Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

Deep in the heart of Albany, Texas, a new Buckaroo — possibly the biggest Buckaroo ever created — is being built, destined for its permanent home in Breckenridge. The brainchild of ultimate Buckaroo fan Cindi Woodward and artist Joe Barrington, the Buckaroo, fabricated from welded steel, will be 30 feet tall and weigh about 3,000 pounds.

“Yeah, it’s big,” Barrington said about the sculpture that he’s been working on for more than a year.

Woodward, whose nephew Hudson Woodward is one of the 2025 Buckaroo quarterbacks, lives in the 2300 block of West Walker Street. Each season, she decorates the iron fence around the property with the names of the Breckenridge High School athletes for the current sports.

Artist Joe Barrington stands beneath the 30-foot tall Buckaroo destined for Breckenridge. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

As a gift to the community, Woodward said, she thought it would be cool to install a giant Buckaroo behind the Buckaroo-themed fence. Her brothers, Bryan Woodward and Brad Woodward, agreed. The Woodward siblings all graduated from BHS; Cindi was a cheerleader and Bryan and Brad were on the Buckaroo football team.

All of the parts of the Buckaroo sculpture are complete and ready to transport to Breckenridge. To make the 30-mile trek from Barrington’s studio in Albany to Woodward’s house, the cowboy and his saddle will be removed from the horse. Once in Breckenridge, Barrington will reassemble the Buckaroo, complete with his 100-pound hat. The metal sculpture will be installed on top of a base that will be clad in limestone, Barrington said. A five-foot tall green “B” will be affixed to the front of the base.

The plan is for the Buckaroo to be left unpainted. Barrington said once it’s installed, he will spray it with bleach to ensure that the sculpture develops a rust patina all over.

“He’ll end up all the same color; it will just be a nice dark red patina,” he said.

When planning the Buckaroo, Barrington visited Breckenridge to take a look at the Buckaroo on top of BHS. Then, he created a plan for the sculpture and adjusted it as he worked on it to make sure everything was in proportion and looked right. The saddle, chaps and other elements are based on items in Barrington’s own collection.

Barrington was born and raised in Throckmorton, where he spent a lot of time in his dad’s welding shop, learning to weld at a young age. After earning an art degree from Midwestern State University, he returned to Throckmorton, combining his welding and art skills to create the large metal sculptures.

“I actually have a degree in art and sculpture, which doesn’t mean much, but so I took the welding deal and then just kind of did something different with it, which my dad really liked,” Barrington said. “He was a big supporter.”

Barrington said he considers himself a contemporary artist, rather than a western artist, but that he often creates art based on Texas imagery.

Although the Buckaroo will be Barrington’s first sculpture in Breckenridge, many local residents may have seen some of his work, including several pieces in Abilene, Albany, Throckmorton and the highways in between.

While the Buckaroo is one of Barrington’s largest works of art, it isn’t the biggest. In the 1990s, he created a life-size dinosaur for Boise City, Oklahoma, to show the size of the dinosaur that had once lived in that area. That metal sculpture was 63 feet long and 40 feet tall, he said.

Barrington also creates smaller metal art pieces, including cowboy hats, birds, deer skulls and more.

When it’s installed in Breckenridge, the Buckaroo will be wearing a 100-pound cowboy hat, also created by Joe Barrington. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

This green “B” will be backlit and placed on the front of the 6-foot-tall, limestone-clad base for the Buckaroo, Cindi Woodward said. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cindi Woodward decorates the Buckaroo-themed fence in front of her house in the 2300 block of West Walker Street. The Buckaroo will be installed in the grassy area behind the fence. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Joe Barrington based the huge Buckaroo sculpture on the statue atop Breckenridge High School, as well as on his knowledge of horses, saddles, bridles, etc. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo:  Artist Joe Barrington has been working on the Buckaroo sculpture for Cindi Woodward for more than a year. The cowboy and saddle will be removed in order to transport it from Albany to Breckenridge. There, it will be reassembled, including a hat and a different tail, Barrington said. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)