By: Addison Carlson Are you planning on joining us for the 48th National Golden Spur Award Honors? Make a weekend of it! From West Texas steaks and handcrafted cowboy boots to local wineries and ranching history, the Hub City has plenty to explore before and after the Honors. Day 1: Welcome to Lubbock! Where the skies are endless and the horizon stretches on forever. No matter where you’re from, the people, places and culture make the Hub City feel like home. Speaking of home

Appeared in 2026 Fall Ranch Record. Story by Bob Welch. Kyle Best carries on a family tradition by winning the RHA Working Cowboy Award—West. Kyle Best and his top hand at Marley Cattle Company in Amado, Arizona. Photo by Adrian Hawkins. BORN IN WEST TEXAS, raised in eastern New Mexico and living most of his professional career in Arizona and Oklahoma, Kyle Best claims that drought has followed him his whole life. In 1991, as an aspiring fourth-generation rancher, he and his

Appeared in 2026 Fall Ranch Record. Story by Bob Welch. Arlon Baize earns the RHA’s Working Cowboy Award-East. Arlon Baize in his element: cowboying around Baird, Texas. Courtesy of Arlon Baize. If you were to create the ultimate day-working cowboy, a cotton farm in Tuxedo, Texas, probably wouldn’t be the place to start. For Arlon Baize, however, those humble beginnings transformed him from chopping cotton to punching cows. He has spent more than 60 years making his living a

Appeared in 2026 Fall Ranch Record. Story and photography by Ross Hecox. 2026 National Golden Spur Award winner Terry Forst at her ranch in Waurika, Oklahoma. Stubborn bulls know how to crash into creek bottoms and hide among the thick briars, blackberry bushes and locust trees that will skewer cowboys with their sharp, three-inch thorns. With no hesitation Terry Stuart Forst dives in, dodging low limbs and hollering at the 2,000-pound beasts that refuse to leave the pasture

Arlon Baize of Texas and Kyle Best of Arizona to receive 2026 RHA Working Cowboy Award during National Golden Spur Award Honors. LUBBOCK, Texas — The Ranching Heritage Association will honor two working cowboys with this year’s annual RHA Working Cowboy Award. The eastern division recipient is Arlon Baize of Sagerton, Texas. The western division recipient is Kyle Best of Amado, Arizona. The award will be presented during the annual National Golden Spur Award Honors on Satur

Fifth-generation Oklahoman joins an esteemed group of ranchers recognized for excellence and service. LUBBOCK, Texas — Terry Stuart Forst of Waurika, Oklahoma, has been selected as the recipient of the National Golden Spur Award for her contributions to the ranching and livestock industries. Forst will be celebrated during the annual National Golden Spur Award Honors on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas. “Truly, I am humbled and honored to receive this award,” Forst