Loop Rawlins wasn't born into a cowboy family. But he hasn't let that stop him.
"I fell in love with the West," Rawlins said. "The nice thing about being a cowboy is that anybody can be a cowboy."
He says his love for the wild west arts began at the age of 8 at a rodeo in Tucson, when he saw a cowboy spinning rope.
"I found out that there was a world of wild west performers-- guys that actually made a living doing tricks."
But to some, his work means more than a simple display of tricks.
"The art that he does, it's just, it's mind-boggling," said Darby Ingram, Miss Eastern Oregon Livestock Show. "And the way that he supports the ways of the West, and he's able to bring those styles into the modern world and show the world what the Wild West was like."
Ingram says his skills are an important aspect in modern rodeo culture.
"The western way of lifestyle is so much more than riding horses and working cows. It's the art of roping and shooting and everything that comes together," she said.
And if there's one message he wants his young fans to know, it's this: "You don't have to come from a cowboy family to be a cowboy. You can be one if you want to be. And just go for it."
