Seth Lauer has been to the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo for as long as he can remember.
The 88-year-old cowboy has rarely missed a year of the rodeo in his life.
Lauer is himself “an old cowboy,” he says, and lives with his wife Judy in the same house in which he was born, located ten miles south of Abilene. He’s not retired; he still works as a cattle buyer and ring man at the Junction City and Clay Center livestock auctions.
His cowboy career got off to a rough start. At age four, his dad bought him a half-Shetland pony and instructed his son to follow him, on the pony, as he planted corn.
“I made about two trips, and the pony bucked me off and went to the barn,” Lauer remembered. But the day wasn’t over. His dad stopped the tractor, got the horse, and told Lauer, you’re getting back on. And he did.
As a young man, Lauer loved baseball. He pitched and played infield for the Abilene Legion Baseball team. The baseball field was located where the rodeo grounds are now.
He played semi-pro in Salina, and was even scouted to play Major League Baseball, but it didn’t interest him. “When you’re 18 years old, you want to be a farmer or a cowboy,” he said.
Lauer never rodeoed but he roped. Every Tuesday night, at the arena at his farm, cowboys around Abilene would come together to rope. His son Brad, who passed away in 1998, roped as well. Brad “was a better roper than I was,” Lauer said. “He started at a younger age than I did.”
He loves rodeo, not just the Abilene rodeo, but rodeo in general. The Cowboy Channel is what he watches every night. He’s not riding pastures anymore; he gave that up a few years ago. He rides now and then, but not very often. He and Judy still have five horses. “I should sell some of them, but it’s hard to get rid of them when you get attached.”
In his younger days, he broke a lot of horses for people. He loves watching the saddle bronc riding because of it. “I know what it means to get bucked off, because I’ve been bucked off quite a few times.”
Lauer showed livestock at the Central Kansas Free Fair for years. As a kid, he showed cattle; as an adult, he showed purebred Yorkshire hogs in the swine open class division. His children, Brad and daughter Kim Palenske, did as well. Brad’s daughters and their kids continue to show. Lauer served as swine superintendent at the fair for years and was on the Extension Board as well. He continues to help with the 4-H livestock auction.
Lauer is well-known and has a lot of friends and acquaintances.
His daughter recalls her dad’s brother and his wife visiting from California during fair week. As they walked through the fair, “every two steps somebody would be talking to my dad. My aunt asked, ‘does he know everybody in this town?’” she laughed.
Lauer never misses the rodeo.
“Being a cowboy, I enjoy it.”
He was the 2025 Central Kansas Free Fair parade marshal.
He and Judy have five grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
The 80th Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo is July 28-31 in Abilene at the fairgrounds. Performances start at 7:30 pm nightly. Tickets are $8 for children ages 4-10 and $12-$15 for adults.
Tickets are available online at WildBillHickokRodeo.com, at West’s Country Mart, Lumber House, Pioneer Farm and Supply, and at the gate.
_ _ _
All photos courtesy the Lauer family
