Ep. 123 - Athletic Training for Rodeo Athletes with Natasha McCann

“Bite off more than you can chew and then chew like hell,” is Natasha’s Deep Thoughts on the Rodeo Trail and she’s as tough as that quote sounds.

Natasha McCann is a 2023 COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 recipient and we are joined in with Clay Noel Barry Harper, our co-host Joe Harper’s fiancé. Rodeo is not “if you get hurt” but “when and how bad,” something Joe has done well in the past few years which makes Natasha a great guest. Wearing many hats, Natasha is a part of the Champion Living Fitness helping athletes grow and get better and get healthy in a sport that doesn’t allow them to stay healthy.

Sports have always been a huge part of Natasha’s background as someone who loved to be active with great parents that were also very active, giving her the leeway to be outdoor and active as possible. Loving the competitive spirit of sports, Natasha loves friendly (and even not so friendly) competitions.

Natasha’s mom grew up on a farm and took them to take horseback riding lessons as a kid which was extremely terrifying to a young Natasha. As she got older, she started to get the horse bug and would exchange lessons for mucking stalls through her teens. At the college and Olympic level, the pace and intensity of Field Hockey got more aggressive.

“I think horses and sports kept me really balance, but my focus was really so on basketball that nothing would have shaken me,” says Natasha. “My dad would take us to the women’s final four and championship games … we’d sneak down to court level, and there was nothing like that.”

Figuring Out Career Post High School

With thoughts of college sports, Natasha opted to work for colts which was an entire switch from one end of the pendulum to the other. “My life has taken some really hard right 90 degree turns at times and that’s one of them,” says Natasha. “I was in a motorcycle accident at 16… I had broke my collar bone and had nerve issues… and was going to need surgery… I opted to get the surgery and then realized I wouldn’t play ball in college.”

After applying to three schools, got denied to every single one because she applied for viticulture - the science of winemaking. The average acceptance GPA is 4.3 and while she had a good standing in high school it wasn’t that good. Knowing she didn’t want a desk job or a traditional career and had a love for the outdoors so she wanted to see how to combine those together.

“I can’t tell you how many ranches I applied too because no ranch is going to hire someone with relatively no cattle experience from California who knows how to ride,” says Natasha with a laugh. Driving up to her family in Washington on Thanksgiving, she had a thirty minute interview in a driveway and got hired near Palouse Falls.

It was the heart of winter calving season and it was negative ten for the first few days making Natasha wonder, “What the heck have I done?” Most people think of Seattle with the rain, but eastern Washington is more high desert where you get both extremes while living in beautiful country.

Never having been around calves to that extent, Natasha had one day where she thought “I’ve messed up, maybe I should go back? But I have been blessed, or cursed, with the how-hard-could-it-be-gene.. I was there and I was going to give it a whack,” says Natasha with a laugh. “The family I worked for I am in touch with to this day. That made a big difference as they were very welcoming and gave me those creature comforts and comforts of home.”

“Much to their credit, they helped me a lot and I was taking notes and learning a lot,” says Natasha. It’s always cool to see someone that gets welcome’d by those in the industry and embraces people that really want to learn and be involved.

Life on the Ranch

During calving season, they would rotate shifts but you’d get up, feed, and then prepare for calving out a couple hundred head of first year heifers. Running their own horse program as well, they had a fair amount of colts that they were running, as well as outside horses as well. It was a lot of time in the saddle and you’d also take a horse out to go check cows in the pasture to make sure everything was looking good. It was long days and cold days.

Colt starting is one of the most unforgiving tasks that you can have on a ranch. While intense, you can put a great handle on a colt. With a lot of country to cover, they could put a lot of miles on the horses pretty quick. Following in the vein of natural horsemanship which can be controversial to some and favored by others. Making the process in the round pen pretty quick, they'd do four to five round pen rides at the most, then one or two rides in a small pasture or arena. As long as they knew they weren’t going to do something incredibly stupid, they’d be about putting a move on the cows.

“I don’t spend a whole lot of time in a closed off area and when they’re ready I head out,” says Natasha. Taking young horses out, ponying one, tie one to a tree, switching horses, etc. you get long trotting miles in to move calves and check fence. It’s good to even get the barrel horses out to do other things.

Becoming an EMT & Massage Therapist

“There was no big reason that made me want to do it,” says Natasha, “it was more that I was 21 years old and didn’t have any formal education after high school…. Everything I’ve done has woven itself together… in a non-conventional or non-traditional job.”

Thinking that she could still cowboy and day work, she could also work on an ambulance and can get more education in something more specific. The family she was working for pushed her towards it as a smart idea to add value to her career. Working on the ambulance and working three other jobs because you don’t make any money - she was literally paying for her fuel to get to the hospital.

Knowing she would hate the idea of a massage as the least touchy-feely person in her family, she was working with a trainer who encouraged her to go through it. “It took me a while to come around to me,” says Natasha. “My body was pretty beat up and I was making little to no money, not making a good money for being a colt rider… I knew if I wanted anything of my own and not just be an employee for the rest of my life, I knew I needed something more sustainable so I could afford to buy my own horses.”

There is a scientific basic behind massage therapist for sports is what finally convinced Natasha to go through the changing for it. There’s spa massage and then there’s deep tissue massage therapy and then there is the sports building for bodybuilders. Yes, there is a stigma, but it’s not actually what it is.

There’s equipment on humans and horses that are used interchangeably. Things widely used and known in the equine world that are slow to get the FDA approval for humans in the states, the science can be used interchangeably.

Working For Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund

Jumping into rodeo sports medicine is an obvious fit for Natasha to move into but it’s not easy to get into. “It took a lot of persistence,” said Natasha. As she built her skillsets and certifications, she knew that the western industry was where she wanted to be. Moving to Texas, Natasha went there for continuing education and got a contact with someone who works with Justin Sports Medicine.

Sending an email almost every month for a year and a half, she checked in on how she could meet up with him to learn more. He finally got back and said, “Who are you? What’s your deal?” After a phone conversation he asked if she could be down in a week to work the Fort Worth Stock Show. Natasha bought a ticket that day and went to Texas where she did the best she could to build relationships and prove her skill in assisting rodeo athletes. It blossomed from there.

LINK TO JCCF STORY

With JCCF you are a volunteer associate, they might help you out with travel costs but you aren’t pocketing cash out of it. The hope is that no one would, but Natasha isn’t doing this to get rich. “I have my business and that’s how I make my living… I just love helping people. I worked on an ambulance because I like that nature of helping your fellow man… and I think it’s cool that Justin does that to some extent,” says Natasha.

Coverage for athletes, especially in the rodeo world, it’s great to see people stepping up and wanting to treat our athletes. “God Love JB Mauney, he’s the definition of a cowboy’s cowboy from the 70’s, 80’s, maybe even 60’s cowboy, but now we have the Kaycee Feild’s, Rocker Steiners, etc. that are training like the athletes they are…” says Clay. “Have you seen a huge or even small influx of athletes wanting to join in on what you are doing?”

“Absolutely and it’s still growing,” says Natasha. “I was at Houston for the whole three weeks, I am often set up on my own dime to get work…” and contestants are constantly asking her where she’s from because she’s always on the road traveling. Other professional sports have their own home facilities dedicated to sports science. Rodeo is not so if Natasha isn’t on the road and available to them then she’s not doing her job and is actually being a disservice to the athletes. “It’s really neat to see that in just the two years I”ve lived in Texas and doing it hard on the road full time… it’s amazing the athletes that I see and the more that are joining.”

Originally she had rough stock riders and now she’s getting breakaway ropers and even steer wrestlers as the hands on therapy value and training is starting to be seen for its value. Now they are also signing up on the training programs, on top of the bodywork when she is there in person to help them be 35 years old and completely beat up. You can now even see the sports science part becoming a part of college rodeo which is pretty exciting to start that education early.

Injuries in Rodeo

There are many athletes that have had huge injuries and specifically back injuries that can be life altering to athletes - something Natasha has gone through herself. While definitely situational, Natasha advocates heavily on a topic she lectures on day in and day out, which is to find providers who understand the western industry.

“When that happened to me, my doctor’s didn’t do a numero-exam, they said you broke your L1 through L4, and said ‘that’s too bad’ and then sent her home,” says Natasha. Because they weren’t displaced she didn’t need surgery, so they gave her pain medication and sent her on her way. She did say, however, “You’ll never get on a horse again …. because you’re way too compromised and you’ll never be able to make money.”

At the time, that was the only way that she could make money and they said that it was done. “All I could think… was that I prayed to God we didn’t sell that colt because I wanted to be able to swing back up on him,” says Natasha with a chuckle at the memory.

“To have your health care provider that you inherently trust say, ‘that’s over for you.’ Find those providers that understand it… as in may be things look a little different… you can still do these things but you’ll have to do a different process,” says Natasha. “I was fortunate to have the education that I had to be able to search those providers out.”

A lot of times, there is a lot more options and variables than traditional western medicine or traditional orthopedics want to say. You need to remain vigilant. You need to find doctors that focus on how your body is connected emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. That will help you much further in the long run. “Find those doctors that will actually listen to you, like Natasha says, because it makes all the difference in the world,” says Clay, speaking from her generational rodeo families history.

“I am very actually aware of how my muscles feel … and I have a high pain threshold, I’m not a pansy, I waited five to six hours to go to the hospital and I was walking, they thought I was faking it or looking for a quick high,” says Natasha with a laugh. “Even after that, a month later, I got more x-rays from a chiropractor who found her neck was also broke…. When it comes to your body, never discredit what your mind is telling you.” It is really worth seeking doctors that will see you, give you the time of the day and get you a rehab process that makes sense so that you can continue with your lifestyle.

Rodeo athletes and people in the western industry are so accustomed to pain so sometimes it takes someone telling them that’ll feel better with sports science making the mental application huge. “Is this really what I am going to let my life become?” Is the question that Natalie asked herself after she broke her back. “I couldn’t even bend over to put my shoes on - I needed help with everything… and I was hyper-independent, but to have to call my mom … and be like ‘I can’t put my shoes on’ and have to swallow your pride to ask for help with it.”

DeMar Hamlin’s on field cardiac arrest during a football game created a large awareness of the great work of athletic trainers. While Natasha doesn’t see a lot of that crossing over into rodeo as of yet, she’s seeing that people are starting to pay attention to the fitness and health of their trainers and doctors. “These people can really make or break your life,” says Natasha, “you want someone that is physically capable, mentally capable, have the informational background, and can not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk.”

Rodeo As A Sport

Rodeo is its whole new sport and Doug Champion with Champion Living has busted his ass to create the best business for supporting rodeo athletes. Now when you go to a big named rodeo, at least ten of the top cowboys are going to be some of the hundreds of professional rodeo athletes that train with Doug and his team who Natasha is a part of.

“As soon as I moved to Texas, I was throwing darts at who I could work with and get more responses from in the industry,” says Natasha. Day-to-day as a coach, while everything is online, Natasha tries to see as many of the clients as possible, she may only see them once a year in person. They post their workouts and leave comments so that they get actual coaching feedback. Spending a lot of time watching their workouts, critiquing them, holding them accountable, giving them their encouragement, and more is the biggest components of her job training professional athletes.

“Even when I’m working with CrossFit, my long time partner Josh is such a great coach, because he’ll be like ‘you need to get after it’ and it’s a precise, harsh direction,” says Natasha about accountability and embracing that direct criticism to help you continue to get better. It looks different for everyone on what works for them.

With the rehab side of things, especially at a rodeo, that is Natasha’s bread and butter. “I just bring a table, do it set up in a parking lot,” says Natasha with a laugh. “Doing the hands on work and that’s where I get to give those stretches and mobility exercises broken down in person for what they need their body to do and how it should move.”

Training on the Road

“We do a lot of bodyweight stuff, bands, very minimal equipment so that you aren’t taking up space and can do it whether you’re on the road or in a camper,” says Natasha about working out on the road. A lot is designated around time so that you’re getting the time under tension without needed the weight that you probably don’t have access to. “At first people look at the workout and think it looks easy, .. but you’re still getting a lot of work out of it.”

“We are really good at being really creative,” says Natasha. “Finding those imbalances and inefficiencies in your patterns and focusing on them.” Strengthening obliques, eyes closed, etc. that have a ton of crossover in rodeo that often gets overlooked by trainers of other sports. Whatever you’re looking at doing - they aren’t limited to just rodeo athletes. It’s truly any one that wants a coach that is going to be very thoughtful with their programming and has studied and trained for it - especially if they have injuries as a part of it too.

“We are lucky to have an incredible team that we are working with and it’s awesome to see the shift and every day we are growing,” says Natasha about Champion Living Fitness.