Rowdy Barry makes his living protecting bull riders inside the rodeo arena.

It's an art form, really, to see Barry and his fellow bullfighters in action. They skillfully position themselves between the bull and fallen rider, attracting the bull's attention so the cowboy can get away. Most of the time, things work so flawlessly that their actions are hardly noticed. But things don't always work flawlessly. Sometimes the bullfighter must sacrifice his own body and take a hit so a cowboy can get away safely.

And Barry has taken his share of hits over the years. Some of them have resulted in broken bones and torn body parts that have required months of rehabilitation at home. But, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.

	Barry's vision for To Catch A Dream came to him while he was driving.

A few years ago during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Barry's wife, Laura Lee, purchased her husband sculpting lessons. An artist since childhood, Barry had always painted, but welcomed a chance to try a new art form. "Laura Lee got me started," the 36-year-old Barry said. "She signed me up for this sculpting class and I've been going every year since."

Not surprisingly, Barry sculpts what he knows. His first work was of a bull and his most recent sculpture, entitled To Catch A Dream, depicts a cowboy trying to catch a winged horse. "I was driving down the road one night and the idea came to me," he said. "I had never seen anything where Greek mythology was mixed with Western culture."

Barry started the sculpture about three years ago, had it about halfway done and then put it away as the demands of his job had him on the road. Then last summer, he suffered a knee injury while fighting bulls at the National High School Finals Rodeo, and spent most of the year rehabilitating at his ranch in Kennewick, Wash. He pulled the sculpture out of the basement and finished it up. It has since been cast and made into a bronzed limited edition. "Only 30 of them will be made and then they will break the mold," said Barry, who unveiled the work at last year's Wrangler NFR.

Barry has donated one of the 30 to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, which helps assist rodeo competitors and contract personnel when they are injured. "We'll be using the sculpture as a fund-raiser at our booth at Cowboy Christmas at Wrangler NFR," said Cindy Shonholtz, director of the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. "Rowdy has always supported it, even when he didn't have to use it."

Barry annually works the Columbia River Circuit Finals and the National High School Finals in addition to the Reno Rodeo and numerous other PRCA rodeos. He has also worked the College National Finals, the Canadian National Finals and the Dodge National Circuit Finals.

	“	I'm not ready to slow down from fighting bulls just yet. ”
		— Rowdy Barry

In 1999, PRCA bull riders selected him to protect them at the Wrangler NFR, perhaps the highest honor a bullfighter can receive. He and Laura Lee also raise Corriente cattle (the kind used for team roping) on their ranch in Washington, which they share with their daughter, Clay Noel, and son, Miles.

Barry said sculpting is something he may pursue more seriously down the road when his bull fighting days are done. "I'm not ready to slow down from fighting bulls just yet," Barry said. "I still love to do it. The day when I'm not fast enough to protect the cowboys or the day it becomes a job, then I'll give it up. Right now, I love what I'm doing."

Guy Clifton covers rodeo for the Reno Gazette-Journal. He can be reached at 775.788.6337 or gclifton@rgj.com.