Ranch rodeos are enjoying a growing fan base nationally
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Reporter's note: Since I first heard about ranch rodeos, three or four years ago, I've wanted to attend one. Recently my wife and I went to the Phillips County Fair, in Dodson, to see our first ranch rodeo. Locals say a ranch rodeo has been held each of the last several years in Malta but this was the first one held at Dodson as part of the county fair.
I've learned fan interest in ranch rodeos is burgeoning nationally. The attendance at the combined ranch rodeo and Indian relay races at Dodson drew a sizable crowd. An official with the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE-based in Billings) said interest in their ranch rodeo finals has been growing steadily. I was curious to learn what draws fans to ranch rodeos.
Of the eight teams at the Dodson fair, half were from Phillips County. I wondered why there were no teams from Blaine County. And when was the last ranch rodeo held in Blaine County? Here's some of what I learned about ranch rodeos and their history, especially in western states of the U.S.
A short history of the origins of
modern ranch rodeos
There are a couple of historical threads that suggest how American ranch rodeos began. One goes back the mid-1850's to a California law that required every owner of a stock farm to hold at least one rodeo each year. Those gatherings were an integral part of raising livestock, back in the day, when large herds of cattle and horses ran together on open range. The annual rodeo was necessary for ranchers to separate their respective herds. Those gatherings became a stage for the ranch cowboys to demonstrate their riding and roping skills and to showcase their horses. Eventually organized competitions began when the cowboys gathered.
Another theory of origin begins much later, in the 1940's. Three cowboys, two American brothers and a Canadian, were sorting steers on a California ranch. During a lunch break, so the story goes, they began to think of competitions they could create that mirrored their work with livestock and would showcase the skills of their horses. Some say the first organized 'ranch rodeo,' based on those cowboys' contests, came together at the Ventura County Fair in 1949
Ranch rodeos are based on team performance
Several major characteristics distinguish ranch rodeos from PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned events. First, the ranch rodeos are made up of teams, usually four people representing a ranch or some organization. The competition is among teams, not individuals.
Events in a ranch rodeo are designed to reflect a cowboy's regular work and a lot of recognition is given to the horses and the role they play in ranch work. Sometimes horses are judged during an event as well as the cowboys. Interestingly, there are no 'standards' about what constitutes a legitimate event for a ranch rodeo. At the Dodson fair, the events included branding, trailering (getting cattle into a trailer), doctoring (handling larger steers for simulated treatment), wild cow milking and ranch bronc riding. These competitions are basically the same as the events at the NILE Finals each year in Billings and the Dodson rodeo was a NILE-sanctioned event.
Looking at a promotional poster for a ranch rodeo held in Cleveland in 2012, the list of competitions had some commonality but several other events as well-like the rawhide race and a sweetheart race (in a rawhide race a mounted cowboy pulls another team member riding prone on a piece of rawhide. The sweetheart race involves a mounted rider and a running team member on foot moving toward each other. The rider lifts the runner onto the horse and they head for the finish line).
Just like professional rodeos, ranch rodeos now have sanctioning groups that set rules for judging events and hold year end 'finals' to determine overall champions. At the Dodson fair, the rodeo is sanctioned by NILE. The winner of that rodeo, since it was sanctioned, will go on to the NILE Finals at Billings in mid-October. The top two teams from NILE will compete at the national finals of the Western States Ranch Rodeo Association (WSRRA) in Winnemucca, Nevada.
There have been annual ranch rodeos staged in Malta for several years. This summer was the first time the annual ranch rodeo was part of the fair. Of the eight teams at the Dodson event,
half were from Phillips County. Guy Simenton, a member of the Olsen Grain and Livestock team from the Malta area, is very involved in ranch rodeos. He said, "I think both the turnout of rodeo teams and spectators was great." He added, "At a ranch rodeo we get a chance to let people see these fantastic working horses and what they can do." Simenton's team will be competing in the NILE Finals this year.
In Blaine County, the last ranch rodeo was held at Cleveland in 2013. Clint and Margo Pankratz said, "Ranch rodeos have never been really popular in our area." Justin Simenson, who is very involved with the Bear Paw Roundup, a PRCA-sanctioned event, said, "I think I organzied the last ranch rodeo team to compete in Blaine County." Guy Simenton recalls when Justin's team competed in Malta.
The future of ranch rodeos
To get some perspective and a bigger picture of how ranch rodeos are doing, I spoke with McCall Linke, she's the Equine and Communication Director for NILE. As to growing popularity of the ranch rodeo NILE added about a decade ago to their program, Linke said, "Last year we moved the event from Wednesday night to Saturday night. The attendance grew-not sure if it was the event or the timing." The NILE Finals are set for Saturday night again this coming October.
Linke explained that eight different ranch rodeos feed to the NILE Finals. 10 teams participate, with a couple of them by invitation. The top two teams will go from NILE to the WSSRA Finals in Winnemucca, Nevada. She explained, "We teamed up with WSRRA a few years ago because we feel their rules, particularly about who can join their group, better reflect Montana's situation." She explained that WSSRA members do not have to be employed full time on a ranch. She added, "That's more realistic for Montana since we have many people who work part time or periodically as cowboys."
Despite the growing popularity of ranch rodeos, there are still some challenges and concerns. One of those challenges, per Linke, is the lack of uniform competitive events and the rules that govern them. She said, "Even the NILE-sanctioned rodeos can have differing rules governing certain events and may have events other than the ones that occur in the NILE Finals." Efforts to make the rules uniform across all levels have not been successful to date.
McCall Linke also has concerns about the future development of ranch rodeos. "With more prize money at stake," she explained, "there's a greater chance to abandon the original purpose, to let ranch cowboys compete for fun and bragging rights. Right now ranch rodeos are still 'wild and wooly,' More formal competitions with bigger prize money may take away some of the 'just for fun' idea that currently drives ranch rodeos." Linke's dream is, "To have a NILE Finals made up of teams from Montana, like a state championship. Under that scenario NILE's winners would go on to WSSRA, or some other sanctioning group's finals, and a national champion team would emerge."
On the national level, ranch rodeos seem to be enjoying increasing interest. In our region, Phillips County has several active and contending teams and the possibility of future ranch rodeos at the Phillips County Fair. Just now, the outlook for future ranch rodeos in Blaine County is dim. But, there are several locals who still carry a torch for ranch rodeos. Maybe the old sport will enjoy a new day in our county as well.
