On CMT: Characters  

Chad Klein
Chad Klein, a 33-year-old from Louisiana, is a third generation cowboy -- grandson of Dan Klein -- who can rope, bareback ride, work cows, ride bulls, fix fences, weld and much more. He has won roughstock titles in rodeos in New Mexico, Wisconsin, Kansas, Louisiana and Missouri as well as the cowboy capital of the World Pro Rodeo in Texas. He is a three-time Wrangler NFR qualifier and won the All Around title at the Cheyenne Frontier Days. However the title he holds dearest to his heart is that of being dad.

Klein currently resides in Stephenville, Texas, with his wife and two daughters. He enjoys hunting, building things (he considers himself a MacGyver) and dancing to Southern rock.

Mitch Coleman
Mitch Coleman is the 21-year-old son of PRCA cowboy Steve Coleman, as well as the brother of Ross Coleman. Mitch considers himself an "all around cowboy" who can ride bucking horses and bulls, rope calves, team rope, bulldog, win at the rodeo and come home to work on the ranch. He has won numerous All Around titles in rodeos and ranch rodeos, and he competes in the PRCA and the PBR.

Coleman lives on his family's cattle ranch in Oregon and enjoys hip-hop clubs, snowboarding, fishing, hunting and wakeboarding. His motto is, "He is 'old enough to know better but young enough to do it again.'"

Scott Whinfrey
Scott Whinfrey is a 27-year-old who grew up in the suburbs of California, where, since the age of 2, he felt like he was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. As soon as he was old enough, he left home to start working on ranches and pursue his dream of becoming a cowboy.

Whinfrey can ride, rope, move cattle, doctor animals, make tack, cook, sleep on the ground, build and fix fences, pack horses, shoe, sing sad cowboys songs, play guitar, brand, castrate, butcher and drive a truck. Plus he can do it all in Spanish. He has ridden bulls in amateur rodeos in Oregon, Washington, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Australia. His ultimate goal is to be the top working cow horse trainer in America. This is his first time in Texas.

Bradley Harter
Bradley Harter is a 25-year-old saddle bronc rider from Aledo, Texas, who has lived on a ranch his entire life. In 2006, he won the ninth Go-Round at the 2006 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He was also the Texas Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals Champion in 2006 and the Denver Pro Rodeo Champion in 2007. He is a graduate of Tarleton State University with a degree in marketing.

Harter describes himself as "happy-go-lucky" and competitive. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his fiancé, playing golf, wakeboarding and hunting. He also considers himself a good karaoke singer. His goal is to be a world champion saddlebronc rider.

Jason Patrick
Jason Patrick is a 32-year-old ranch cowboy and professional horse trainer who grew up on a working ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Since the age of 12, he has competed in numerous ranch rodeos, bull riding, cow horse competitions and poker and basketball Tournaments. His specialty is horsemanship, branding time and training new horses.

At 19, Patrick spent time working as a police officer in New Mexico as well as going through F.B.I. SWAT training. When he's not at the rodeo, he plays on a city league champion basketball team and "snowboards like a maniac." He is happily married with three children. His biggest goal in life is to raise a happy family in the lifestyle that he loves.

Judge: Thomas Saunders
Thomas Bailey Saunders V is a sixth generation cowman with a family history in the Texas cattle industry dating back to 1850. Saunders currently operates 15,000 acres in Weatherford, Texas, where he and his father run a commercial cow herd and stocker-feed operation. He also raises registered quarter horses on the family ranch and is a director of the Fort Worth Stock Show. He grew up at the same ranch where he now lives with his wife and two daughters, Madalynn and Leslie Ann.

Saunders believes that America's top cowboy should have a lot of "ride around their hide," "look like a cowboy" and, of course, know how to perform all ranch tasks. Above all, Saunders feels that a true cowboy "must have a good heart."

Judge: Kenny Call
Kenny Call is a traditional cowboy who grew up in the stockyards of Oklahoma City. He has worked cattle his entire life. His accomplishments include a World Championship steer roping title and 12 PRCA Finals qualifications. He has also made appearances in such film classics as Bonanza, Silverado and the The Lone Ranger.

To be a top cowboy, Call believes "you need to know how to compete in a rodeo but also go out and gather cattle, work cattle, understand cattle and horses and understand the whole lifestyle." Call currently resides in Hemet, Calif.

Judge: Annie Bianco-Ellet
Annie Bianco-Ellett, the World Champion cowgirl, is also the only woman in mounted shooting to ever win an All Around Overall world title and beat all the men. She has helped revolutionize the sport. Her national champion stallion, El Costa Prom, is the most successful horse in the sport of mounted shooting.

Besides drawing upon her own cowboy abilities and experience, as a judge, Outlaw Annie hopes to provide a woman's perspective on what it takes to be America's top cowboy. She says she can tell a real cowboy "by the buckle and the boots that he wears." She lives on her ranch in Arizona with her husband Dave Ellett (retired NHL All-Star), and their daughter, Sierra Lyn.