Umatilla County Fair & Farm City Pro Rodeo | East Oregonian & Hermiston Herald | 15
Corey & Lange’s bulls and broncs are
ready to buck
By ANNIE FOWLER
EO Media Group
M
ike Corey is pretty sure his
broncs and bulls are more
excited to be back on the road
than he is.
“I have really good animals,” Corey
said. “It has been almost 2 years since
they have been able to come out of the
chutes. They know what their job is.
They thrive off the excitement. I think
some of them thought, ‘What in the
heck is going on here?’”
Corey is co-owner of Corey & Lange
Rodeo Inc., out of Moses Lake, Wash-
ington, along with Leslie Lange.
Corey & Lange have been provid-
ing rough stock for the Farm-City Pro
Rodeo for several years. This summer,
the featured stock coming to Hermis-
ton will be National Finals Rodeo horse
Diamond Fever in the saddle bronc,
and multi-NFR horse Tripwire in the
bareback.
Corey has had horses and/or bulls at
the NFR every year since 2000, and has
had animals win awards at the NFR and
PRCA at year’s end.
Also performing will be up-and-com-
ing stars Cowboy Fever and Dakota
Pride in the bareback, Monster in the
saddle bronc, and exciting young bulls
like Throwback Thursday and Big
Racks of Montana, just to name a few.
Corey, a former PRCA pickup man,
said he is happy to share the limelight
with other contractors in Hermiston.
“The bigger rodeos need the qual-
ity,” Corey said. “Very few guys in the
business can put on a rodeo like that
and meet the quality you need in every
event. It takes 3-4-5 of us to put them
on and keep the quality good. It has
transitioned to that. Hermiston pays
really well, too.”
One thing that draws Corey back
to Hermiston is the rodeo board, and
now the new facility at the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center.
“I have known these guys for a long
time,” Corey said. “That new facility is
so good. (David) Bothum and his asso-
ciates take really good care of us. We
are excited to go there.”
When the new facility was built,
the FCPR board sought out ideas from
some of the stock contractors, including
Corey.
“It’s such a good place for our ani-
mals,” Corey said. “There’s a lot of
room. It’s easy on us and our animals.
Some of us who have been there for a
Corey & Lange Rodeo Inc./Contributed Photo
Tripwire, who has made numerous trips
to the National Finals Rodeo in the bare-
back event, is one of several top broncs
and bulls Corey & Lange Rodeo will bring
to the 2021 Farm-City Pro Rodeo.
long time had a little infl uence in mak-
ing that. We got a lot of input on that.”
Hermiston is one of 20 or so rodeos
Corey & Lange will work this year.
“We were just in St. Paul and the
crowd was great,” Corey said. “The
people were so enthusiastic. I expect the
same in Hermiston.”