How It All Started

 Dylan McManus grew up listening to old rodeo stories told by some of the greatest in the industry like Leon Coffee, Rob Smets, Miles Hare, Mack Altizer and of course his dad Wesley McManus to name a few. He had the opportunity to be around these legends due to his dad being a bull fighter himself and later a rodeo stock contractor. Dylan would stand in the shadows of these greats and listen to all the good, bad, and ugly of bull fighting and rodeo and still wanted a chance to make his mark as all of them did. When Dylan was old enough to start school, he did very well the first couple of years aside from driving the teachers crazy with his non-stop chatter and bull fighting reenactments he would do for the class. Around second grade Dylan began to struggle in school, and it became very apparent that there was something wrong after getting additional tests done it was discovered that Dylan had a significant visual impairment. Dylan had to have additional testing done by specialists to determine just exactly what was wrong. After numerous tests Dylan was diagnosed as a “medical mystery”. Dylan was deemed “legally blind” at the age of 8yrs old with no clear plan to fix his visual lose. His vision was 20/600 with glasses and 20/800 without he had no depth perception or peripheral view. He went to countless specialists that read his chart and ran tests on his eyes and still couldn’t come up with a different diagnosis. Dylan would sit in those doctors’ offices and hear them telling his parents that by the age of 16yrs old he would be completely blind. In true Dylan style he would comfort his parents about the bad news and assure them that everything would be alright, and God would heal his eyes. Dylan played football in middle school and basketball and tried to be as normal as his peers despite having to wear googles and his significant visual impairment. All through those trying years Dylan never wavered in the promise God made him to heal his eyes. He never let anything but that promise come out of his mouth despite the negative reports. Dylan’s eyes slowly started to improve with contacts and time. By his 16th Birthday Dylan’s long time eye doctor was in tears when she gave him the report that his vision had improved enough that he would be able to drive. He now has 20/30 corrected vision, depth perception, and peripheral view. He has now gone from a “medical mystery” to a “medical miracle”. What I can say about Dylan is that no matter how big the obstacle maybe he never backs down. He brings that same hard charging approach when he steps into the arena to fight bulls. Dylan no longer stands in anyone’s shadow and is making his mark in the rodeo industry all on his own. 

Meet Marlee McManus our youngest member of the Diamond Cross Rodeo Team. Don’t let her age and pretty face fool you, Marlee brings a vast wealth of diverse knowledge in and out of the rodeo arena. She is very knowledgeable on stock lineage, not only in the bucking horses and bulls but also in the barrel horse industry. Marlee also puts on barrel races for Diamond Cross and is learning to time and secretary rodeos. The future is very bright for this young lady. Right now, Marlee is heading up our merchandise department for Diamond Cross Rodeo.