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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E
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Before Cremer arrived on the scene, many in the rodeo
world believed small, lightweight horses were the best buck-
ers. Cremer, always the fiddler and tinkerer, experimented
with the horses on the Cremer Ranch. One day he loaded one
of his big, strong draft horses into the chute. His ranch hands,
who also were rodeo riders, all laughed. But soon they learned
the joke was on them as none of them could stay on top of the
horse. Cremer would later experiment with different breeds and
tinkered some more before introducing strong, husky broncos,
previously considered better suited for working in the fields than
in a rodeo arena.
Bucking horses with names like Hoochie Coochie, Hell to
Set, Widow Maker, Sad Face, Tim Buck Two, and Bald Hornet
were among Cremer's best animals. One of his favorite bucking
horses was a mare named Prison Bar, which Cremer so named
because she was born outside of the Montana state penitentiary
near Deer Lodge. Prison Bar was such a good bucker she per-
formed in Cremer's rodeos well past her 25th birthday. Another
horse named Come Apart was even better. So good, in 1979 she
too was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Cremer once said, "A good bucking horse should have the
speed of a thoroughbred and the strength of a workhorse." Be-
cause of that notion, rodeo riding became one of the toughest
sports in the world and has never been the same since.
Though Cremer loved his bucking broncs, he was also famous
for his bulls, many of whom were purchased in Mexico where
the rodeo bulls were much larger than those traditionally seen
in American rodeos. Sturdy and strong and often without much
