Randy McAfee Magers was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 5, 1945, into one of Tarrant County’s first one hundred founding families. At age 6, Randy entered the children’s horse show class at the 1952 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth. Randy started his rodeo career competing in high school rodeos, and the American Junior Rodeo Association working the bareback riding and roping events. At age 18, he got on his first bull at a practice session in Colleyville, Texas, and that same year, 1963, he won his first trophy saddle at the Gladewater Youth Rodeo and was named the All-Around Cowboy.
Randy competed on Tarleton State University’s first National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) team for four years. The team brought national recognition to Tarleton and Stephenville, Texas, by qualifying all four years for the college finals, and in 1967 winning the NIRA Championship Team honors at the finals held in St. George, Utah. Randy Magers was the 1965 and 1967 NIRA Reserve Champion Bull Rider.
Randy entered his first professional rodeo on a permit at Coleman, Texas in 1966 where he came out on top in bull riding. He joined the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1967 and started his career as a professional at the Odessa, Texas, rodeo. In 1969, his first full year of professional competition, he rode in 101 rodeos and was thrown only 19 times. He qualified for his first national finals rodeo that same year in Oklahoma City and ended the year in fifth place.
Randy Magers qualified a total of nine times for the national finals rodeo in bull riding-1969 through 1978, with the exception of 1972 when he was sidelined several months with a torn thigh muscle and missed the finals by approximately $800.
In 1975 he was the Reserve World Champion Bull Rider. In 1977, one of only three years in professional rodeo history that the world champions were determined at the national finals rodeo, Donnie Gay and Randy were tied for the world championship at the end of the 10* go round. What followed was the only ride-off ever held in PRCA history to determine the world champion. Donnie Gay drew Dale Hall’s bull #11 and Magers drew bull #67 belonging to Butler & Sons. Randy went first and bucked off. Donnie rode his bull and won the world championship, and Randy, for the second time, settled for Reserve World Champion Bull Rider.
Randy is most proud of riding the hall of fame bucking bull Oscar two times, once at Poway, California and once at the 1975 national finals rodeo. Oscar was bucked over 300 times and ridden only 8 times, and Randy believes that he is the only right-handed guy to ever ride him.
During his rodeo career, Randy competed at and either, won or placed at all the major rodeos in the country. During that time he continued his interest in horses by raising quality quarter horses and currently competes on horses he has bred and raised in the National Cutting Horse Association events.
