Modern-Day Cowboy
_ 44
I enjoy my
horses, I enjoy
team roping, 1
enjoy trimming
and shoeing and
doing teeth and
rodeos— it's just
what I want to
do.
Rohrbough
rancher
-*f “
Rancher finding contentment
By Therrese Goodlett
Staff Reporter
Jeff Rohrbough’s three loves in
life are his horse, his dog and
his truck.
if that sounds like the ballad of
a cowboy, it is.
Rohrbough, 27, grew up in w est
ern Kansas, where he lived on a
ranch 60 miles from any town, with
his father and two stepbrothers. Al
though his father w'as a cowboy,
Rohrbough said his Unde John
was his main influence.
“He did rodeos in college and
has always been in the horse busi
ness,” Rohrbough said.
His uncle John brought
Rohrbough to Nebraska and got
him interested in thoroughbred
breeding. In Omaha, Springfield
and Pleasant Dale, Rohrbough
worked under his uncle for Re
gency Thoroughbred Farms.
When Rohrbough moved to Lin
coln, he left the thoroughbred busi
ness. Since 1989, hehasworkedfor
Cushman, a company that builds
lawn equipment.
Although he no longer works
with horses for a living, Rohrbough
said he wanted to go back to it.
Instead of working with thorough- •
Dreds, though, Rohrbough said he
wanted to be an equine dentist.
In 1986, he learned horse den
istry from Dale Jeffrey, who has a
arm near Waverly.
“I wanted the knowledge; I didn’t
earn it for a business,” Rohrbough
aid. “It was something I needed to
mow and every horse owner needs
o know.”
Now, however, Rohrbough said
he would like to go into the busi
ness. The problem is that he is not
a veterinarian, which makes the
practice illegal in Nebraska.
“We need to change the bylaws
of dentistry to make it legal to do
teeth,” he said. “It will take time to
find a happy medium between
dentist and veterinarian.”
Aside from being trained in fix
ing horses’ teeth, Rohrbough also
shoes and trims hooves. But for
now, Rohrbough uses his skills
mostly on his own horses.
After he finishes his 7 a m. to 3
p.m. shift at Cushman, Rohrbough
spends the remaining hours of the
day grooming horses and doing
chores on his farm at 87th and. j
Adams streets. A gravel road leads
to Rohrbough’s rustic farmhouse,
which is heated by a wood stove.
While he does not like traveling
through town, Rohrbough said,
many evenings he meets friends at
Pioneers Park to practice team
roping, which is a sport he began
practicing four years ago.
In team roping, a team of two
horse riders chase and rope steers.
At.competitions, all of the play
ers put money into a jackpot. Those
with the fastest times win the money
and those who don’t win must pay
more. Rohrbough said he had lost
as much as $500 on the sport.
Although being a modern-day
cowboy can be financially difficult,
Rohrbough said he would not give
it up.
“I enjoy my horses, I enjoy team
roping, I enjoy trimming and shoe
ing and doing teeth and jgV
rodeos — it’s just what I /BfBft)
want to do.”
Photos by
Therrese Goodlett
<-■■■ i
Photos clockwise from left;
Jeff Rohrbough and Dale Jef
frey study a horse skull to learn
more about horses’ teeth.
Rohrbough fixes his rope
before taking his turn at team
roping. Rohrbough ropes the
horns of the steer and his part
ner ropes the hooves.
Rohrbough takes a moment
from his chores to pet his dog,
D-o-g. While Rohrbough does
chores, D-o-g grips onto
Rohrbough’s pant leg with his
teeth and drags behind.
Rohrbough and Todd Tuet
rope a steer at a team-roping
competition at Pioneer Stables
Sunday afternoon.
Rohrbough examines his
horse’s bite for proper occlu
sion. If the horse’s teeth don't
come together properly, sharp
points of the teeth must be filed
down, he said.