2026 Grand Marshall
The definition of “riding for the brand” is, “a deep commitment and loyalty to the ranch or organization where a cowboy works. It signifies taking ownership in the brand's success, giving your best effort, and looking after the company's assets as if they were your own. It's about working hard, cooperating with fellow cowboys, and prioritizing the group's needs over your own.”
Our 2026 Grand Marshal....
Wendy Schuler
Wendy Schuler was born in Evanston and grew up on a ranch south of Mt. View. She didn’t care for sheep ranching, but she found a real love for horses. Her Dad was a horse fanatic as well and when she asked to have her own horse as a youngster, he
told her if she could break one of his young horses she could have it as her own. She found a paint horse that was just as spunky as she was, and it became her first horse.
As time went on, she spent time developing some of the horses into barrel horses and began to compete in barrel racing and also team roping. While she was away at college at the University of Wyoming, she found out that her Dad had signed her up to compete for the Cowboy Days Queen contest. She didn’t know anything about that but was unhappy with the idea because she didn’t consider herself “queen material”.
After she won, it turned out to be some of her favorite times as she enjoyed attending rodeos all over with her two attendants: Sallie (Coles) Waters and MaryAnn(Cornia) Lym and also the wonderful Cowboy Days committee. She has been a true fan of the“biggest little rodeo in the west” (Cowboy Days) every since.
She has since taught and coached hundreds of kids as a high school teacher and coach at Lyman High School and Evanston High School. She also found time to marry her best friend Rick, and they brought 4 wonderful children into the world: Sunny, Stormy, Rick E. and Rocky. She also has 4 awesome grandchildren and 2 handsome son in laws and a beautiful daughter in law to round out the Schuler clan. They love the
western way of life just like she does. She was finally able to get her husband to the NFR the year before he passed away and it was a highlight for him to see the best of the best.
She represents Uinta County as the Senator for Senate District 15 and loves serving and volunteering on many boards in the county. She has served on the board of the Uinta Senior Center, the Evanston Youth Club board, the SWOT board and the
Soroptimist Club board. She considers it an unbelievable honor to serve as the Grand Marshal of the Evanston Cowboy Days and wants to thank the committee and all of the people who step up every year to volunteer and show up for the Cowboy Days
celebrations. It’s been a great tradition for so many years, but it doesn’t happen without a great committee and lots of dedicated volunteers. So best wishes and let’s keep it going!