The 2016 World Ranch Rodeo Championships

Teams assemble before competition.
Photo @ Debi Lander

Debi says,

The only rodeo I ever attended was years ago in a small town in South Dakota.  I ‘d certainly never been to one with hard working ranch hands and real cowboys. I was ready for some action.

From the moment the  arena lights were dimmed and the announcer took to the mic, excitement could be felt. The various contestants rode in bearing flags from their state and ranch. After all were on the floor, a rider circling the arena proudly presented the American flag.  A rousing version of the National Anthem was sung by the crowd.  These ranchers are a patriotic group and they showed their true colors. 

Bringing in the flag. Photo by Judy Wells.

First up was the Ranch Bronco Riding event or what I’d call bucking Broncos.  No bull-riding here, ranchers must break their horses and these guys are the best of the bunch. The rules say to “Ride as ride can” for eight seconds. Eight seconds can be awfully long when you are on these wild horses.  I can’t comprehend the impact this must take on the body, but these cowboys struggle to control the assigned horse in the allotted time.  In case they fall off, and some do, clown cowboys try to attract the riderless horse away from the fallen contestant. This event really grabs your attention.

Ride 'em cowboy! A rider holds on in the Ranch Bronco Riding Event
Photo @Debi Lander

Next was Roping or officially, Stray Gathering event. A group of four riders enters one end of the arena while cattle enter the opposite.  The riders are timed as they try to single out and lasso a calf.  Then their helpers jump off their horses and tie the calf’s head and feet.  When the steer can no longer escape, the clock is stopped. 

The Roping Event
Photo @ Debi Lander

Wild Cow Milking proved to be a bit humorous. This event includes another four-man team: a roper, milker and two muggers!  Only the roper is on horseback. (Honestly, the term mugger is what they are called.)  Like roping, cows were lassoed but this time held down by teammates.  One is assigned to get milk and must run it up to a judge for verification. The judge will pour the milk out of the bottle.  Sometimes, there is not enough milk and sometimes the cows break away. The crowd responds with enthusiasm or laughter.  

Judy says:  Usually both.

The Milking Event
Photo @ Debi Lander

Team Penning was one of the most fun events.  Teams of four riders are assigned a number.  All the cattle are marked with numbers, so the contestants must pick out the correctly numbered calves, and move them down to the opposite end of the arena and into a pen.  Often times two or three of the needed four are penned, tbut hey somehow they make a fast break and escape, causing the riders to start all over again.

Team Penning
Photo @ Debi Lander

Judy says: This task can take a l-o-o-o-n-g time to complete because most calves want to rejoin the herd. For some reason it took all four team members to cut the laggards out and herd them to the others which gave the others plenty of time to find the open gate and escape. Never could figure out why one team member wasn't left behind to tend the penned ones.

During a break in the contests, the Budweiser Clydesdales Team and Beer Wagon, complete with a Dalmatian riding on top, entered the track.  These huge beautiful beasts prance so delicately.  I especially loved when they crisscrossed their hooves, side stepping to turn the wagon 180 degrees.  These are expertly trained performers and a real joy to watch.  


Judy says: Dressage fans will recognize that as coming from the half-pass  (which the Clydesdales did crossing the arena at a diagonal) and to see these behemoths handle it like dainty ballet dancers is remarkable.

Budweiser Clydesdales
Photo @ Debi Lander

Team Branding consists of four- to six-man teams: a roper, two flankers, a brander and two herd holders. Two calves must be roped and pulled to what is called the fire.  But, at the rodeo, these calves are not really branded with a hot iron.  They used some sort of dark chalk.  Two teams compete at the same time, so there are anxious moments between teams.

The night ended with a second group of competitors in Bronc Riding.  These horses didn’t seem to buck as wildly as the first group.  But, maybe I’d just gotten used to all the action.  I especially loved trying to take photos of the horses when all four feet when in the air.   

Hand on Cowboy!
Photo @ Debi Lander

I found the Ranch Rodeo absolutely fascinating and the time flew by.  I was sorry when it ended.  I would definitely go again if I lived in Texas. Hee-Haw!

Judy says: Teams qualify by competing in 22 sanctioned  Ranch Rodeos in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming throughout the year. The WRCA  Championship Ranch Rodeo in Amarillo goes on four days, with half the teams competing per night. Championship is announced and prizes are awarded on the final night (Sunday).

During the day, competition for junior riders fills the arena and performances by cowboy poets and musicians take over the complex's large side rooms so there is always something to see. 

The horses used by the teams are judged as well as those back at the ranches. Ranches, by the way, are rarely in one location; many have operations in more than one state. Each year the ranches are judged on the quality of their remudas, cowboy for the herd of horses used by the cowhands. It is the ultimate award for a ranch owner.

Sportsmanship is key and it is normal for one ranch to assist another, even during a competition. If a team finds itself short of a rider, they can borrow one from a competing team!

Gearing up for Ranch Rodeo

Time's up, better mosey along. Photo by Judy Wells.

Buses, trucks and trailers are nothing new to civic centers that host traveling shows, but one doesn't expect to see cowboys parked in 30 minutes-only spots or checking their horse's hooves on the sidewalk.

A little TLC to the leg. Photo by Judy Wells.

When ranchers and cowboys converge, those who cater to their needs are never far away. The Amarillo Civic Center Complex is large and we found them all. Actually it was hard to miss.

Photo by Judy Wells.

The Budweiser Clydesdales and their spotted Dalmation pal were stabled at one end of a large display room  for close-ups with their fans.

Photo by Debi Lander.

The Ranch Expo filled the middle with trailers, cattle chutes, portable corrals, animal health products, feeds, ag investment firms, chemicals and heavy equipment. At the opposite end a portable corral teemed with buckaroos trying out miniature versions of the pens, trailers and heavy equipment. Cowgirls were putting together stalls for their horses and farm animals.

Photo by Judy Wells.

At a nearby table, indulgent dads were buying miniature versions to keep their buckaroos happy at home.

Bits and bridles and saddles, oh my. Photo by Judy Wells.

The Cowboy Collectible and Trappings Show, 150 hand-picked cowboy craftsmen and collectors, filled an adjacent room with bridles, bits, braided reins, handmade knives, saddles, saddle blankets and halters for starters.

Some shoppers were looking for tack to use, others for collectibles.

 

Boots in every color of the rainbow with customized-while-you-wait hats to match, shirts with pearl snaps, fringed jackets and purses, jewelry, apres round-up or rodeo attire and even high-end ranch-style furniture and decor. Hand-tooled belts, custom buckles and leather chaps could be overlooked amid the merchandise.

Debi even found the perfect vest for a travel writer; no one else in the world is likely to have one like it. She calls it her "yak vest" because it resembles the white yak she rode in China.

Photo by Judy Wells.

Photo by Judy Wells.

There was so much we kept thinking we had found an unexplored area only to discover midway in that it suddenly looked familiar.

Randy Norris ran the show. Photo by Judy Wells.

We caught a cowboy musician's performance, chowed downed with the volunteers and contestants, admired the silver mustache of WRCA President Randy Norris of New Mexico and watched young cowboys-to-be practice roping plastic calves.

Photo by Judy Wells.

It was all we could do to keep from buying a horse so we could outfit it and ourselves in style. You couldn't ask for a better first act for the rodeo that night.

Horsepower Amarillo Texas Style

Americans love horsepower, but Texans really love their horsepower be it four hooved, two- , four- or more-wheeled.

"But you must see it," we were told after explaining that the Good Girls' idea of camping was winding up in the room farthest from the lounge at a Hilton.

So we did and they were right, you really must see Jack and Trent Sizemore's Travel and RV Museum.

The 1946 Tear Drop came as a kit. Photo by Judy Wells.

RVs from teeny tag-alongs to behemoths of the road are displayed as you might have seen them used, many surrounded by grills, chairs, toys and sports gear of appropriate ages.

The "Age of Aquarius" VW van caught our eyes, of course, as did the monster house on wheels from the Robin Williams film, "RV."

The late Robin Willliams filmed in this. Photo by Judy Wells.

Remember-this type memories popped up as we peeked inside and "traveled" through styles of the eras like the oranges, mustards and olive greens of kitchens, burnt orange shag carpeting and aqua sinks in bathrooms.

Remember aqua tile and porcelain bathrooms? Photo by Judy Wells.

Classic motorcycles fill wall space in the vast two-room "garage" and all come with signage on the history, restoration process and other interesting details.

Ron and Marilyn Smith. Photo by Debi Lander.

Our advisors were right, it is a find but our favorite find of all was meeting and comparing travel tips with Ron and Marilyn Smith of Chaumont Bay, NY, who detoured to see the museum during their 11,000-mile cross country RV trip.

Museum of America's Horse

 Refrigerator, three-time Champion of Champions, the first to break the $2 million winnings record. Photo by Judy Wells.

If you are like us, it will take awhile to get inside the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum because the outside Wall of Honor Plaza is so interesting. A wall of photographs provides a handsome backdrop for bronze statues of racing, cutting, ranching and pleasure Quarter Horses and their breeders.

Grand Hall.

Keep going, though, because there's good stuff inside. The Grand Hall is quite impressive with a large medallion of a Quarter Horse at the far end flanked by panels with names and photographs of those whose efforts have made the breed a success. There's a nifty gift shop and a film theater, too.

Slide the lighted panel along the horse to see the inner workings of the entire animal. Photo by Judy Wells.

On the second floor, interactive displays chart the Quarter Horse inside and out, follow the history of its development and show standout examples of the breed. Quarter Horses are known for their versatility so visitors can try out a Western and an English saddle to see which they prefer.

Race horse's eye-view of the starting gate. Photo by Judy Wells.

 It will probably be your only chance to see a race track starting gate up close. After all, the first American race tracks were quarter-mile straightaways where settlers, who didn't have time to clear any larger spaces, matched their speediest horses.

Another room is filled with displays of the development of America and the West, from Native American life and early ranches to the stock work, racing and recreational contributions of Quarter Horses.

With the rodeo in town, fellow visitors from ranchers to little buckaroos made our visit especially interesting. Having owned and loved a Quarter Horse for many years, Judy was between memory lane and horse heaven, but time was a' wasting so we skipped the library and research center.

The museum served another major purpose for the Good Girls as we made our way around Amarillo. The area is flat, East looking pretty much like West, so unique signs and buildings like this one told us if we were going in the right, or often wrong, direction.

"Blue Blaze" at Amarillo College.

Following the Hoof Prints

 We looked for another kind of horse as we drove around. Hoof Prints is Amarillo's answer to the pigs, fish and jaguars public art projects of other cities. This project of Center City and the American Quarter Horse Association has placed life-sized statues of Quarter Horses painted by regional artists around the area.

"Happy" at Happy State Bank.

We met City Center Executive Director Beth Whitley Duke, "the mother of horses," over coffee our first morning in Amarillo.

What began with 20 horses in 2002 has grown to 103 unique works and still reproducing.

"Reflections of Love" by Jill Wyatt Marshall.

All are stallions except for two, a mare sponsored by Hooter's and a spectacular mirrored mosaic mare and foal at the Women and Children's Health Center.

They have become the object of family scavenger hunts, photo projects and of devoted fans. Count us among them.

"Cherry Lime" by Gary Ward.

"When No. 50, "Cherry Lime," at the Sonic Drive-In was removed for repainting, we had calls galore," said Beth.

Western of "Total Package" at the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum.

Evidently, "Don't mess with our horses" has joined "Don't mess with Texas" as an Amarillo warning.

English side of "Total Package," artist Gabe Treisio's clever way of showing the breed's versatility.

Amarillo Bound

The song may get you to Amarillo by morning but American Airlines takes a little bit longer.

It is worth waiting for, though, especially this week when the National Ranch Rodeo Championships come to town. These aren't the bull riders with glitzy chaps you see on TV or the rodeo competitors on the professional circuit. These are the guys and gals who wrangle steers, bulls and heifers; break broncs, train horses to cut and rope outside of the arena. On ranches from Kitsap County to Kissimmee.  Rodeo was inspired by the skills necessary to do their jobs and once a year ranchers and cowhands gather to see who among them does it best.

This is what attracted the Good Girls to Amarillo but when we learned about the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum, beautiful Palo Duro Canyon, the cowgirls running the top-rated riding outfitter in the West and of course that famous Big Texan Steak Ranch and its 72-oz steak dinner challenge, it had ROAD TRIP! written all over it. There's a symphony too!

So flying west and cowboying up we go. #Amarillosonmymind has us in its grasp so read and ride along.

          

Extreme Rodeo: barrels. bulls and mutton-busters

The Boys' Ranch benefit rodeo is a popular event so we weren't about to miss it. The stands were filled with adults, the grassy slopes around the arena attracted the younger set.

Attacking the first barrel. Photo by Debi Lander.

Cowgirls on racing quarter horses defied gravity circling the clover-leaf of barrels trying to finish the course faster than anyone else. Given the number of farms and ranches there was a lot of action.

Photo by Debi Lander

Ride 'em cowkid! Photo by Debi Lander.

 

The youngest buckaroos then headed to the chutes. This was Debi's first experience with rodeo and especially  mutton-busting so she had an altogether different reaction. While I was giggling, here's what she thought:

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I never attended a rodeo before the one held in Sioux Falls and knew nothing about Mutton Bustin’.  But, I soon learned it involved sheep that were not Mary’s little lambs.

The mutton competition involves youngsters ages 3-8 riding full grown sheep as if the animals were bucking broncos. Some might call the activity training wheels for bull riding. Whatever. 

As a grandparent, I wouldn’t put one of my grandchildren on a live animal with the goal of hanging on until knocked off and possibly trampled.   

Ride 'em, maybe. Photo by Debi Lander.

The finale, as always, the bull riding. A few locals plus cowboys still trying to amass enough points - winnings - to qualify for the national championships tackled the recalcitrant bulls who don't take kindly to being ridden. One, a rank Brahma-Angus-mean cross, bucked so hard in the chute his would-be rider risked life and limb three times before being given another bull.

Debi's reaction: Although not many stayed on for the qualifying time, the riders were real macho cowboys and I was impressed.

Can’t say I wanna be a cowboy but I honestly enjoyed the entire event. 

That pretty much sums it up for both of us.

We had to escape the giant bass at Outdoor Classroom before hitting the road to the Badlands.