Country-western singer Waylon Jennings warned mamas, "Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and Garth Brooks sang of the "joy and the pain" of rodeo.
Yet, still they come.
The next generation of cowboys stepped into the arena at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth on Sunday to take part in rodeo school.
"It runs in my family and I just want to do it," said Cooper Lane, a fifth grader from Keller.
He was one of 47 students who signed up for the PRCA Championship Rodeo Youth Camp offered every year for free at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
Members of the PRCA teach the fundamentals to young rodeo athletes from beginner to those with some experience like Cooper.
He looked like a natural as he rode a training device meant to mimic a bull. His comfort in the saddle is in his genes.
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"My granddad rode bulls. My dad rode bulls," he said.
Cooper has been on steers and horses since the age of four. And at age 11, he already has a war story or two.
"I got on on a bucking horse and broke my arm," he said.
He also has the winnings that prove he's champion cowboy in the making: a gold buckle and $6,000 in the bank.
Cooper appears more than ready to chase "this dream they call rodeo."
"It's just the adrenaline rush, the fun of it, thinking about [what] you'll do with the money and buckle," said the young cowboy.
