three all-rounds.

By his reckoning, Osburn has won money in 12 events in the Spray arena (counting beer can collecting). He started with the kids quarter-mile race and steer riding and went on to the men’s half-mile race, the relay race, wild horse race and chariot race. He competed in bareback, bronc and bull riding, team roping and calf roping, but he never won a buckle at Spray. He did win the Spray All-Round in 1976 and still rides in that saddle today.

“I’ve seen world champion cowboys and cowboys on their way to become world champions ride at Spray, but I never had world champion dreams,” said Osburn. “What I really wanted to do was ranch so rodeos 150 miles from Monument were far enough for me. I focused on staying local; I was happy being a local amateur.”

Osburn joined Spray Rodeo Association as a lifetime member in 1972 and hasn’t missed a rodeo since 1963. He admits leaving early a couple times: once to take his son John to a high school rodeo and another time to attend his daughter Brittany’s graduation. In those 54 rodeos no one would ever find Osburn sitting in the stands. From the beginning he preferred the action in the arena as a competitor, or a rider helping with the races, cleaning the arena and hazing for the pickup men, or working the stripping chute taking off the saddles and riggings. Few people are more comfortable or more knowledgeable doing the work nobody sees than Osburn.

“I used to help Jim Stirewalt gather cows for the calf roping and wild cow milking. The calves were fresh so we needed to rope and tie them before the event,” Osburn recalled. “We’d bring in the horses for the wild horse race. One time one of Bo Pinz’s horses busted out of the arena, and I rode up the hill, roped it and helped bring it back.”

Rodeos have always been a big part of Osburn’s life, but the Spray Rodeo stands out above all the rest. It’s a family tradition now carried on to the third generation. Osburn’s daughter Brittany, who has won 14 girls horse races at Spray, started when she was 3 years old riding a horse named Roany in the parade and winning “Best-Dressed Cowgirl.” Last year her son Tavin, Osburn’s grandson, competed in his first Spray Rodeo, riding a sheep and running in the footrace.

Looking back at a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the Spray Rodeo, Osburn commented, “The unique thing about the Spray arena is that when I am long gone, the rocks will still be there!”

The 70th annual Spray Rodeo will be held May 27-28, 2017. Saturday and Sunday performances start at 1 p.m. Slack is 11 a.m. Friday, May 26. The rodeo parade is at 11 a.m. Saturday.