Dudes Go Western : City Slickers Pay Good Money to Eat Dust on Reno Cattle Drive

They spend five long days in the saddle, baking in desert heat and choking on dust to drive 300 head of stubborn cattle 60 miles over the Sierra to the Reno Rodeo.

And they pay to do it.

The Reno Rodeo cattle drive has become a tradition with horse lovers and Western fans who come from around the country to Doyle, Calif., for the annual event.

“This is a way for people who live entirely 20th-Century lives to experience a small piece of the vanishing American West,” said genial trail boss Steve Milstein, a Reno surgeon.

Now in its fifth year, the cattle drive is booked months in advance by city folk who ante up some $1,000 to sleep under the stars, rise at dawn and spend eight hours in the saddle.

For the real cowboys, the drive gets the livestock to the rodeo. For the non-cowboys, it’s a Western experience.

This year’s event, celebrating the rodeo’s 75th anniversary, attracted 57 guest buckaroos, some of whom mounted a horse for the first time.

A few were less than willing participants.

“I didn’t really want to come, but it was my husband’s fantasy and I thought I’d better give it a try,” said Candy Lautenschleger of Massillon, Ohio.

The couple’s riding gear reflected their attitudes.

Candy Lautenschleger came dressed for comfort in soft boots, loosely cut jeans and a straw gardening hat. Rob Lautenschleger, his mustache freshly waxed, was outfitted in turn-of-the-century chaps and a 10-gallon hat.