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Harrison Halligan

Thirty seven years without a sick day is quite an achievement, but Harrison Halligan
said Cheyenne Frontier Days TM was just too good to miss. Halligan started his CFD career in 1971 when he entered the steer wrestling competition as a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association member. Later gaining notoriety as a hazer, Halligan attended every CFD until his grandson's first high school rodeo finals in 2008, which were running during CFD.

Growing up on a ranch in North Platte, Nebraska, Halligan said he always wanted to wrestle steers. Although he only watched his father ride broncs in a few rodeos, he knew he would spend the rest of his life in and around the arena. In 1972, Halligan worked his way into the PRCA steer wrestling national finals.

When he wasn't wrestling the steers he was hazing, keeping the steer running straight down the arena for the steer wrestler. Most doggers say Cheyenne's arena is difficult because of the length, but that didn't slow Halligan from mastering it and becoming one of the most requested hazers at CFD. Halligan estimates he has hazed about 1,800 steers. "Shoot, I don't know," Halligan said. "Maybe more." During his best year, he hazed 182 steers throughout the week and, of the 15 steer wrestling finalists, he hazed for 12.

"In order to be a good hazer, you need to have wrestled steers yourself," Halligan said, attributing his success to his previous experience. Alongside his many rodeo accolades, Halligan became famous for the bulldogging horses he raised and trained. In 1992, his palomino, "Skippy," was selected as the American Quarter Horse Association's "Horse of the Year," Halligan said. "Skippy'' bulldogged for 22 years before retiring, he added. Using his horses, seven contestants have won the steer wrestling finals at CFD.

"I always had a good horse," Halligan said about his nomination for the CFD Hall of Fame. "They liked my horses.''

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