OklahomaHorses Magazine March 2022

28 OklahomaHorses • March/April 2022 Dogger Travis Burgett Talks Teamwork Lifelong Learning Increases Skills by Kim Redo | Photographs courtesy of Sarah Burgett T ravis Burgett has come a long way since he and his brother tied Grandpa’s bulls to a tree and then rode them around the barnyard. Grandpa sure enough was mad as a wet hen. He told the boys to quit riding the weight off those bulls. But that didn’t slow Burgett from focusing on a future in rodeo. Raised close to the Oklahoma border in the Bond Special area of Rudy, Arkansas, Burgett cannot remember a time when he wasn’t on horseback. Horse shows and playdays occupied most weekends. Like a sponge, Burgett absorbed every training tip he could from reading Western Horseman magazine and watching famous trainers on television. As a teenager, he graduated to breaking a few horses. Putting those lessons to work became his mantra. He absorbed every bit of training knowledge he could. What worked for him, he kept using. Ev- erything else, he discarded. At the Ward Keith Arena in Kibler, Ar- kansas, Burgett met the love of his life, Sar- ah Files, formerly of Cameron, Oklahoma. They married at age 18. Both attended the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith before deciding to start a family. Burgett studied welding and drafting. The couple eventu- ally started a metal fabrication business at which he designed a unique spiral freezer. Travis and Sarah Burgett are focused on family and teamwork. Travis Burgett wrestles a steer with hazer West Ratliff.