Homegrown talent among rodeo riders slated to compete at Fayette County Fair
Photo courtesy of Hirschman Photo
Jimmy Hoke of Bullskin Township is shown competing in a rodeo in Oklahoma. He will participate in bull riding at the rodeo at the Fayette County Fair.
Photo courtesy of Ken Siems Photo
In the photo above, Callie Hoke of Bullskin Township is shown barrel racing at a rodeo in Ford City. She will participate in barrel racing at the rodeo at the Fayette County Fair.
Jimmy Hoke of Bullskin Township, and his sister Callie Hoke will both be competing in the rodeo at the Fayette County Fair. Callie Hoke is a barrel racer and Jimmy Hoke is a bull rider.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Callie Hoke of Bullskin Township saddles her horse Spark as they prepare for the the Fayette County Fair.
BULLSKIN TWP. — The Hoke farm offers a panoramic view of a beautiful Fayette County countryside, presenting scenes of wooded hillsides as well as rich farmlands. Horses run in a field not far from the front door, a reminder of a family passion.
It is the home of Jimmy Hoke, 23, and Callie Hoke, 19, who, in addition to being students, are professional rodeo riders. The son and daughter of Jim and Crystal Hoke have traveled to many parts of the United States as they test their skills in rodeo rings.
Both will participate in the Boys & Bulls Rodeo at the Fayette County Fair, taking place at 7 p.m. today in the Chevron Arena at the Fayette County Fairgrounds in Dunbar Township. Jimmy Hoke is entered in bull riding and Callie Hoke will compete in barrel racing.
“It’s fun — beats the heck out of chess,” Jimmy Hoke said of rodeo. “It’s a lot more competitive than other sports.”
“I like that it’s competitive and always fun,” said Callie Hoke.
Jimmy Hoke said, “It’s the only professional sport that you only get paid if you win. You don’t get paid for sitting on a bench.”
Horses always have been a part of the lives of the brother and sister. Crystal Hoke credits her husband with teaching their children to ride.
“They’ve been doing it since they were little,” said Crystal Hoke. “They started riding ponies when we led them.”
Jimmy and Callie Hoke were members of the Bullskin 4-H horse riding club and participated in competition at the Fayette County Fair. They also participated in the Western Pennsylvania Youth Rodeo Association and Pennsylvania High School Rodeo while students in the Connellsville Area School District. Jimmy Hoke graduated from Connellsville Area Senior High School in 2009 and Callie Hoke in 2012.
Jimmy Hoke qualified for National High School Finals Rodeo twice and Callie Hoke qualified for National Junior High Rodeo Association and three times and National High School Rodeo two times.
Jimmy Hoke went on to school at the two-year Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University where he studies agricultural science. Jimmy Hoke, who will graduate in December with a degree in agricultural science, participated in rodeo for both schools. Callie Hoke is a studying to become a medical assistant at Pennsylvania Institute of Health and Technology and will finish in February.
The Hokes have participated in a variety of rodeo circuit, competing in the American Professional Rodeo Association this summer.
Callie Hoke performs barrel racing, which is racing around barrels, and breakaway roping, which involves a rider roping a calf. Jimmy Hoke competes in steer wrestling, in which a rider chases a steer and then comes off the horse to wrestle the steer to the ground, and bull riding, in which a rider attempts to stay on a bull for eight seconds. The Hokes explained that riders and bulls are scored in bull riding.
The Hokes have participated in rodeos as far away as Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico and Canada.
Jimmy Hoke said, “I used to have a stack of rodeo cards. You can do four, five, seven events a week. The week of the Fayette County Fair is a good week. You can find one every day.”
Asked about the competition at the Fayette County Fair, Callie Hoke said there are a lot of good local barrel riders.
Jimmy Hoke referred to the high quality of the bulls, noting, “A lot of these bulls, you’ll see on TV.”
He noted that rodeo riders at the fair can come from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and maybe as far away as Michigan and the Carolinas.
“It’s whoever wants to come,” Jimmy Hoke said.
Spectators are readily attracted to rodeo.
Jimmy Hoke said, “People come for the wrecks, just like NASCAR. They want to see somebody get clobbered and somebody win, and they don’t care in which order. That’s why the marketing slogan (for bull riding) is ‘toughest sport on dirt.’ That’s what people want to see.”
Asked if there is a secret to winning, Jimmy Hoke said, simply, “Be faster than everybody else.”
Callie Hoke said, “Everything’s got to go right, or you’re not going to make any money.”
Jimmy Hoke added, “A little luck goes a long way.”