Reg Kesler started participating in rodeos at the very early age of thirteen, riding steers. During his career, he entered all five major events plus the wild horse race and the wild cow milking. He competed professionally for 21 years from 1940 until 1961. He was three times all-around champion of Canada in 1948, 1949, and 1951, and twice the all-around champion of the Calgary Stampede.
In 1951, he formed Kesler Rodeo, LTD. From 1951 until 1995, he produced approximately 25 rodeos each year. For 35 years, he furnished stock for the National Finals Rodeo, receiving 50 plaques and awards for top bucking stock from the National Finals Rodeo and the Canadian Finals Rodeo. His breeding program for bucking horses was the secret of his outstanding horses, among them were Three Bars, Moonshine, Captain Kid, Rodeo News, and Short Crop. Three Bars was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2004, although Reg had bested him by being inducted in 1992.
Having three home bases: Canada, Montana, and Texas kept Reg very busy. In 1968 and for several years thereafter, he furnished bucking horses for the Southern Exposition in Puyallup, the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and the San Angelo Rodeo. He also produced the National Intercollegiate Finals Rodeo for six years in Bozeman, Montana.
Reg served on many Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) boards and committees and was stock contracting director of the PRCA for six years. Rodeo was Reg Kesler’s life.
Elizabeth (Russell) Kesler began her rodeo career with J.H. “Goat” Mayo in the late 1940s, serving as a timer when one did not show up for the Clay County Pioneer Rodeo in Henrietta, Texas. She continued to serve as secretary for the Clay County Pioneer Rodeo for many years.
After Reg and Liz married in 1971, she served as secretary-timekeeper for their rodeos. Fifteen times she was secretary for the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals Rodeo in Great Falls, Montana. She served three times as secretary for the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, and timed the events at the National Finals Rodeo in 1983 as well as serving as timer at the Houston, San Antonio, and San Angelo rodeos.
Liz conducted rodeo secretary schools in both the United States and Canada. She still is a member of the Rodeo Historical Society in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Cowboy Reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in Belton, Texas, and other organizations that support rodeo.
Reg and Liz both were members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, and Liz continues to carry both her cards.
