Monkeys saddle up for nights at the rodeo

By Trisha Marczak (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Photo by Trisha Marczak

Dawn the monkey saddles up and rests on top of her rodeo partner, Dan.

Twenty five years ago, Tim Lepard thought long and hard about what his “specialty act” would be for his rodeo clown routine. He first attempted to saddle a monkey onto a horse, which didn’t work out so well. He then replaced the horse with a sheep dog, which, again, proved to be too big of an animal for the monkey to ride. Finally, Lepard’s friend suggested he try out border collies. He hasn’t looked back since.

Team Ghost Riders — the band of border collies and capuchin monkeys – are a nation-wide hit.

Having already shot their own commercial and having appeared on Jay Leno, the monkey-dog trio is used to the spotlight. But Lepard and his team haven’t forgotten their roots — the rodeo.

Lepard started the monkey-dog rodeo show about 25 years ago, when he was just getting started in the clowning business.

“I wanted to do something here that people would remember for years,” Lepard said.

And it seems as though he’s done just that. Thousands are expected to gather at the Red Horse Ranch Arena this weekend for the rodeo, many of whom are hoping to get a glimpse of Lepard’s comedy routine and the unique animal entertainment.

Before every show, Lepard preps his team of monkeys by dressing them in the proper attire of taylor made matching red, white and blue costumes. Custom made saddles are then secured on the dogs and when the pups are ready for the show, Lepard gives the monkeys a lift on up.

Each monkey has a special dog which they like to ride, Lepard said. The goal of Team Ghost Riders is to heard a group of sheep — which Lepard owns — into a corral. It can be quite the competition for the monkey-dog trios, and each team knows what it means to succeed, Lepard said.

Lepard’s role in the rodeo is to entertain the audience when the bull riders and Ghost Riders aren’t on center stage. He uses a variety of costumes and impersonations to entertain crowd-goers. And while his gig may sound like all fun and games, he’s had a few run-in with bulls that haven’t turned out in his favor. In the past 30 years of rodeo entertainment, Lepard has undergone nine surgeries as the results of rodeo-related injuries. But even that won’t stop him.

Most of the year, he and his animal companions are traveling around the country from rodeo to rodeo. Although it is tough to be away from family at times, he says he does it for his love and passion for the rodeo. And he isn’t always alone, as he considers his dogs and monkeys to be family.

That makes it extra tough for Lepard to part with his pups. Lepard finds all his border collies from shelters and after three years touring with Lepard, he finds each pup a good home to “let them rest and sit around being a dog,” he said.

The monkeys have been with him since 2000, after he lost all of his monkey, dog and sheep companions to an unfortunate carbon monoxide incident in his traveling trailor. At that point, Lepard thought his rodeo clowning days were done. But six months later, he rounded up a new team and off he went to travel the country.