ranch rodeos.

a few years ago in the cow country of the southwestern united states the ranch rodeo became popular. the contestants had to be ranch or livestock industry related employees or owners.  the events were to be ranch related, events that mirrored the every day work of cowboys.
    in texas a organization was formed to do that. but it was mainly geared to the bigger ranches or ranches that could feild a team made up of two ranches employees. it was and still is a top notch deal with members from all over the west.
    the smaller ranches that are family owned and operated have a hard time competing in these events. so a few years ago grant boice from the arizona national developed a concept that would allow these smaller ranches a competition of their own. this was devised as a arizona only event altho some south western new mexico teams were allowed in.
      events consisted of calf branding, steer doctoring, a sorting  and penning class and a horses catching, each region where a rodeo was held often had a added event.  then the teams winning their region were eligable to compete in the finals at the arizona national livestock show in pheonix at the end of the year. there was also a ranch horses competition  that was a judged event. this was a very popular event.
      some how i was drafted to produce a ranch rodeo in willcox.  the south eastern region of arizona. it was virgin territory and we kinda made up the rules as we went. some times those rules  worked and sometimes we scrapped them in lieu of something better.  it was a lot of fun.  we tried to make the events look like the things you did at home every day, and the judges were to disqualify anyone abusing the livestock or unnecessarily roughing them up.  i produced 3 of these rodeos and ranch horse classes in willcox. we didnt draw a lot of spectaters, but we were well attended by the ranching community. we gave a lot of prizes and buckeles and jackpoted the entry fees. these were never very heavy as most family ranches couldnt afford a high fee.  our event was held in m,arch or april, cold windy days were the order of the day. a lot of impromptue bronc rides and cattle feeling friskey were harder to work. besides my team from the 76 ranch there were teams from the warbonnet ranch, the 10x ranch, hook open a ranch, klump ranches, and the mercer ranches. top hands all. in the calf branding the team branded 2 calves with a paint branding iron. you had a roper, 2 flankers and a brander. the roper would catch one calf around the neck and heel one.  ive seen this done in 30 seconds by a good solid team. the steer doctoring was a cutting and roping event where you cut a designated steer from a herd, roped him and doctored him with a paint stick.  the cutting and penning was a event where you cut 3 animals from a herd and then penned them at the opposite end of the arena. and the horse catching, all team members unsaddled their horses in a panel corral then at the start would rope each horses, saddle and when all members were mounted race to the finish line. a fun event and fun to watch. sadly when i quit producing these events the new producer changed the events. they wilder and didnot represent real ranch work. one rule that was done away with was i had required each team to have at least one woman on their team and she had to throw at least one loop some where during the rodeo.  that was done away with, and now very few women compete.
   ime proud to say the female member of my team actualy roped her animal, she didnt just throw her loop in the air and move over for a male member to rope the animal. i spent a lot of years teaching her that, and watched her win buckles and saddles.  and thats the story on ranch rodeos as i know it.