The heat from the year’s first 100-degree day still clung to the air well after sunset. 

Inside the arena, dust rose with each horse’s trot as a 10-year-old, his grandfather and aunt rushed after a steer. A rope whooshed through the air and hooked the back legs. Someone yelled from the arena’s edge to keep their eyes open. 

At the center of the organized chaos was Elvenee “Ree” Dees, sitting tall atop his horse. 

At 61, Ree still does nearly all of it himself. He moves cattle, coaches riders, breaks and trains horses and ropes alongside his children and grandchildren, who now carry on the family tradition he first learned growing up in Yuma. 

Not far away, 10-year-old Ricardo “R.J.” Ruiz Jr. sat on his horse and adjusted his rope before another practice run. His younger sister, 7-year-old Delilah, tied up her pony after running through several barrel patterns. Their aunt, Alexis Dees, prepared for another team roping drill with R.J. 

Their mother, Phylliss Ruiz, watched from the gate, keeping an eye on the horses and talking rodeo with the same lifelong familiarity she grew up with. 

For them, rodeo is more than competition. It’s more than shiny buckles, armfuls of ribbons, gifted saddles and expensive horses. 

It is family structure, therapy session, classroom and never-ending reunion rolled into one dusty arena just off Warren Road. 

“This is just what we do,” Phylliss said. “We live every day like this.” 

Raised in the arena 

Long before R.J. and Delilah started collecting buckles, Alexis and Phylliss were the little girls following Ree through arenas and ranches across Arizona with their brother, J.R. Dees. 

“I was pretty much the [other] boy he had but didn’t have,” Alexis said with a laugh. 

She learned to ride young and spent years training under her father, eventually following in his footsteps to Central Arizona College, where she competed on the rodeo team. 

“I wanted to experience what he experienced,” Alexis said. “College rodeo was my thing.” 

The family’s rodeo roots stretch back generations. Ree first learned to ride on his father’s cattle ranch in Yuma, where rounding up cattle naturally led him into rodeo. 

“My dad, he built an arena on the [Yuma] ranch. We started roping at home there,” Ree said. “Then I started high school rodeoing, college rodeoing and pro-rodeoing. Now I’m here and my grandson rodeos. My son is one of the top ropers in the world.” 

His son, J.R. Dees, is a professional team roper and two-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo. 

It’s all a stark contrast to the prediction Ree’s father, Alex, made years ago. 

“There’s an interview he did and the very last words he gave were, ‘Nobody in my family will ever continue this legacy,’” Phylliss said. “I thought, ‘Oh, really? I got you.’ In this family, the tradition’s not going away.” 

Now Ree spends his evenings teaching his grandchildren the same lessons once passed down to him, almost always on horseback. During practice, he moves between roles seamlessly, helping saddle horses one minute before stepping into the arena himself the next. 

“He wakes up every morning and has purpose,” Phylliss said. “There’s people out there that need him and believe in him.” 

That work ethic became part of daily life for the entire family. Horses need consistency. Riders need repetition. Some nights, practice stretches long after sunset. 

“You’ll ride every day, and then out of nowhere the horse forgets everything,” Phylliss said. “So, it teaches you patience and hustle.” 

R.J. started roping around age 5 after spending years watching his grandfather and uncle compete. 

“I thought, ‘What if I try this out?’” he said. “And it turned out to be really fun.” 

His first buckle came on a brown horse named Little Man, the same horse Delilah would later learn on, too. 

“I wasn’t too good then,” R.J. admitted with a grin. “But I won two buckles my first time.” 

For Delilah, rodeo started by watching her older brother practice.

“I wanted to do it too,” she said. 

Her first memories involve carefully trotting through barrel patterns before eventually falling off her saddle. 

“I was, like, leaning and the horse was walking then stopped. My dad came into the arena and picked me up,” she recalled matter-of-factly. 

Between them, the siblings have earned several dozen buckles, armfuls of ribbons and a saddle. 

Learning more than rodeo 

As the sun drops lower and the arena lights begin flickering on, practice slowly blends into family time. 

The youngest children play feet from the arena gates while the adults move cattle through the chute for another run. Someone starts preparing food. Occasionally, music drifts across the property. Family members settle into lawn chairs along the arena fence as riders continue practicing into the evening. 

Everyone contributes somehow. 

“One’s helping saddle, one’s helping move horses, one’s helping with cattle,” Alexis said. “Everybody’s part of the process.” 

For Phylliss, that sense of family connection is one of the biggest reasons she embraced rodeo life for her children, even knowing how demanding it could become. 

“I honestly didn’t want my kids to rodeo at first, because I knew what went into it,” she said. “There’s crying and breakdowns and hard days.” 

But she also saw what the lifestyle gave them in return: responsibility, resilience and time together. 

“A lot of kids don’t get this anymore,” she said. “My kids are out here with family, with horses, learning responsibility.” 

This summer, the family plans to begin offering riding lessons and camps for children, especially kids who may never have had access to horses or rodeo before. 

“We want kids that have never even pet a horse to experience it,” Phylliss said. 

The vision goes beyond teaching rodeo skills. The family hopes the property becomes a safe place where children can unplug, build confidence and simply feel included. 

“I just want other kids to know they have a safe place,” Phylliss said. 

For R.J., the dream is already growing larger. He wants to someday compete in the NFR. 

“That’s where I want to be,” he said. 

Back in the arena, Ree continues working cattle and offering riding lessons between team roping drills with his daughter and grandson well after the sun sets. 

It seems his father was wrong. That legacy didn’t disappear. It multiplied. 

Nobody’s last rodeo 

As the sun drops lower and the arena lights begin flickering on, practice slowly blends into family time. 

The youngest children play feet away from the arena gates, while the adults move cattle through the chute for another run. Someone starts preparing food. Occasionally, music drifts across the property. Family members settle into lawn chairs along the arena fence as riders continue practicing into the evening. 

Everyone contributes somehow. 

“One’s helping saddle, one’s helping move horses, one’s helping with cattle,” Alexis said. “Everybody’s part of the process.” 

For Phylliss, that sense of family connection is one of the biggest reasons she embraced rodeo life for her children, even knowing how demanding it could become. 

“I honestly didn’t want my kids to rodeo at first, because I knew what went into it,” she said. “There’s crying and breakdowns and hard days.” 

But she also saw what the lifestyle gave them in return: responsibility, resilience and time together. 

“A lot of kids don’t get this anymore,” she said. “My kids are out here with family, with horses, learning responsibility.” 

This summer, the family plans to begin offering riding lessons and camps for children — especially kids who may never have had access to horses or rodeo before. 

“We want kids that have never even pet a horse to experience it,” Phylliss said.

The vision goes beyond teaching rodeo skills. The family hopes the property becomes a safe place where children can unplug, build confidence and simply feel included. I just want other kids to know they have a safe place.” 

For R.J., the dream is already growing larger. He wants to someday compete in the NFR. 

“That’s where I want to be,” he said. 

Back in the arena, Ree continues working cattle and offering riding lessons between team roping drills with his daughter and grandson well after the sun sets.  

It seems his father was wrong. That legacy didn’t disappear. It multiplied. 

Delilah Ruiz, 7, practices barrel racing on her horse, Little Man, on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

RJ Ruiz's belt buckles, books and awards sit on display in his family's Hidden Valley home on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

Alexis Dees practices barrel racing on her family's property in Hidden Valley on May 9, 2026. She has been training since she was 5-years-old. [Monica D. Spencer]

RJ Ruiz and Elvenee Dees practice roping at their Hidden Valley home on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

Elvenee Dees ropes a bull on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

RJ Ruiz, 10, rides his horse during roping practicing on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

RJ Ruiz and his father, Ricardo, practice roping on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

RJ Ruiz and his father, Ricardo, practice roping on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

RJ Ruiz and his father, Ricardo, practice roping on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

Elvenee Dees ropes a steer on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

Elvenee Dees on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

The Dees and Ruiz family stand for a photo on their Hidden Valley ranch on May 9, 2026. [Monica D. Spencer]

 Rodeo glossary 

From roping and wrestling to racing barrels, here’s a quick guide to some of rodeo’s most common event jargon. 

All-around: Award honoring the cowboy earning the most money while competing in multiple rodeo events. 

Bareback riding: Rider stays aboard a bucking horse one-handed for eight seconds while judges score control and technique. 

Barrel racing: Horse and rider race a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels in the fastest time possible.  

Bull riding: Rider attempts to stay on a bucking bull one-handed for eight seconds while judges score the ride.  

Saddle bronc riding: Rider uses a specialized saddle while staying aboard a bucking horse for eight scored seconds.  

Steer roping: Rider ropes a steer, brings it down and ties three legs together for time.  

Steer wrestling: Contestant leaps from horseback to wrestle a steer to the ground as quickly as possible. 

Team roping: Two riders work together to rope a steer’s horns and hind legs in the fastest time. 

Tie-down roping: Rider ropes a calf, dismounts and ties three legs together against the clock.