They call Tim Lepard the “Wild Thang.”
Lepard, a Pontotoc native, used to be a bullfighter — even winning a bullfighter of the year award three years in a row.
In 1987, Lepard said, a world champion bullfighter gave him some advice to try something new.
“When I went in the arena I had no fear of bulls,” Lepard said. “I started jumping on their heads and letting them hoof me and throw me over. It escalated from there, and he said, ‘You’re not gonna last long doing that.’ He told me, ‘You need to get an act.'”
Lepard said the bullfighter suggested getting a monkey because “Everybody loves a monkey.”
Lepard, who said he used to carry around a Curious George sock puppet as a child until all of the stuffing was gone, followed the advice. Now, more than 30 years later, Lepard runs the Team Ghost Riders act, which is known across the country for its uniqueness.
Team Ghost Riders is an act that stars dog-riding monkeys. Lepard said the idea all started in 1987 after he followed the bullfighter’s advice and got a white-throated Capuchin monkey.
“I was actually sitting there in the living room with it,” he said. “My dog was laying there in front of the TV. I had no idea what I was gonna get this monkey to do, but he jumped out of my lap, ran over there and slapped my dog and ran back. I was giving popcorn. Next thing you know, he runs over there and the dog had gotten a piece of popcorn out of his hand, and (the monkey) started grooming the dog.
“He just crawled up on his back and I said ‘Oh my God, if I could teach that monkey to ride the dog like a cowboy,'” Lepard said. “It was just a little bit at a time.”
The act started with the monkeys riding without saddles bear-hugging the dogs. It was immediately popular, and Lepard refined the act, designing saddles and training monkeys and border collies to fine-tune the act into what it is today.
A veteran team
Now, Team Ghost Riders features up to five monkeys, with three in Starkville for this weekend’s Rotary Rodeo. Lepard’s had as many as seven monkeys, and recently retired the team’s oldest monkey — which rode for 30 years — to a habitat in Florida. Team Ghost Rider’s youngest monkey is 2 years old, and Lepard said he’s still being trained to ride dogs.
The team in Starkville features a 26-year-old monkey, a 9-year-old monkey and a 4-year-old monkey named “Little E,” after Elvis Presley.
“We dress him up like Elvis,” he said. “He’s got a little cape and everything. You kind of have to be a little Barbie doll guy.”
The act also has seven dogs, five of which have come to Starkville for this weekend’s shows.
Lepard has learned a lot about monkeys and show dogs in the years since he started the show. Team Ghost Riders has performed in every state in the country, Lepard said, including two trips to Alaska. The act goes to 31 baseball games a year, rodeos and has performed at every kind of sporting event but swimming, tennis and golf.
Importantly, he said, the show has become memorable.
“I wanted to do something that kids would see and remember it,” Lepard said. “It’s not like they’re going to leave here and two years later say ‘I don’t remember. The clown — he had a horse.’ The guy with the monkeys — they’re gonna remember it.”
The Rotary Rodeo
The Rotary Rodeo is set for Friday and Saturday nights at the Mississippi Horse Park on East Poor House Road.
The rodeo will begin at 7 p.m. on both nights, with Team Ghost Riders as the specialty act. On Friday, gates open at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the rodeo will include pony rides and a petting zoo from 5-6:30 p.m.
Children 12 years and younger can get into the rodeo for free on Friday. Children’s tickets are $5 for Saturday. Adult tickets are $12 in advance, and can be purchased at the Oktibbeha County Co-op, Tractor Supply in Starkville and Columbus, Ram Parker McGill in Starkville and West Point and the Starkville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Adult tickets are $15 at the gate.
Bricklee Miller, director for the horse park, said the Rotary Rodeo is always a big weekend.
“This weekend we have over 200 contestants coming in from all over the country,” Miller said. “They’ll be coming in on Thursday, so it’s new dollars coming into our community. So as far as the economic value of them coming across the country and eating at our restaurants and staying in our hotels, that’s certainly important.
“But also, what’s nice about this rodeo is what it does for our community,” she added. “Besides it being a family-friendly event, it has become ‘the rodeo’ for the community. When Rotary took over this 13 years ago, they actually established this event in the community and this is something that families look forward to every single year.”
Zach Rowland, chair of the Rotary Club’s rodeo committee, said the event has averaged more than 6,000 attendees in recent years. It’s the largest local Rotary event and draws heavy volunteer participation from the club.
The Rotary Club uses proceeds from the event to support local organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, Habitat for Humanity and the Starkville Area Arts Council.
Rowland said the rodeo has a big economic impact for Starkville.
“I had someone do some calculations on it and with the number of people and the number of participants, we’re talking about an impact of close to half a million dollars over the weekend for this activity — which is significant,” Rowland said.
Online
■ VIDEO: Watch a video of Team Ghost Rider’s dog-riding monkeys at https://bit.ly/2HXaDTD
How to Go
■ WHAT: Rotary Rodeo
■ WHEN: Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Friday. Saturday, the rodeo will include pony rides and a petting zoo from 5-6:30 p.m.
■ WHERE: Mississippi Horse Park on East Poor House Road in Starkville
■ HOW MUCH: Children 12 years and younger can get into the rodeo for free on Friday. Children’s tickets are $5 for Saturday. Adult tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the gate.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
READER FAVORITES
Related Photos
Bricklee Miller
