Wade Earp, left, and Sonny Koerner compete with the International Gay Rodeo Association. (Photos courtesy the subjects)

Two legends on the International Gay Rodeo Association circuit will compete at the 30th anniversary World Gay Rodeo Finals this weekend in Las Vegas. The competition will feature the top 20 competitors on the Association circuit in 13 events. The finalists are determined by points accumulated over roughly 14 rodeos throughout the United States and Canada this past year.

On a beautiful morning on a ranch outside of Dallas, it’s feeding time and the animals are producing a loud symphony for their owner. Wade Earp apologizes for the background noise.

“The birds are going crazy this morning,” says Earp, “and it always makes the other animals frisky.”

Along with his partner, Earp raises ducks, geese, chickens, Bobwhite quail, donkeys and small breed goats. He says his whole life is farming and ranching. Oh and there’s that rodeo thing too.

Raised in Texas and Arkansas, Earp thrived in sports including baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball and basketball where he was all-state. His road to being a rodeo competitor is a journey that includes two older brothers who competed, competitive two-step dancing and a lifelong love of animals. Also, his father was a fireman and the fire department hosted the local rodeo every year.

Earp’s first gay rodeo event was barrel racing in 1999 and since then, he’s been a fixture on the gay rodeo circuit. In 2014, he was one of the featured cowboys in the film documentary, “Queens and Cowboys.” His accomplishments are too numerous to list here, but include the Association World Gay Rodeo Finals all-around cowboy and a Gay Games gold medal.

At this year’s finals, Earp has qualified for nine out of 13 events. He retired from bronc riding last year, but at 50 is still going strong in other events. He says he’s too hooked on the camaraderie of the gay rodeo circuit to consider retiring.

“I wish it wasn’t about gay or straight, but rodeo is very machismo. It’s tough to be an out gay rodeo competitor outside of this circuit,” Earp says. “There is such a family atmosphere here, especially with the rough stock competitors. It’s a place where people loan each other gear and help tie each other in in the chute.”

Earp is a direct descendant of the Earp brothers who gained fame from their Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He tracked his link back to Virgil Earp when Time Life presented a family tree.

“It’s a tough name to live up to,” says Earp, “but I haven’t had it half as bad as my brother, Wyatt.”

Sonny Koerner remembers giggling the first time he saw men two-stepping together at Remington’s back in the early ‘90s. He would go on to become one of the first D.C. Cowboys. Earlier in his life he had been determined to become the first member of his family to become a rodeo competitor to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was the main male influence in his life.

Koerner grew up in multiple locations as a part of a military family, but spent a lot of time at his grandparent’s cattle ranch in Victoria, Texas. He started competing in junior rodeos at age 12 and has been competing off and on ever since.

He has been in the D.C. area since being stationed here in the early ‘90s during his military stint and now runs a consulting firm along with his partner. D.C. is not known to be a hotbed for rodeo, but he was pulled back into the sport after attending his first gay rodeo.

“I was kind of in tears as I sat in the stands and watched my first gay rodeo,” Koerner says. “I had not married both sides of my life; rodeo and being gay. The opposing sides of me were coming together. It was a cathartic.”

Koerner competed in his first gay rodeo in 1993 and has competed in all four categories, though he has focused on rough stock events:  bull riding, steer riding, steer wrestling and bareback bronc riding.

Now approaching 50, he has retired from bronc riding and has qualified for this year’s finals in the three other rough stock events and three camp events. The rough stock events can be brutal and require an elevated level of athleticism from the competitors.

Early on, Koerner excelled at sports such as track & field, basketball and football. He went to the University of Alabama on a track scholarship and is a 14-time medalist in track & field at the Gay Games along with winning a medal in steer riding. He says he has maintained his fitness all along to help with his rodeo events.

“There is a threshold that you cross in this sport in terms of training,” Koerner says. “Eventually it becomes more about knowledge, fitness and core.”

The prospect of retiring is definitely in Koerner’s crosshairs, but like his performances on bulls, he’s hanging on. He still loves it and he wants to help draw new people to the circuit. The Association is looking for new blood in the rough stock events to replace an aging core group and Koerner’s charisma is palpable.

“I have won plenty of buckles and I have plenty of awards. I still enjoy it, but I am past that point where I crave it,” Koerner says. “It’s the people that make up this rodeo family that are keeping me here. It’s more than the sport.”