Roughriding Rookie

Draped across the bars of chute No. 3 at the National Finals Rodeo in Dallas, the cowpoke stared coldly at a mottled grey bronc, puffed an inch-long butt, and spat contemptuously into the dirt. "Keep your eyes open," warned a bystander. "That Blue Boy's a rank old s.o.b." Nodding brusquely, Kenny Mc Lean hiked up his scuffed leather chaps, swung over the rail, settled gingerly into the saddle, and in the awkward tradition of rodeo riding, he dug his spurs hard into Blue Boy's neck.

Like a merry-go-round pony suddenly gone berserk, Blue Boy bellowed with rage and bucketed across the arena. Spinning, rearing, kicking up clouds of acrid dust, the wild-eyed horse struggled to un seat its rider. The violent ballet lasted just ten seconds. Then a klaxon sounded and McLean vaulted gracefully to the ground. The judges' verdict: 171 out of a possible 210 points.

Split Teeth. The score was short of perfect, but the fact that he rode at all reflects the skill and daring that make Kenny McLean, at 22, the Rodeo Cow boys Association's Rookie of the Year, and the hottest young bronc rider ever to crash the big-time rodeo circuit. In almost any other sport, McLean would have been riding the bench. The night before, he split two teeth and was carted to the hospital unconscious after tumbling heavily from an evil-tempered bronc. "Ken ny's horse took a run from the gate," says fellow bronc rider George Williams.

"Then he jumped and kicked and walked on his front feet. Most times, you have time to slip him some rein, but Kenny was on the ground in five seconds."

Unorthodox Style. Part Indian, raven-haired Kenny McLean busted his first bronc--and took his first fall--at eleven on his father's cattle ranch in tiny (pop. 500) Okanagan Falls, B.C. "There wasn't much to do in 'Okay Falls' except hunt and fish,", Kenny explains, "so my brother and I built a chute and started riding." A natural athlete with superb coordination and balance, Kenny quickly learned to keep his feet loose in the stirrups, developed an unorthodox, righthanded riding style * that scores points with the judges and -baffles his fellow cowboys. Surprise of the 1961 tour, McLean won ten "ridings," placed in the money in 34 rodeos, earned $14,648, and was bucked off his mount only three times all season. Says Veteran Rider Williams: "Kenny really 'charges' a horse. He overrides most of them a bit, throws all caution to the winds. He's one of the wildest spurring cowboys in the business--and the best newcomer I've ever seen."

* Rules permit saddle bronc riders to keep one hand on the rein; most use the left, claim it gives them better balance and control. Conditioned to lefthanded riders, some horses depart from their normal bucking pattern, behave unpredictably when ridden by a righthander.

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