Wesley W. ” Ike” Tacker was born October 27, 1914 in Falls County, Texas to Robert Lee and Nettie Woodard Tacker. Ike got into the rodeo business quite by chance. He and other boys would ride horses at night and dream becoming true cowboys on the rodeo circuit. They went to a rodeo one night and watched a bull buck a boy off. The rodeo officials couldn’t get the bull out of the ring. “One of the boys told me to get the bull out. I guess he didn’t think I would do it so I borrowed some chaps and went down in the ring and ran the bull around until we got him out. The stock owners were impressed.” They asked me to come back and help. Ike always thought he could put his booming voice to use ib the rodeo ring. He was then asked if he could act as a clown to keep the bulls off the riders. Ike said “Yes” without hesitation.
So that begins his life as a rodeo clown. Ike borrowed his uncle’s big britches and painted his face and went out in the ring. “I told every joke I could think of and managed to keep the bulls off the cowboys.” Ike also learned to use his hand to touch the bull and make him stop and turn in a different direction.
Ike also rode bulls in his rodeo career. His wife Ruby was a trick rider and Ike trained her horse in the event. He had a trick mule named “Solo” and a trick dog named “Long John” which he used in the arena. Ike spent many years in the rodeo arena. His last rodeo was in Belton, Texas in 1982. His rodeo career lasted 50 years. Ike was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1983.
