The little town of Almont, N.D. is home to a Dakota treasure worth sharing — a husband/wife duo that has been training not only incredible equine athletes, but also the competitors on their backs.

Tyler and Jackie Schau, who own Diamond S Performance Horses, have been in the rodeo business for decades and are no strangers to the coaching side of the arena. Both of them were college rodeo coaches prior to teaching cowboys how to jump off a horse at lightning speed and wrestle full-grown steers to the dirt in a fashion that is making champions across the country.

Tyler coached at Iowa Central College, while Jackie coached at Dickinson State University in the early 2000s, and that’s how they met, eventually marrying and venturing back to the prairies of North Dakota in Morton County.

The couple put stakes in the Almont ground near Jacki’s childhood stomping grounds and have built a house, arena, barn — and more importantly, a community where bulldoggers from around the region come to learn the precision, brevity, and skill it takes to be a steer wrestler.

The Schau Family (left to right) Jackie, Sidney & Tyler [Photo: submitted]

Tyler and Jackie tackle every step, as a team, from training the numerous horses that have crossed their paths to giving barrel racing, roping lessons, and (maybe their mutual favorite) bulldogging lessons.

Their daughter, Sidney, has been the glue that keeps the bulldoggers smiling and coming back to be part of the family’s fan club; however, Sidney has that fan club on their feet with her own merit. She says she has plans on attending a special Olympics in the future, but, in the meantime, is busy giving these North Dakotan bulldoggers a run for their money.

Sidney Schau on the family’s up & coming superstar, ‘Paul’ [Photo: submitted]

When it comes to breaking down the sport of steer wrestling and the horsemanship areas, the duo has a lot of knowledge between them.

“Bulldoggers don’t need a lot of money or a need to come from a rodeo family to be successful. I’ve had guys come from hog and dairy farms that can nod their face and get spanked and keep coming back for more,” said Tyler. “The only thing you can’t do in this sport is not practice. It takes drive and determination, and even when it goes well, it’s going to hurt then too.”

“There is absolutely nothing to slow down the game of steer wrestling,” explained Jackie. “A horse has to be very mentally sound to be hazing or bulldogging.”

She went on to explain that you have to get a bulldogging horse confident and ready enough to be able to handle the pressure this event. “You must expose them to something else. Most of the horses we get it, we get a good handle and feel of them. We rope on them whether they are going to the barrel pen, the roping pen, or are going to be bulldogging horses,” said Jackie.

The cowgirl added, “They must be on point and ready to go when it comes to performing as a bulldogging horse. It’s a lot of pressure to put on young horses and the roping pen is the only place they can get some exposure to running after cattle without the all or nothing speed that’s required in a bulldogging run.”

When it comes to making a great horse, “Time and consistency are some playing factors. There is no ‘cookie cutter’ method of training, some take more time than others, but they all take time and consistency. We have had horses we have rushed, and it takes twice as long after that. You can’t skip steps in the horse training process. We have figured out what works for us, and it takes a team to make a well-rounded, confident, and great performance horse,” stated Jackie.

The evolution of regular Wednesday evening steer wrestling practices, which are now followed by a bible study conducted by the renowned couple, kind of began for several reasons.

It takes a village. Pictured (left to right) Tyler Schua, Luke Branquino, Cameron Morman, and Bridger Anderson [Photo: Greg DeSaye]

With the lack of mentorship in North Dakota in the past decades and both Tyler and Jackie having a craving to mentor since leaving the coaching careers, there was plenty of cowboys that were jumping off their horses at a chance to learn something more from the couple.

Whether it was National Final Rodeo contestants, Cameron Morman, Bridger Anderson, or Jacob Elders down to the local North Dakota amateur high school rodeo athletes, there was a common mission the couple had when it came to helping people out. The duo’s sense of calm urgency to give and to support others stems from their own love of rodeo, competition, horse community, and strong faith.

A relentless crew of bulldoggers. Pictured (left to right) Tyler Schau, Bridger Anderson, Luke Branquino, Hadly Erickson, and Cameron Morman [Photo: submitted]

If you’re going to try to give this sport of rodeo a go, Diamond S Performance Horses offers some words of advice, “There is a lot of value in the off season. Don’t be afraid to ask question. If there is some place to gain some information, seek it out.”

Jackie Schau, multiple NDRA barrel, breakaway & all-around champion. [Photo: Annika Plummer Photography]

Not being afraid and taking the steer by the horns is what this couple lives by. Surviving from cancer in the early 2000s, Jackie had horses to give her promise and keep her head up through recovery and chemo treatments. She says she never stopped riding and attributes the thought of horses and competition being the key factor that got her through. And Tyler recently helped a local high school rodeo athlete out by donating a kidney. In a turn of events, he did a ‘share program’ through Mayo Clinic, in which his kidney went to someone who matched his and in turn the North Dakota high school rodeo athlete received a matching kidney.

Between the two, their accomplishments among the Badlands Circuit Finals, major PRCA rodeo wins, and NDRA state and all-around titles are just memories that they have made on countless horses and miles across the country.

Tyler said that he has lived in North Dakota for 14 years now, “I’m more of a North Dakotan than Iowan; the people here are so nice.” Jackie added that North Dakota is home, and she can’t imagine living any other place.

Through all the horses, schools, students, and rodeo community – Tyler, Jackie, and Sidney are genuine people that represent hidden gems, sparkling in the prairies of the Dakotas and are some MVPs in North Dakota at representing integrity, faith, work ethic, and passion towards the sport of rodeo.

To find out more about the Schaus, visit their Facebook page: Diamond S Performance Horses.