MOSES LAKE — Even after 30 years of playing in traffic, Rowdy Barry is still a bull rider’s best friend.

He’s worked a couple-three National Finals Rodeos in Las Vegas. He’s worked the College NFR in Casper, Wyo. and the National High School Finals Rodeo. He’s worked some of the biggest PRCA rodeos from Reno to Canada and back again.

If things go right, his work goes unnoticed. Rodeo fans see the bull and rider and that’s just fine by him. But the bullfighter can be a bull rider’s savior in the arena.

People might see the paint and the baggy pants, but a clown makes you laugh at the circus. A bullfighter saves lives and Columbia Basin rodeo fans will get a chance to see him do his thing Aug. 18-20 at the 73rd annual Moses Lake Roundup.

“It’s definitely a young man’s game, but there’s a part of it where wisdom and experience overcomes youthful energy,” Barry said in a telephone interview from Gillette, Wyo., where he’s watching his daughter Clay Noel and son Miles are participate in the High School National Finals Rodeo.

“There’s a lot of times when I can use that experience to get the bull’s attention to distract him without having to expose myself. There’s not many of us that have had a 30-year career with the success I’ve had. The key to my longevity is minimizing the exposures.”

Barry was named the Man of the Year by the Moses Lake Roundup committee, which seemed fitting considering the Columbia River Circuit bullfighter has only missed three or four rodeos since 1986.

“I’ve been going to Moses Lake ever since I got my card. It’s a nice big arena,” said Barry, who owns the Wild R Ranch & Registered Corriente Cattle Co. in Kennewick. “With Corey & Lange Flying Diamond Rodeo Co. stock, it’s fun one to work because the bulls usually buck great. I’ve worked it for so long I get to see a lot of friends and they’re almost like family now.”

He’s seen a little bit of everything jumping into harm’s way to keep the bull rider’s safe. He doesn’t mind the big, bad, mean nasty ones, it’s the thinking bulls you’d best be careful of, he says.

“I’m not worried about the mean bulls. When working with a fresh set of bulls I’ve never seen before, I always want to know if there’s a smart bull in the herd,” he explained. “Those are the ones that set things up. They know exactly where they want that bull rider. They’ll leave you to go to that bull rider or sometimes they’ll set you up for a swipe.”

In a game where eight seconds seems like a lifetime, there’s been some wrecks. There’s been some times when the bull wins. There was that time when he tried to hurdle a bull at the Omak Stampede, got horned and ended up with an 8-inch hole in his leg and had to come limping into Moses Lake to work his first Roundup. There’s been a few other close calls, but he’s been able to match wits and testosterone with a reasonably good outcome over the years.

But what good’s playing in traffic if you don’t a story or two to tell?

“I was working the high school finals one year and I got throwed in the air,” he said; you still hear the anxiety creeping into his voice. “While I was in the air, I could see he was going to field me like a pop fly. He was runnin’ and he could see me coming down, and was going to smoke me again as soon as I hit the ground. I braced for the hit instead of thinking about the landing. I ended up landing straight legged and broke my tibia. As soon as I landed, he hit me sideways and blew out my knee.”

Yep, it ain’t pretty when the bull wins, but Barry’s won more battles than he’s lost. Moses Lake Roundup bull riders are in good hands with the Rowdy man working the arena floor.