From Rodeo Rings to App Development: Kyle Jones' Passion for Connecting the Western Community

And you're the uh co-founder and COO of this awesome app that I use the Western Edge app . Yeah , definitely . Let's , let's , let's start there , man , because I don't know that that's , that's a gold mine for people who love the Western lifestyle . How did you come up with that , man ?

So , like you know , the challenges of being introduced later on , you know , was finding practice pins , finding places to get on . You know I originally wanted to do saddle bronc but around where I was there was no . You know I at that time I couldn't afford one of this . You know saddles And um , there's no place to really learn how .

And and bull riding you know was . You know there was practice pins around and you could just borrow equipment and there was places to learn . So with the app , you know the big thing was is like almost every time I was on the road , is like almost every day . And I still get this . I go to my memories .

You know me and my wife look at our memories every , every day . We look and see . You know kind of you know what has happened over the years on Facebook And almost every day I've asked the question where the bull riding at this weekend , and so kind of .

You know , talking with my agent at that time and and you know kind of discussing like , hey , you know , would it be possible to kind of fix this problem for you know , giving back , you know , and helping this next generation of bull riders and and and rodeo athletes , and you know , and what we found is there's technology that that allows us to do that .

And Vinny Maldon , he's the other co-founder and you know he was more connected into that way and so he's like well , i can kind of help make this happen , and so it's kind of the perfect marriage there . So it's kind of born out of you know , how can we give back and kind of fix some of these issues ?

you know , facebook is great , you know , and you have all these Facebook groups and that's primarily where you find rodeos , i mean even websites . You know you can Google search stuff , but it's difficult , right .

Right , most of these , most of these associations aren't using SAO or so kind of you know , being able to give back in that way of kind of connecting people . You know , in this Western demographic in a way maybe , that they haven't been before .

You know a place where you can go and you know , if you're wanting to find a rodeo , you can just search for it . You can search for it by day , you can search for it by added money , and then that kind of out of that said , hey , there's , it's not just rodeo and it's not just bull riding .

Like , you know , if I want to find a horse trainer , how am I going to , you know , find a horse trainer ? if I'm on the road and I need a horse shoe , you know how do I find a fairier ?

Just , kind of all of a sudden , you know , that idea kind of really started developing into hey , this is a big problem within this demographic where , you know , our social media has actually it's so broad that it actually as effective as it is , you know , there's still this lack of connecting .

Yeah , kind of just developing a platform to help , you know , people connect with one another .

You know , take this idea , develop the idea , you know , and then and then kind of build around that idea something that's structured and user friendly , and you know , so it took a little bit of time , i think we we launched it in August of 2022 is when it became , you know , download , downloadable .

But it wasn't until this year , mid January , when we really started , you know , kind of promoting it and pushing it , and you know , and it's kind of growing , you know kind of taking shape .

I mean , it's kind of , as we go , it'll take its own life , you know , and it's just at this point , you know , being able to manage that and kind of make sure that we can kind of manage the growth as it . As it happens

.

Yeah , so that's something . Maybe that happened a little sooner than what you know , maybe we anticipated , but you know everything else . I feel like we've scaled it properly and you know we kind of managed that and we haven't .

We haven't really , you know , pushed to kind of go beyond our means and what we can handle and making sure that you know we scale properly so we can kind of handle everything that you know kind of comes at us . You know we just smooth .

You know Western pleasure and you know bull riding are just as far apart as you can possibly get , but there's still routes that are connected . You know you get into the equine world and you even get into the rodeo world And there's , you know there is this part where they're connected but they seem to be very disconnected .

When you get into the equestrian world , they seem to be far removed from rodeo but there's so much that's kind of holding it together and there's values . You know there's authenticity and you know genuineness within this demographic that I think that we can connect in a way that maybe we haven't .

And you know , with everything that's going on in this American culture and everything it seems to want to pull , you know , this Western demographic apart and we're hoping , with this platform we can kind of connect in one place . You know where we're not fighting all of these different ideologies that are kind of opposed to the Western , you know way of life .

It's not just the arts , you know , but there's a reality behind it that we hope we can , you know , you know , really put our some on and help .

And so so is the older , older ones . But you know , i may , maybe it's closer , closer to home , because you know , in our present time , you know as you see it .

You guys have nine to five jobs , majority of you , you know , and work your bum off during the week , and then you guys work your bum off on the weekend , you know , and people that watch that and know that help out , you know , by watching and they're entertained . And then you know what ? There's no talk .

I mean , I get to meet you guys by the shoot sometimes , you know , But , man , you guys just do your job and just go back to your nine to five job , you know , And it's just a beautiful thing . Yeah , there's no politics , you know .

Yeah , you guys , you guys pray , you guys do the , you know , stand up for the national anthem , that kind of thing , But you guys put out , hush up , and then , you know , do you ? And that's , I think , the greatest thing that you know , people are catching on , you know .

Yeah , you know where a lot of people you know struggled , i feel like that Western industry I don't know that it thrived , but it certainly maintained itself , you know , Yeah , and that happened because people care about people , you know , and they supported each other and they found ways to make sure that , you know , we could continue on , you know , doing the

things we're passionate about .

And definitely Rodeo's scene has helped me out a lot too , and that's why I promote all athletes , ultra runners and you guys , man , i just love every bit of it .

You know your mind , you know the mental side of that's pretty cool .

It's pretty cool , especially when they're like , hey , look at this , they're on their Apple Watch . you're like , hey , your episode just got you know showed up on my watch . Oh , nice , nice , all right , podcasting . What made you or allowed you to do that , man ?

You know , like you're talking , you know and you meet so many different people and you know different disciplines , and so you know , kind of is just more out of .

You know , i'm already doing this And , yeah , i started off as a fan before I wrote Bullets , and so I'm like , you know , the whole purpose of Western Edge is to kind of give back and to help , you know , help that next generation , but all you know people right now .

But part of that was like , man , if I would have started off , i would have loved to listen to a podcast of a bull rider going down the road and talking to all of these different people and learning about this demographic .

So , partially with that , you know , and like , hey , this is an opportunity for fans to get a good inside look at kind of what we do and who we're around , and you know .

And then the other part of it is , you know , like , as we've created this app , starting to , you know , kind of have to learn about this Western demographic in ways that I didn't before , and I was heavily involved .

You know I've been riding horses for a long time , even longer than I've been riding bulls , training horses But you know it's kind of part of that was , hey , this is an opportunity for me to learn about people in this demographic so that I could then help these people in this demographic . You know whether that's you know .

Contract personnel , whether that's a producer , whether that's you know kind of get to learn . You know what makes them tick , you know what needs , you know could , could we meet , you know , and so it's kind of you know , twofold there .

So we're living out of this van , we're podcasting out of this van . you know we're going 40,000 miles , you know , in January through May you know , Too much . It just makes sense and it's .

And another thing is , like , you know , we're going to have podcasts and stuff that are , you know , over zoom and you know , obviously you're not going to always be able to be with that person , But I really like the personal aspect And so I kind of wanted to do a podcast where I could sit down with these individuals and kind of learn what they're doing .

So it's kind of just , you know , kind of a unique , you know unique way of doing that And I think it's pretty cool .

You got to always be worried about some of the wordings or the words you say . So all right , so the people when you're traveling , right that we'll get to rodeo . When you're traveling and doing 47,000 miles , how do you keep fit and how what do you eat ?

I've got these things now called monkey feet by animal house fitness , and so the biggest difficulty on the road was like how do you , without carrying tons of weight , how do you , kind of , you know , utilize legs That's been the biggest thing And okay , and so kind of those they kind of strap onto dumbbells and you know a 25 pound weight on , you know strapped

your foot , actually a lot you know , and there's so much Okay . So different nuances , like that Neuro 20 at the suit that actually runs off an app And this is electro currency and stuff to you know kind of help contract your muscles . You could get five pound weight and you can actually ramp that up to make that five pound weight .

You know , your muscles contracting as though it's a 30 pound weight And it works . And it works , yes , and that's , that's very new . They just came out and and just got approved this year And they're in a lot of universities and I think they're working with NFL and and some different , you know , more mainstream sports .

That kind of stuff is one thing I try to do . Diet is difficult , yeah , yeah , it's becoming a little more easier with the van . You know . That's one thing that we're kind of able to mean keys have kind of discussed . You know . Hey , you know , now that we have this , we can set it up , we can bring , you know , a propane grill with us .

You know we can actually , you know , start eating better on the road especially because eating healthy on the road is very expensive if you're going to restaurants and stuff like that . So , and it's hard to , because hydration is a big issue , right , i've been 16 hours .

You know , like next weekend we're going to be driving 24 hours to Calispo , montana , just main keys , okay , so when you're going that far , you can't just drink a ton of water , you'll have to pee every 10 miles And it's going to take you a long time to get there .

All right , when you are eating , though , do you do the poor man food ? For me , it's peanut butter jelly sandwich . For some of the guys that I have interviewed in the Western world , they love cheese sandwiches . So what is it for you ?

Okay , i eat a lot of tuna and , yeah , i kind of like the grilled cheese sandwiches .

And you know , really , you know putting on , i date a lot of girls or a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches , but it doesn't fit within my diet And for me , eating period is , you know , it's like , whatever I'm doing at this point in my career , how , how is it benefiting me ?

So I have to have enough food in me to get to give me energy to , you know , kind of last through , you know through that competition or that day of riding , so it's kind of impact my diet a little bit on the road specifically , because it's not like you can just whip up anything you want that's going to help you that energy .

You're kind of at the mercy of what you can get , you know .

You know through , especially on those gaps where I would go six to eight hours without eating , if I could really eat a lot of fat , that kind of helped me more than the carbs did . I don't know . You know maybe I could . You know again , i could take the time , but it takes time to kind of develop .

Maybe they're making sure you're putting the right carbs in And then you know what kind of is making you . For instance , if I eat past two , it really jacks with my stomach on the day of competition And there could be something out there where I could adjust my diet a little bit .

But you know I kind of found the fat thing really helped and you know it was kind of more it fit me and kind of you know it . The only struggle I've had is at home because my wife and kids obviously aren't on that . So you know that can kind of the struggle of , like you know , temptation .

It's kind of there's been times where , like you know , pre-surgery , really trying to put on as much weight as I can , you know , completely going off of that and just really just eating a ton , because I know , you know , whenever I have surgery I just freaking leave it all .

he's his tag on Instagram is low carb runner and he just nothing but meat fat , you know , and no carbs , very little carbs , if any , you know , and he lives by it and it's helped his gut and his whole system and he's the person he is today man , a 250 miler winner , you know , one of the best runners in the world . So , yeah , it's , it's helpful .

So that's why I

was asking . I don't talk too much about nutrition , only the cheese sandwich or peanut butter jelly sandwiches .

I love bacon and I love eggs with the yolk , you know , and you know there's so much food that has super high in fat that I love and I think I enjoy actually more than the carbs that I get from you know everything . The only thing that I've I don't like about it is I really like fruit and I I can't do it with this diet .

So , man , that's the only downside , and it's really not that much of a downside , but , like force of July or you know , get together and everybody's got a watermelon and , yes , something citrus . Yeah , that'd be the downside .

There was a rodeo in our hometown in Troy , missouri , and so then I started , you know , hanging out with her and we started watching PBR and that's kind of what it kind of was born out of . you know , it's just watching the PBR over at my cousin's house and that's kind of what we did every weekend .

and then I actually got on and I spent all my graduation money on Chris Shivers and JB Mooney School in Asheville , north Carolina , geez . And then , like a week or two weeks later , i went to a Gary Lafuse School in Franklin , tennessee , okay , and so I kind of just , you know , invested it in there and the rest is history .

You know , we kind of took the steps and were you able to meet them at the clinic ? Yeah , yep , yep , that's awesome , yeah , that was a cool experience because at that time , you know , i was such a big fan , you know so .

So , maybe out of the picture . What was it about bull riding ? that just led you on and like , hey , i'm going to do it .

Maybe you know kind of that last inning , you know maybe you're down by a run The God second and third there's two outs you know kind of all the pressures on you And in those at bats or those situations happen , you know , once every while , but not regularly .

And I found when I got on bulls was like that's the situation you're in every single time And I really love that part about the sport , you know , and so that's kind of . I mean , i just kind of took to that you know and OK , you went from one extreme to the next .

You know , and and okay , me and Kies and you know we were playing non-hand knit very hard this summer and putting ourselves in a position this next year to start the year off on the UTV . If not , then yes , the velocity tour will be , yeah , the way to go .

You know I figured some stuff out that you know they're the switch that went off and into my hand , away from my hand . I've always thrown good I'm very high writing percentage away from my hand into my hand has always been kind of a struggle , a little bit opposite of what you see within the Brazilians and just probably the majority of writers .

But you know , figuring that out , i feel like you know my whole game is just now coming together . the next few years , the next five years , you know , hopefully I'll be at the very top of my game , i believe , yeah .

you know that's kind of a combination of working really hard and being able to be open to making adjustments , you know , and really kind of figuring out what the adjustments need to be . And it's one thing to say that .

but there's a lot of guys that you know maybe one tiny adjustment could really change their career and they just you know they don't ever really pursue that And I'm one that I always want to be learning and I always want to be getting better .

and you know , as an athlete , you know just in general athletics you know , but also in little things you know , like what I just went through , which was a very small change in my writing , to be honest .

Okay , i need to watch some clips then and just study just to see what you're talking about , because the biggest thing , don't want to tell secrets , but yeah Well the biggest thing was you know when you're , you know , coming out of the shoot , away from your hand , it's really important that you're able to drive with your writing arm . They'll hold anonymous .

You really got to drive to break over them and leave And you can't be getting set up where it's a wave into your hand when you're leaving the shoot . You can you really need to have , you know , almost a lift in your arm and then drive .

But I wasn't lifting when I was leaving And so what's happening was in bulls when they would drop out , they would actually kind of get my hips to the outside and just kind of , okay , i was leaving , bad basically .

And you know , i kind of talked to , you know , a few Brazilians and Dakota Eagleburger and and we kind of figured out what I was doing when I was leaving the box and I want to figure that out . It was like that was really the only thing I needed to change . All right .

So I probably would be doing a team rope and that'd probably be what I would be honest Header or healer Um .

when you watch , hmm , you stop everything and you're like you know I need to watch this guy .

You you'll have some guys that are super relaxed and they're joking around And then you know , guy like me , probably Dakota Eagleburger too He'd be another one , dakota is probably the and Andrew both to the grittiest guys you'll ever meet , you know , when it comes to getting in there .

But it's very much an intentional and it's very aggressive And you know it's , you know you're going to war . You know type of mentality .

Yeah , That's kind of the mentality I have And , and you know , pulling all that focus and and you know I tend not to , you know , that whole joking around and dancing and stuff , for me it's a distraction and it takes away my focus from the task at hand .

For some people they almost need that , you know , because then some people they'll get tensed up and you know . So it's kind of . You know different people , but probably those people that you know I kind of look up to and you know I'm kind of similar in that manner , but probably the people that I really pay attention to .

You know , like this past December , every single time that it got below 15 degrees and it would be raining outside , i would be outside running , you know , in a T-shirt and shorts And I would run far enough to where it forced you to like .

You're at that point where it's , either you flip that switch and you know , yeah , you almost turn into this animal type . You know , focus and push through it . That's kind of the , the , the , the , basically focusing on that . And a lot of times what I focus on is just leaving the shoot .

I mean , so you know , once I put my bull rope on and I get behind , there , it's just tunnel vision , focus on getting on my bull and , you know

, leaving the shoot .

And kind of one of the guys , ray Cox He actually he's passed away a few years ago but he lived and traveled with Jim shoulders And he kind of , was one of the first people that really taught me , and he always used a boxer too And he always said Hey , the first , you know , boring is a lot like boxing and and most of the time the the fights won in the

first three rounds .

You know , and you set the tempo in those first three rounds and kind of really instilling in me like the , you know , if , if you're not aggressive and if you're not leaving with symbols and and doing things right , those first three rounds , it'll compound , you know , and you'll end up falling off before the whistle , no matter how tough you are .

It's going to be very uncomfortable for me . Wow , okay , all right , i feel like that's helped a lot , especially getting on better bulls , you know , or you know bulls that are really going to test you and , and you know , you're not going to be comfortable .

And so how do you kind of you know whether you know everything's flowing right when you're riding and everything's going easy to you , or maybe your timing's off and you know , if your timing's off , you still got to stay on .

You know , huh , if you show up and something's off and your rhythm's not right and maybe you're being rushed or you know , whatever it is , you still have to perform , they'll kind of put themselves in those positions throughout the week . I think helps when you get put in those positions , you know , on the weekend .

So I made it a point during the week to say , hey , if I'm going to get on this weekend , then it's my , you know my foot's going to hurt .

So during the week I just started getting on the drop barrel and I just was kicking that drop barrel every single time because I knew that if I wasn't , you know a custom , like when you get on a bull , especially a good bull , there's a point where your reaction takes over , okay , and you , you almost have a sought in your head of what you're going to do .

And so I knew that , if you know , when I felt that pain , there's two options You either relax and then you get bucked off or you get aggressive with it . So during the week I was doing that on the drop barrel and that weekend I did that .

It was Wichita , kansas , and about the second corner , you know , i felt that pain And so because I had been , you know , actually embracing that pain throughout the week , i just started opening up and kicking him and looking back I was like man , if I wouldn't have done that during the week , you know that could have been the difference of you know you can take

the time off or you know you cannot take the time off . I mean depending on what the injury is . You know at the bull rider whether you can compete with it or not , but Are you situated in your routine throughout the day too ?

You know it's first and foremost , and I know I have to train and I know you know I want to help people and what we're doing with the Western edge is I need to make sure that I'm putting in time to be able to do that And so kind of you know that's that can change in timings .

Maybe a meeting pops up and like , hey , you know I can't do it this time .

Maybe it means like this morning , you know it's 3.58 , you know , get up at 3.58 and make sure I get all my work out , my first workout in and done , you know , in time to where I can I can be up to , you know , make breakfast and be with the kids and my wife , you know , and kind of . You know stuff like that .

You know to tonight , you know time is it ? It's 9.04 , my time , you know . So hang out with you for a little bit . You know little stuff like that . You know you kind of have to just , you know , make adjustments . But there's certain things that I every day that I feel like I need to do , you know Yeah .

And the more you speak , the more you sound like the ultra runners , the guys that go 250 miles , 200 miles , 100 miles , you know , and well , you sound just like them , Like the , the runners that will listen to this episode . Right , well , definitely say this guy's an ultra runner . Sounds just like it , man , it's , it's

.

By the time I'm at 20 , like when I'm done , it's , you know , i have to make sure throughout that I'm not , you know , hydrated , cause , man , you get some cramps in your freaking calves . That'll feel it until you're done .

And then it hits you , um , but the pains all the way up in your shoulders and your neck and um , it really , you know , kind of test your iron .

So those guys that are doing 100 miles , i don't , i reckon you know you , you you train for that and you know you kind of your , you put your body in a certain position to be able to handle that kind of stuff , Whereas come out of nowhere and I'm just like it's a mind saying but Yeah , But I mean , you have it , you have it dialed in , You got it set

.

you know , i was playing in the backyard , it was a world series , or you know , it was a Super Bowl or whatever it was . I've always kind of had that drive to compete and you know , i'm always telling , telling Keith , you know , or Dakota , and be like you may be better than I am , but I'm just better at winning than you are .

And you know , whenever I'm done riding bulls , whenever that is way down the road , not in the foreseeable future , you know , i'm sure I'm going to be competing at something , so Okay .

So , if you ever get a chance , listen to that episode and then here are some similarities . Man , he's just , he's just set in . It's crazy . Yeah , i'm all about it . Yeah , i'll look for it . Yeah , it's crazy .

I was going to have Kate Madsen back on , so yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah . And then I got a couple , got a photographer coming on . I mean , yeah , i got , i'll have 160 by the end of next week .

Well , i embraced it and just went to places where it was lenient and enjoyed the mountains , like I normally do . And I said you know what ? I don't have a name , but I have the same stories as some people out there you know , especially those Hollywood stars or whatever And thought I'd share it .

So I started out sharing it , and then you know what I was like ? hmm , i think I found my calling . I think I'm going to interview more people and just have a conversation with regular athletes , people just like me . But , man , they're professional , you know so , and it's worked . It's worked ever since . And and every , every day . you know as cliches .

it sounds as a blessing And I can't believe people tell me that they listen to me So well you've been doing good , I've been seeing you know some different results .

That's when , when I , when I asked him why he does what he does I always ask people why they do what they do His response blew everything out of the water , was like the fourth wall , and and he told me that and I was like you know what ? there's a reason why I'm behind this mic and stuck ever since . Yeah , that's awesome .

Every now and then you get static And I , i believe I figured it out .

On as far as accolades , i think everybody knows who bruiser is , so right , cool , whip and all them .