A dirt road leads onto the ranch, where all of the structures, including a frame house, rodeo arena, and barn, are hand-wrought. A.J. Walker, his wife Pam, and his son, Anthony, are preparing for the monthly rodeo. This rodeo, which draws from the surrounding communities, is very much a family operation.
Black cowboys drive their horsetrailers onto the ranch.
A.J. Walker reveals that as many as four generations of cowboys are involved in this event. Before he and his father started this ranch fifty years ago, Walker himself had worked as a cowboy on white-owned ranches in this area of southeast Texas and because of the racial discrimination against black cowboys, he decided start his own rodeo. The Hard Ride, produced by Documentary Arts and directed by Alan Govenar, was shot on 16mm film by Robert Tullier and was edited by Andrew Dean.