{"id":531257,"date":"2026-01-21T03:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/531257\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T03:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:10:12","slug":"this-was-his-dream-cowboys-of-color-rodeo-founder-honored-during-fort-worth-stock-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/531257\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This was his dream\u2019: Cowboys of Color Rodeo founder honored during Fort Worth Stock Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"&quot;byline&quot;\">by David Moreno, Fort Worth Report <br \/>January 20, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Anytime Cleo Hearn met a diverse rodeo athlete, he stressed the importance of being the best person possible and dressing like you belong.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hearn, the first Black cowboy to attend college on a rodeo scholarship in the late 1950s, was often barred from competing in regular events. Whenever he was allowed to compete, he aimed for the top prize and dressed in authentic cowboy attire so no one could deny his place in the Western sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Then for five decades, the Cowboys of Color Rodeo founder organized his own rodeo with the mission of <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/01\/22\/how-cowboys-of-color-rodeo-has-spotlighted-diversity-in-fort-worth-for-15-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spotlighting the history and legacies<\/a> of Native, Hispanic, European and Black cowboys of the Old West.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hearn <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/11\/11\/cleo-hearn-founder-of-cowboys-of-color-rodeo-dies-at-86\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">died Nov. 9 at 86<\/a>. His sons \u2014 Harlan, Wendell, Eldon and Robby \u2014 honored his legacy at the Cowboys of Color Rodeo during the Fort Worth Stock Show &amp; Rodeo on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was his dream,\u201d Harlan told competing athletes before the rodeo. \u201cDad always looked out for the cowboy first because he was one from beginning to end. He always wanted to make sure that you as contestants have one more rodeo to put on your list.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A memorial video played during the event at Dickies Arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u2018This was his dream\u2019: Cowboys of Color Rodeo founder honored during Fort Worth Stock Show\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FpDvzriJ0bY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>Matt Carter, president of the stock show and rodeo, described Cleo Hearn as an \u201camazing gentleman\u201d who alongside his sons created a legacy that the Fort Worth event looks forward to building on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe stand on the shoulders of giants, so we can really see far,\u201d he said to the cowboys. \u201cWhen we look into the future, we see this rodeo continuing to grow to highlight all aspects of rodeo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Riding into the future<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260120_Moreno-Cleo-Hearn-legacy-6-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-376225\"\/>Fort Worth resident Taries Woods celebrates a successful run during the ranch bronc riding event at the Cowboy of Color Rodeo on Jan. 19 at the Fort Worth Stock Show &amp; Rodeo. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n<p>Cleo Hearn was born May 3, 1939, in Seminole, Oklahoma, to a Seminole father and a Black mother. He joined the Real Cowboy Association in 1959 and later became the first Black man to win a major stock show calf roping event during the 1970 National Western in Denver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The cowboy founded the Texas Black Rodeo in Lancaster in 1971. He changed the famed event\u2019s name to Cowboys of Color in 1995.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cowboys of Color, a signature event in the Fort Worth Stock Show &amp; Rodeo since 2010, is held in Cowtown each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260120_Moreno-Cleo-Hearn-legacy-1--1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-376226\"\/>Harlan Hearn gets emotional as he talks about the death of his father during a pre-show meeting for the Cowboys of Color Rodeo at Dickies Arena on Jan. 19. Harlan is one of Cleo Hearn\u2019s four sons carrying on his legacy. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s event was weighed down by several other emotional hits as organizers mourned the deaths of rodeo legends Kay Gay and Kevin Woodson, Harlan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gay, who died at 87 in May, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fwssr.com\/p\/participate\/rafter-g-rodeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">designed outfits worn by the pivot setters<\/a> at the Fort Worth Stock Show &amp; Rodeo for over four decades. Woodson, who died at 69 in July, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/17yAZf8DjK\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served as the Cowboys of Color announcer for nearly 30 years<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a little rough because all three of those people, they mean a lot to my family and the world of rodeo,\u201d Harlan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Although last year was difficult, Harlan said he and his brothers will continue leading the rodeo event as its managing directors and expanding on their father\u2019s work to \u201ceducate you while we entertain you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260120_Moreno-Cleo-Hearn-legacy-39--1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-376227\"\/>Fort Worth resident Benjamin Pettiford, 5, watches the Cowboy of Color Rodeo while sitting on his grandmother\u2019s lap Jan. 19 at Dickies Arena. Jennifer Pettiford, also known as Mimi, invited her two grandchildren and daughter-in-law to the event, supplying them with the Western-inspired cowboy hats and bandana. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n<p>David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidmreports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@davidmreports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/about\/fort-worth-report-editorial-independence-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/01\/20\/this-was-his-dream-cowboys-of-color-rodeo-founder-honored-during-fort-worth-stock-show\/&#8221;&gt;article&lt;\/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org&#8221;&gt;Fort Worth Report&lt;\/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/&#8221;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&#8221;https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=80&amp;amp;ssl=1&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&#8221;&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;img id=&#8221;republication-tracker-tool-source&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=375978&amp;amp;ga4=2820184429&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1px;height:1px;&#8221;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &#8220;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/01\/20\/this-was-his-dream-cowboys-of-color-rodeo-founder-honored-during-fort-worth-stock-show\/&#8221;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;\/script&gt; &lt;script id=&#8221;parsely-cfg&#8221; src=&#8221;\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js&#8221;&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by David Moreno, Fort Worth Report January 20, 2026 Anytime Cleo Hearn met a diverse rodeo athlete, he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":531258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[228051,5229,235447,130122,7371,226894,7372,5615,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-531257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-2026stockshow","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-cleo-hearn","11":"tag-cowboys-of-color-rodeo","12":"tag-fort-worth","13":"tag-fort-worth-stock-show-rodeo","14":"tag-fortworth","15":"tag-lead","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115930898649175081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}