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Formerly a city kid, Robert Rose, D.C., has embraced the cowboy culture by providing chiropractic care to professional rodeo athletes.
By Jo Gray
During his earliest years Robert Rose, D.C., lived in the comforts of suburban Massachusetts, where the only farm he visited was a petting zoo. Today, those years of cookie cutter neighborhoods and snow days have been traded for the Arizona desert and the thrill of the rodeo scene as a chiropractor to bull riders.
Nothing really prepared Rose for the cowboy culture of the rodeo or his new town of Kingman, Ariz. In 1996 Rose moved to Kingman and found himself searching for ways to build his practice and work with different athletes. In the past the sports-focused DC had worked on a jet ski tour and was a member of a rodeo committee in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. He thought joining the Kingsman Rodeo Committee would lead to some local connections.
“When I first moved to Arizona, I bought a pickup truck just so I could fit in,” says Rose. “The Kingsman of Route 66 is a local organization with the purpose of producing the rodeo. I joined to meet people.”
Soon after joining the committee, Rose bought his first pair of boots and followed the rodeo circuit, attending to riders, building relationships with other vendors and immersing himself into the culture. These days if the rodeo is on tour, you won’t find Rose at his practice, he’s on the rodeo grounds setting up his portable office. Wearing cowboy boots, a Stetson hat and jeans, he fits right in with the bull riders, calf ropers and other competitors.
For Rose, the action is not in the arena with the bulls, riders, announcers and the roaring crowd. He’s usually in a pop-up tent or under the awning of his travel trailer parked behind the riding chutes. Using a portable table, he donates his time and chiropractic care to the sore, bruised and tense riders who want to benefit from his skillful hands. Rose cares for riders who participate in a variety of rodeo events including saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling, bull riding and roping.
Becoming a Cowboy Chiropractor
During Rose’s middle school years, his family uprooted from Massachusetts to relocate to California. It was here Rose started on a course of study that he had felt drawn to as a child. He wanted to go into the medical profession.
As a pre-med student, Rose worked in the emergency department where he had constant contact with those already in the profession. It was this contact that directed his path toward chiropractic.
“A lot of patients I saw were not getting better,” he recalls. “They were getting partial relief. It frustrated me.”
Things began to fall into place for Rose when he met a chiropractor. The two were working the same health fair. “I was showing people the ambulance goodies,” Rose says. “This chiropractor right next to me was showing people his chiropractic things. We started talking and I said, ‘You know what? This is what I’ve been looking for. This makes complete sense. Treat the cause of the problem.’ From then on, I dedicated myself to becoming a chiropractor.”
Rose finished chiropractic college and got his license, but there was something missing—patients.
“When you’re fresh out of school, you think you can cure the world,” he says with a laugh. “But you don’t have any patients so you’ll get your hands on anything with a pulse so you can practice your skill.”
Developing Rodeo Roots
As a way to care for a large group of people and to attract patients, Rose became involved with the American Chiropractic Sports Council. The organization consists of a large group of chiropractors from across the country who donate their time to various athletic events. Rose traveled to Las Vegas, where he got certification through a hands-on seminar. Sports chiropractic requires yearly certification, Rose says, adding he goes to Las Vegas each December to attend the continuing education classes offered by the seminar. The first sporting event Rose attended as a practicing, licensed chiropractor was a jet ski competition in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. By his own admission, he thoroughly enjoyed working on the athletes, but turned to rodeo when the skiing competition took on a “multi-disciplined approach” that leaned toward medical doctors and physical therapists. Eventually, Rose found his way to the Kingsman of Route 66 Rodeo Committee and never looked back from the rodeo. Today, Rose is the president of the committee.
For the past 14 years Rose has traveled to rodeos throughout Arizona, bringing his wife, Teri, and his daughter Jamie, 13, and two sons, Max, 9, and Alex, 6. Until two years ago, the family stayed in motels, paying their own way.
A rodeo sponsor in Yuma, Ariz., led Rose to purchase a toy hauler travel trailer. The trailer provides plenty of room for the family and his portable chiropractic office. And, best of all, they can set up camp on the rodeo grounds.
While it is convenient, the trailer demanded a larger truck with which to pull it. The Rose family returned from the rodeo in Yuma with an $80,000 rig—a big investment for a job that is strictly volunteer.
Over the years Teri and the children have embraced Rose’s passion for caring for professional bull riders. At each show, the family finds familiar faces from rodeos past and takes part in the behind-the-scene magic those goes into every rodeo event.
“I love seeing all the people—we all live in different locations, in various states and this is a time when we can all get together. We have barbecues and socials—it’s like the family you haven’t seen all year long,” says Teri Rose. “Our children love it. For them the rodeo is a different world. They aren’t spectators, they’re behind the scenes feeding animals, running around and getting into trouble.”
Throughout one performance at the rodeo, Rose cares for between 10 and 30 riders. He usually stays on-site for three performances. Anyone who is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association or the Women’s Association is eligible for his services at no charge, he says. This includes the drill teams, contractors and rodeo royalty.
Some of the contestants want to be adjusted prior to their performance. Others want it after and some want it before and after, Rose says.
“They’ve all got injuries. It is just a matter of how bad. They just need to feel better … to get their bodies to function better for 10 seconds so they can complete their ride. Some of them get hurt and naturally they get treated after the rodeo performance. We’re way beyond muscle soreness. Muscle soreness is something you get when you work out in the yard. These guys are beyond that. We’ve got people whose elbows, wrists and knees are taped together with athletic tape or duck tape.”
Many times Rose is often the riders’ only exposure to chiropractic. “A lot of guys and girls are on the road and don’t have the time to see a chiropractor,” says Rose. “Plus many have said that they’re hometown chiropractors don’t understand rodeo injuries. Many of the athletes have said they are more comfortable getting an adjustment from a chiropractor who has horse poo on his shoes and is right there with them [at the rodeo].”
As one can imagine, Rose has handled intense situations, including a rider at a rodeo in Williams, Ariz., who was unable to lift his arm. “He had hurt himself in a rodeo the prior weekend,” says Rose. “After an adjustment, he was able not only to compete, but actually win.”
There was another athlete who returned to competition after suffering from a broken neck. “It was only three days after the doctor had cleared him to go back to normal activity.”
Rose said he receives great satisfaction from playing a role in the sport. “You treat him. You adjust him. He goes out there and wins and comes back and thanks you. Now, was his victory because of what I did? Probably not. Did it help? It probably did. But, it’s a great feeling to have played a part in their passion, and, for some, their career.”
It’s clear that Rose has devoted a portion of his and his family’s life to the rodeo, but he would like to have more time to give to the sport, he says.
“If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would be in the office a few days a week because I love being there,” he says of his family practice. “But I would hire someone to be there when I’m not.”
He admits he has developed a passion for the rodeo, saying it has developed much like all the athletes who take part in the bruising sport … “because, like them, I love it.” Rose loves the athletes even more.
As if he needed assurance of this love and commitment, photos of rodeo performers fill a wall in one of his office’s treatment rooms, most of them carrying personalized autographs. “Working on these athletes on a weekend makes everything on Monday morning look easy,” Rose says. “There’s nothing I can’t handle on Monday after treating a guy who just got off a 1,400-pound bull.”
Nothing really prepared Rose for the cowboy culture of the rodeo or his new town of Kingman, Ariz. In 1996 Rose moved to Kingman and found himself searching for ways to build his practice and work with different athletes. In the past the sports-focused DC had worked on a jet ski tour and was a member of a rodeo committee in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. He thought joining the Kingsman Rodeo Committee would lead to some local connections.
“When I first moved to Arizona, I bought a pickup truck just so I could fit in,” says Rose. “The Kingsman of Route 66 is a local organization with the purpose of producing the rodeo. I joined to meet people.”
Soon after joining the committee, Rose bought his first pair of boots and followed the rodeo circuit, attending to riders, building relationships with other vendors and immersing himself into the culture. These days if the rodeo is on tour, you won’t find Rose at his practice, he’s on the rodeo grounds setting up his portable office. Wearing cowboy boots, a Stetson hat and jeans, he fits right in with the bull riders, calf ropers and other competitors.
For Rose, the action is not in the arena with the bulls, riders, announcers and the roaring crowd. He’s usually in a pop-up tent or under the awning of his travel trailer parked behind the riding chutes. Using a portable table, he donates his time and chiropractic care to the sore, bruised and tense riders who want to benefit from his skillful hands. Rose cares for riders who participate in a variety of rodeo events including saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling, bull riding and roping.
Becoming a Cowboy Chiropractor
During Rose’s middle school years, his family uprooted from Massachusetts to relocate to California. It was here Rose started on a course of study that he had felt drawn to as a child. He wanted to go into the medical profession.
As a pre-med student, Rose worked in the emergency department where he had constant contact with those already in the profession. It was this contact that directed his path toward chiropractic.
“A lot of patients I saw were not getting better,” he recalls. “They were getting partial relief. It frustrated me.”
Things began to fall into place for Rose when he met a chiropractor. The two were working the same health fair. “I was showing people the ambulance goodies,” Rose says. “This chiropractor right next to me was showing people his chiropractic things. We started talking and I said, ‘You know what? This is what I’ve been looking for. This makes complete sense. Treat the cause of the problem.’ From then on, I dedicated myself to becoming a chiropractor.”
Rose finished chiropractic college and got his license, but there was something missing—patients.
“When you’re fresh out of school, you think you can cure the world,” he says with a laugh. “But you don’t have any patients so you’ll get your hands on anything with a pulse so you can practice your skill.”
Developing Rodeo Roots
As a way to care for a large group of people and to attract patients, Rose became involved with the American Chiropractic Sports Council. The organization consists of a large group of chiropractors from across the country who donate their time to various athletic events. Rose traveled to Las Vegas, where he got certification through a hands-on seminar. Sports chiropractic requires yearly certification, Rose says, adding he goes to Las Vegas each December to attend the continuing education classes offered by the seminar. The first sporting event Rose attended as a practicing, licensed chiropractor was a jet ski competition in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. By his own admission, he thoroughly enjoyed working on the athletes, but turned to rodeo when the skiing competition took on a “multi-disciplined approach” that leaned toward medical doctors and physical therapists. Eventually, Rose found his way to the Kingsman of Route 66 Rodeo Committee and never looked back from the rodeo. Today, Rose is the president of the committee.
For the past 14 years Rose has traveled to rodeos throughout Arizona, bringing his wife, Teri, and his daughter Jamie, 13, and two sons, Max, 9, and Alex, 6. Until two years ago, the family stayed in motels, paying their own way.
A rodeo sponsor in Yuma, Ariz., led Rose to purchase a toy hauler travel trailer. The trailer provides plenty of room for the family and his portable chiropractic office. And, best of all, they can set up camp on the rodeo grounds.
While it is convenient, the trailer demanded a larger truck with which to pull it. The Rose family returned from the rodeo in Yuma with an $80,000 rig—a big investment for a job that is strictly volunteer.
Over the years Teri and the children have embraced Rose’s passion for caring for professional bull riders. At each show, the family finds familiar faces from rodeos past and takes part in the behind-the-scene magic those goes into every rodeo event.
“I love seeing all the people—we all live in different locations, in various states and this is a time when we can all get together. We have barbecues and socials—it’s like the family you haven’t seen all year long,” says Teri Rose. “Our children love it. For them the rodeo is a different world. They aren’t spectators, they’re behind the scenes feeding animals, running around and getting into trouble.”
Throughout one performance at the rodeo, Rose cares for between 10 and 30 riders. He usually stays on-site for three performances. Anyone who is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association or the Women’s Association is eligible for his services at no charge, he says. This includes the drill teams, contractors and rodeo royalty.
Some of the contestants want to be adjusted prior to their performance. Others want it after and some want it before and after, Rose says.
“They’ve all got injuries. It is just a matter of how bad. They just need to feel better … to get their bodies to function better for 10 seconds so they can complete their ride. Some of them get hurt and naturally they get treated after the rodeo performance. We’re way beyond muscle soreness. Muscle soreness is something you get when you work out in the yard. These guys are beyond that. We’ve got people whose elbows, wrists and knees are taped together with athletic tape or duck tape.”
Many times Rose is often the riders’ only exposure to chiropractic. “A lot of guys and girls are on the road and don’t have the time to see a chiropractor,” says Rose. “Plus many have said that they’re hometown chiropractors don’t understand rodeo injuries. Many of the athletes have said they are more comfortable getting an adjustment from a chiropractor who has horse poo on his shoes and is right there with them [at the rodeo].”
As one can imagine, Rose has handled intense situations, including a rider at a rodeo in Williams, Ariz., who was unable to lift his arm. “He had hurt himself in a rodeo the prior weekend,” says Rose. “After an adjustment, he was able not only to compete, but actually win.”
There was another athlete who returned to competition after suffering from a broken neck. “It was only three days after the doctor had cleared him to go back to normal activity.”
Rose said he receives great satisfaction from playing a role in the sport. “You treat him. You adjust him. He goes out there and wins and comes back and thanks you. Now, was his victory because of what I did? Probably not. Did it help? It probably did. But, it’s a great feeling to have played a part in their passion, and, for some, their career.”
It’s clear that Rose has devoted a portion of his and his family’s life to the rodeo, but he would like to have more time to give to the sport, he says.
“If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would be in the office a few days a week because I love being there,” he says of his family practice. “But I would hire someone to be there when I’m not.”
He admits he has developed a passion for the rodeo, saying it has developed much like all the athletes who take part in the bruising sport … “because, like them, I love it.” Rose loves the athletes even more.
As if he needed assurance of this love and commitment, photos of rodeo performers fill a wall in one of his office’s treatment rooms, most of them carrying personalized autographs. “Working on these athletes on a weekend makes everything on Monday morning look easy,” Rose says. “There’s nothing I can’t handle on Monday after treating a guy who just got off a 1,400-pound bull.”
©2006 Today's Chiropractic