Even a galloped gait through the cowboy camps at a professional rodeo gives a hint that these aren't your grandfather's cowboys anymore.

If the hip-hop music doesn't give it away, then the attire will. These cowboys would be less conspicuous at an afternoon fraternity bash.

"There's a cowboy on the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) named Zack Brown. He grew up on a surf board and just decided to ride bulls," said Jeff Shearer of Loma Rica, a former National Finals Rodeo saddle bronc rider, who, by his own admission when he started to rodeo, "didn't know one end of a cow from the other."

In fact, more than 60 percent of the PBR competitors do not come from what was once the traditional western lifestyle background — ranching.

"I bet half the bull riders can't ride a saddle horse," said Tony Amaral of Wheatland, who grew up in the ranching industry.

The percentage is lower on the regular Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) circuits, but the face of the cowboy is changing there, too.

"When we were back in high school, just about everyone came from a ranching background. You would only have a few guys like myself who didn't," said Shearer, who grew up in Knights Ferry, a town about 20 miles northeast of Modesto.

The fact his family operated a small store instead of a cattle spread did not stop Shearer from wanting to be a cowboy.

"My hero since I was a little kid was Ace Berry. He was a bareback rider and team roper," Shearer said. "In fact, I think he is the only cowboy ever to win the average in a timed event and a rough-stock event at the Finals."

Berry completed the amazing double in 1972, and as fate had it, Phil Lyne equaled the feat the same year by winning the bull riding and calf roping events.

Shearer recalls being a young awe-struck boy who snuck into a beer bar behind the family store to listen to Berry and other cowboys tell their stories.

"He always had a stool there for me," Shearer said of Berry.

"Then my mother would catch me and chase me out ... and I would sneak around the other side and go in the other door," Shearer said.

Despite his background, or perhaps more accurately, his lack of one, Shearer joined the California High School Rodeo Association.

"And I was terrible. I think in four years of high school rodeo I stayed on two animals. I knew how to do it, I just wasn't strong enough to do it," said Shearer, who competed in bull riding, saddle bronc and bareback riding.

The lack of success did not deter Shearer, who stayed close to rodeo and continued to ride. By the time he went to West Hills College, he was a better than average cowboy.

"I competed in the college nationals in every event but calf roping," said Shearer, who came to the Mid-Valley area after high school in 1985 to work at the Flying U Rodeo.

Shearer enjoyed a 17-year professional rodeo career, the highlight of which was an appearance at the NFR in 1996 in the saddle bronc competition.

"It was exhilarating," said Shearer.

"But in the third round I broke two ribs and my finger, and separated my shoulder," Shearer said. "So the last seven rounds were a little rough."

It's safe to say Shearer, who is a replay and scoring judge with the PBR, has reached his dream of being a cowboy.

"I would still rather go to rodeos and pick up," said Shearer, explaining the task of collecting cowboys off bucking horses after their 8-second rides.

He will be doing exactly that at the 75th annual Marysville Stampede, which starts at 5 p.m. today at Cotton Rosser Arena in Beckwourth Riverfront Park in Marysville. He also will be competing in team roping.

Shearer said the arena is where all the cowboys' backgrounds disappear. Whether they grew up roping steers, or like Montana's Jess Martin, chose rodeo over a promising football career. Another former football player, Wade Sumpter, was a linebacker at Colorado State, but he too chose rodeo.

"And he's leading the world (in steer wrestling)," Shearer said.

Shearer said there really isn't a lot of talk about cowboys' backgrounds on the circuit. It just doesn't matter.

"It's like any sport. There is a lot of camaraderie."

But those differences may be what keeps rodeo alive.

While bull riding is enjoying a huge audience, the traditional rodeo is not.

Having cowboys come in from varied backgrounds could broaden that audience. That is especially true since the ranching industry — in terms of pure numbers — is shrinking.

"And there aren't as many rodeo schools as there used to be either," adds Cindy Moreno, Rosser's daughter and wife of Julio Moreno, a 15-time National Finals Rodeo team roper.

Moreno's partner in his first trip to the Finals, when he was the 1975 top rookie in the event, was Ace Berry.

Marysville Stampede Know and Go

WHEN: Today and Sunday starting at 5:30 p.m. both days
WHERE: Cotton Rosser Arena, Beckwourth Riverfront Park, Marysville
TICKETS: $10.50 children 12 and under; $15.50 adults. Save $4 per ticket by purchasing tickets at the following outlets: Cotton’s Cowboy Corral, 320 Fifth St. Marysville; Silver Dollar Saloon, 330 First Street, Marysville; AAA Awards, 855 Gray Ave, Yuba City; Round Table Pizza, 828 Gray Ave., Yuba City
TICKETS ONLINE: www.flyingurodeo.com
INFORMATION: Call 742-8249; or e-mail flyingu@pacbell.net