EVENTS
Bull Riding, Bareback Riding, Steer Wrestling, Rodeo Judge, 1918-1955
As a young boy, Dossey taught himself to ride on his father’s work horses. From the beginning he wanted to be a rodeo cowboy. He entered his first rodeo in 1935 and the next year started traveling full time to rodeo. He was the first to use the “flashy” style of spurring, used by bareback contestants. Dossey was known for his colorful satin and silk shirts, attracting what may have been one of the first sponsorships by a major corporation. In 1940, Dossey won the RCA World Champion Bareback title at age 22. He continued to ride until an injury sidelined his career, and he became an RCA judge. He was known as being “dead honest” and by 1950 had judged Madison Square Garden a record seven straight years. One of his biggest contributions to rodeo was his co-invention of the electric eye starting chute, which had been approved for use at many of the larger RCA rodeos. Dossey was killed protecting his son from a team of run-away horses during a parade.
