Stock Contractor Neal Gay Honored In Legendary Opening

Stock Contractor Neal Gay Honored In Legendary Opening

ProRodeo Hall of Fame stock contractor Neal Gay was honored as the 2016 ProRodeo Legend in Las Vegas on Monday night.

Dec 3, 2016 by Cassie Emerson Emerson
Stock Contractor Neal Gay Honored In Legendary Opening
ProRodeo Hall of Fame stock contractor Neal Gay was honored Monday night as the 2016 ProRodeo Legend at the ninth annual Wrangler Gold Buckle Gala at the South Point Grand Ballroom in Las Vegas.

Neal Gay is 90 years old and started out riding broncs and bareback horses. He also bull dogged and rode bulls for a very short while. After his rodeo career he got into the production business, which isn't an easy business. But, he has been very successful, and it has become a family affair. If you see Gay, you normally see his family pretty close by, and that is what he enjoys the most.

Gay was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as a stock contractor in 1993.

He returned from military service in 1946 and began rodeoing, mostly in saddle bronc riding.

He started raising roughstock about the time he founded the Mesquite (Texas) Rodeo in 1957, which became a phenomenon and an iconic rodeo that was broadcast to millions on cable TV.

Gay is also a member of the Texas Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the Ben Johnson Memorial Award from the National Cowboy Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2009.

Gay's sons followed his footsteps into the rodeo arena. Don, is an eight-time bull riding world champ and a ProRodeo Hall of Famer, Pete qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in 1972-73 and 1976 as a bull rider, and Jim found his niche in carrying on the family's rodeo stock producing business.

"For an ol' South Dallas kid who didn't have $3 when he started, I wound up pretty good," Gay said.

Thursday night at the first round of the 2016 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Gay at the opportunity to welcome everyone to the rodeo. It was nothing short of a treat for everyone who got to see the opening.

CLICK HERE TO SEE NEAL'S OPENING