ProRodeo Sports News - June 25, 2021

TIME CAPSULE AMONG THE ’BOYS

PRCA ProRodeo photo

One of a Kind Haptonstall rode beyond the whistle BY TANNER BARTH F or a long time, ProRodeo cowboys have been known to known for riding past the necessary eight seconds, which was something he was used to. In the early ’70s, he was on the ride of his life and finding success at nearly every stop along the way. He won or placed in nearly every major PRCA rodeo at the time, places like Denver, Cheyenne, Wyo., Fort Worth, Texas, and Houston. He started his rodeo competition at an early age, Martin Haptonstall, left, could neither hear nor speak, yet he rode plenty of bulls while competing in ProRodeo. He didn’t care if he was deaf

have something few other athletes have in the way of courage and determination. But no one better typifies that kind of man than former PRCA bull rider Martin Haptonstall, who joined the PRCA in 1973. Fans who watched Haptonstall ride a bull or a bronc in the late 1970s probably never knew he was a cowboy who could neither hear nor speak. Throughout his rodeo career, Haptonstall never once knew when he had reached the eight-second whistle, something he said he never thought about once that gate swung open. “I don’t actually count,” he explained via sign language through his wife, Kelly, in the Aug. 24, 1980, edition of the Tri-City Herald. “Sometimes the clowns help me, but mostly I just feel it.” Haptonstall passed away in January 1989 at the age of 39, but he left a legacy behind the sport will never forget. Since he couldn’t hear the qualifying whistle, he was

and mute, he was out there to prove he belonged like any other cowboy, no matter what obstacle he had to overcome along the way.

competing in youth rodeos around his home state of Washington in the ’60s. Even at that age he asked for no special favors. He paid his entry fees like everyone else and competed in the toughest competitions. His younger brother, Harold, was at his side throughout their rodeo careers. Harold also was a bull rider, often pushing Martin to the limit in the arena, but it never fazed the lifelong cowboy. In fact, it was an envelope he had been pushing his entire life. He didn’t care if he was deaf and mute, he was out there to prove he belonged like any other cowboy, no matter what obstacle he had to overcome along the way.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/25/2021

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