Western Playground with Jamon Turner
The Roaming Roan Ranch: 2301 TX-8 N, Linden, TX 75563 will be hosting, and collaborating with the Cass County-Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for Western Playground with Jamon Turner the Ultimate Cowboy. Western Playground is great for all ages starting from age 12 to 20, “no matter if you’re a beginner or advanced level rider. It will be jam-packed with horsemanship lessons, ranch games, and all things western! Participants will compete through various challenges and obstacle courses for awards and get an opportunity to experience agricultural trades.” The event will be held from June 25th through the 26th from 8:30 a.m. through 4:30 p.m.
Turner the founder of the program is a horse trainer, an elementary school teacher, and work as a mentor for a counseling agency. However, his “real passion in life is serving kids. I’m a Colorado native and I’m a cowboy. I’ve competed and excelled in high school rodeos, at the collegiate level, the PBR, and the PRCA all by being a cowboy. I’ve learned the buckles, the money, and the accolades that once excited me doesn’t compare to the life lessons I’ve learned by being a cowboy,” says turner.
According to an article on 4WWL, Louisiana, “Turner first found his love of the great outdoors on his grandfather’s ranch in southern Colorado where a few times a year he would get to help out and ride horses. Turner met a family friend when he was in the third grade, Charles Sampson who was the first Black man to win a world title in bull riding. That’s when Turner changed course and set his sights on bull riding.”
Turner says that becoming a cowboy has “increased in compassion for animals, empathy for my neighbors, and self-worth. Being a cowboy has changed my life. The keyword in this is change; see I didn’t grow up being a cowboy. I was raised on the East side of Denver in a neighborhood, not like any of the ranches or urban areas around us. I was fortunate that I grew up in a two-parent home but still some of my closest friends and families shared some of the common worries and frustrations of living in the city. I wanted to get out of the city walls, I remember making up my mind that I didn’t want to play football and I didn’t want to play basketball. All my time was going to be committed to being a cowboy.
“Men like Charlie Sampson, Maurice Wade, and Tom Turner were the pioneers of my life, they raised me in this. What they saw in a young man playing in the streets happened to be far greater than the potential I knew I had. Who would’ve thought all I needed was to be inspired by cowboys that looked like me. I’ve watched friends and family choose wrong roads. I’ve watched them be victim to circumstance just from being in settings at the wrong place at the wrong time. Knowing what I came from, where I went, and what I’m doing, I know me becoming a cowboy was not for the resume or self-satisfaction. I learned those lessons so that I could teach others.”
The organization he founded, Just Believe, “was established in 2018 and previously operated as an equine training facility for starting reining, cutting, trail, and cow horse disciplines while developing a broad understanding of various horses and dispositions. Acting as a youth haven for local teens and young adults, there was a growing need for more interactive programming.”
It exists to “provide diverse outdoor experiences to youth from inner cities and at-risk youth in urban communities. Our mission is to break the mold of traditional diversion programs, shed new light on sporting and outdoor activities, and to create interest in the pursuit of adventures not normally provided by after-school programs.“