Wachman was fascinated by the courage and humanity of the priest who sacrificed his health and comfort to help a group of people rejected by society.

"He went to a place where people were just dropped off and left, a place that was sort of remote and lawless," Wachman said. "Imagine what Kalaupapa must have been like when he arrived. For him to say, 'I need to stay here' — it was heroic.

"He was a cowboy."

From Wachman, a full-time professional cowboy at the Arizona Cowboy College in Scottsdale, Ariz., there can be no higher compliment.

Wachman is the star of the Country Music Television reality series "Cowboy U." Each season, Wachman (along with wrangler Judd Leffew) takes a dozen city slickers and, in the course of three weeks, attempts to turn them into ropin,' ridin' real-life cowboys and cowgirls.

When producers last year asked Wachman for a suggestion on where to shoot Season III, his answer was immediate.

"I told them, 'Moloka'i, only Moloka'i,' " Wachman said.

And so Wachman and crew shot the new season on Moloka'i, indoctrinating a brand-new set of tender hides to the cowboy way in a location as appropriate as it is — to those outside the cowboy world at least — unlikely. The new season kicks off in November on Country Music Television.

Bundles of hay serve as practice for "Cowboy U." contestants' roping skills.

Eventually Wachman answered, ditching a budding corporate career for life as a professional cowboy. Four years ago he took over as lead instructor at the Arizona Cowboy College.

The job made a mini-celebrity of Wachman — "every trip I make now has at least one person from the media," he says — and was instrumental in his selection for "Cowboy U."

Still, Wachman points out he's the only "non-TV" guy on the set.

"I don't have an agent or a lawyer," he said. "But this is a show that I think is different than other reality shows. It has heart. It's a show that I would watch, and I don't watch a lot of TV."

Home on the set

Going Hawai'i-style, a contestant tries to rope a floating target.

"We were really trying to be less contrived than other reality shows," said Paul Villadolid, CMT's vice president of programming and development. "We put (the contestants) in real life ranch situations and all the events are specific to the skills they're taught — riding, roping, saddling.

"Some of them might have thought that because they were coming to Hawai'i that they were going on vacation, but we had them up at 5 a.m. every morning and working really hard all day long," Villadolid said. "They learned pretty quickly that it was going to be very challenging."

Villadolid said Wachman's very firm but very compassionate approach ensured that each student was properly prepared to survive and excel in the competition.

"We were putting the cast in potentially dangerous situations and it was his job to properly prepare them," Villadolid said. "At the end of the day, he was the one who made the judgment calls. He had a lot of latitude."

Lesson No. 1 under Wachman's Law: Ignore the camera. "I told them before we began that what we're doing is very serious," Wachman said. "Statistically, riding a horse is the single most dangerous recreational activity around.

"If you miss something because you're looking at the camera while I'm flapping my lips, it will come back and hospitalize you."

Wachman said teaching ranch skills was one thing, sharing cowboy values is something else.

"I've always said that cowboy isn't a job description," Wachman said. "It's a lifestyle. It's about having an open mind and an open heart, understanding animals for what they are, and being a responsible steward."

A Real Paniolo

The first two seasons of the show featured individual contestants. This season is about five couples. "This was our first time casting couples and it changed the dynamic in a positive way," Villadolid said. "Hawai'i's physical beauty made it a natural place for couples. In addition to the physical hardships of the training, we could also present the incredible beauty of Moloka'i."

But, as Wachman was well aware, Moloka'i was even more valuable because of its own unique cowboy experience.

"I think everybody took away an appreciation of paniolo history and culture," Wachman said. "Real cowboys are stewards of their livestock and of the land, and that's something we have in common with the paniolo. They believe in leaving the land better than they find it."

And who better to teach Paniolo Culture 101 at "Cowboy U" than Uncle Jimmy Duvauchelle, fourth-generation paniolo and head manager of Moloka'i Ranch?

"Cowboy U." participants get instructions on bareback horse riding.

"When I was in high school, you either became a farmer or a rancher," Duvauchelle said. "I became a paniolo because of my family, but it was also what I wanted to do. The old-timers used to say go out and learn as much as you can, get educated, and when you come back you can be a paniolo because that's what you choose to be," Duvauchelle said. "So that's what I did."

Duvauchelle, 60, has been at Moloka'i Ranch for 38 years, starting as a cowboy and working his way up as a foreman, supervisor and, now, head manager.

"It's a long, hard legacy," he said. "I didn't see my kids grow up. I was up at 5 a.m. before they were awake and back at 8 or 9 at night, after they had gone to bed. They didn't get to know my lifestyle until they were old enough to work with me.

"My wife had to take a lot of responsibility," he said. "She was like a widow most of the time."

Still, Duvauchelle said the paniolo life has been good to him and his family, and he can't wait to see how it, and the close-knit, homespun sensibilities of his Moloka'i community, will translate onto television.

"I'm very excited," he said.

Of course, working with a big television production didn't always jive with Duvauchelle's experiences on the ranch. At times, Duvauchelle had difficulty making allowances for the requirements of filming, and for the inexperience of the students.

"I work the job in reality, and then I had to adjust it back to a Hollywood style," Duvauchelle said. "But I understand the nature of what they were trying to do. It was a fun challenge trying to keep both of those worlds on camera.

"The great thing was that Rocco understood," he said. "He could explain the business side to me, and if I told him my concerns, he could understand them and explain them to the producers."

Hard to leave

Wachman said he found something of a kindred spirit in Duvauchelle, and their bond grew throughout the course of the show.

"The way we do things and the way we both view being a cowboy as a gift from God, we have a lot in common," Wachman said. He's just a better fisherman than I am."

And just as Wachman coddled and cajoled his charges into picking up the skills and mentality necessary to function as real ranch employees, so, too, did the 48-year-old find himself transformed by his experiences on the island — including a trip to Kalaupapa with his son, Damien.

"I always said that if I had a son I'd name him Damien," Wachman said. "And I did.

"It was very powerful for my son to stand at Father Damien's grave and to understand why he has his name," Wachman said. "I was in tears."

Were it not for his job and girlfriend in Arizona, Wachman said, "I would have stayed and not even come back for my clothes."

Reach Michael Tsai at 535-2461 or mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: Father Damien de Veuster died April 15, 1889. A previous version of this story gave the incorrect year for his death.