Some know him as the Invisible Man and others call him Mr. Smooth. However, he will go into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as Kenny Clabaugh, a man whose job was what some call the unsung heroes of rodeo, a pickup man.
Clabaugh had a hero like ability to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time for the bareback and saddle bronc riders.
It all started when Clabaugh was sitting on the chutes at Casper Junior College in Wyoming. It would be 1983 when he would join the PRCA and that same year, the PRCA rookie pickup man was selected to work the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City.
Throughout his career, Clabaugh would work the NFR a total of seven times, the National High School Finals 20 times, the National Intercollegiate Rode Finals six times and the Indian National Finals twice. He also picked up at the Old Timers Rodeo Finals and once at the Dodge National Circuit Finals. The Wyoming pickup man was also voted the National High School Man of the Year 1993. He retired in 2001.
Clabaugh credits his horses and his partners for many successful trips to the arena but others credit him and he is now credited forever in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.