Cold War Cowboy

CODY - Rodeo champion and rancher Ralf Klopfer considers himself lucky to have been born in West Germany in 1964. Had he been born on the other side of the Berlin Wall, his life would be unrecognizable from what it is today.

Exposure to Western culture as a youngster put Klopfer on a lifelong path that led to success in riding and competing on two continents.

As a kid, Klopfer watched "Bonanza" and became fascinated with horses and the American West. He loved Johnny Cash and saw him in Germany twice, first at 12. Chomping at the bit as a teenager, Klopfer joined the rodeo.

After an attempted Wild West show in the vein of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, an American named Alan Jacobs started a rodeo circuit in Germany called the ERCA, European Rodeo Cowboy Association. Most of the early competitors were American soldiers stationed in Germany.

"Alan Jacobs took a liking to me and paid for my trip to the states as I had put in a lot of work helping with the rodeo," Klopfe said. "We would flank the stock and drive the stock to different Army bases every weekend and set up the arena. I was one of few German crew members, so I had more contact with Americans than the average German. America was like a whole different world back then."

Klopfer arrived in the states at the age of 19 and spent weeks training with former rodeo champions Bud Sankey and Shawn Davis in Idaho and Kansas.

After returning to Germany armed with unusual skills, Klopfer became European champion in bareback riding in 1987 at 23.

"I was the first German to win anything like that," Klopfer said proudly. "The soldiers who competed often grew up on ranches riding in the states. Ironically, I felt more out of place in my rodeo gear around average Germans than with my rodeo companions from around the world."

Next, Klopfer decided to take it to the next level and went pro when he returned to the United States.

"I joined the PRCA and IRPA," he said. "I traveled a lot and didn't have a fixed address. I gave the PRCA my buddy's address. I didn't have a penny to my name a lot of the time, but I was happy. I was a modern-day drifter."

"The first time I came to Cody was in 1990 and got a job with Ron Dube's outfitting business. He hired me on as a horse wrangler for a couple months. The cook team had a daughter named Margaret. We were married for 12 years before breast cancer took her away."

Klopfer, now remarried, owns a ranch and horses on the Powell Highway.