News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail, Aug. 18
by Jim Bainbridge | Aug 18, 2014
Steve Kenyon of ProRodeoLive.com, will be announcing live from Kennewick, Wash., tomorrow night for the Wrangler Champions Challenge at the Horse Heaven Round Up, presented by Justin Boots. Coverage starts at 7 p.m. (PT)
Four-time Wrangler NFR team roper Riley Minor married barrel racer Jordan Crossley on Aug. 17 in Ellensburg, Wash. There were many rodeo cowboys and cowgirls in attendance, all of whom were surprised when the entire wedding party rode into the reception on horseback at full speed, coming over an adjacent hill.
Team roper Charly Crawford’s No. 1 horse Patron, 13, passed away unexpectedly Aug. 14. “We roped our first steer at Canby (Ore.) and he worked great and seemed fine,” Crawford said. “As soon as I unsaddled him and washed him off, he started getting really uncomfortable. Luckily, the vet had just pulled in right there and I had him take a look at (Patron). He said he had a displacement. A friend of mine borrowed a truck from a committee man and borrowed a trailer from a (rodeo) queen and they hauled him down there to Corvallis to OSU (Oregon State University).” When the veterinarians began surgery on Patron, they realized it was a serious case of colic, and there was nothing they could do to save the horse. “This was probably his best year ever,” said Crawford, who had owned Patron since 2009. “This is a tough one (Patron passing). I’m right there on the bubble (to qualify for the NFR) and he (Patron) has been working better than ever.” Crawford is 14th in the Aug. 18 world standings. Last year, Patron finished second in the AQHA/PRCA Team Roping Heading Horse of the Year voting.
When the Caldwell Night Rodeo kicked off on Aug. 12, one little girl had a very special night. 10-year-old Hailee was crowned “Miss Make-A-Wish,” and had her wish granted. Her night started with a horse ride in her new adaptive saddle, which was the biggest and most important part of her wish. She has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and is unable to walk. Hailee loves to ride horses, but usually has to have two people with her, one on each side. With the help of the new saddle, she rode around the arena independently with her riding instructor on a horse next to her in front of a standing and cheering crowd in the rodeo arena. She also was given riding lessons, a shopping spree, a Miss Make-A-Wish tiara, sash and belt buckle, and was a VIP at the Caldwell Night Rodeo.
Thirty-one artistically decorated steer skulls for the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo Hall of Fame fundraiser are now at the Clymer Museum and Gallery in downtown Ellensburg, according to Hall of Fame administrators. The Clymer Museum and Gallery, with free admission, invites the public to view the 31 individually and creatively painted skulls and to vote on their favorite steer artwork. The skulls will be on display at the Clymer until Aug. 27.
Peyton Mathis, the brother of PRCA announcer Mike Mathis, died Aug. 11. He was 76. Funeral services took place Aug. 14 at the First United Methodist Church in Lufkin, Texas.
Clint Corey, Fritz Hill, Gary Rempel and Robin Fletcher will be honored at the Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Pendleton Convention Center. Flint Rasmussen, an eight-time PRCA Clown of the Year, will emcee the program. Rasmussen was inducted into the Pendleton Hall of Fame in 2011 after many years of entertaining crowds in the Round-Up arena. Tickets to the Hall of Fame banquet are available to the public for $38 in advance; $45 at the door. Space is limited to the first 300 people. The evening will begin with a hosted social hour and live entertainment at 6 p.m., followed by a salmon or prime rib dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon office at 1114 SW Court in Pendleton, or by calling 1-800-45-Rodeo.
Fans attending the Colorado State Fair & Rodeo in Pueblo, Colo., can visit the Rodeo Experience from 2-7 p.m. on Aug. 22-26. It will take place at Triangle Park, and is set up to give rodeo fans an interactive experience to learn about rodeo. Fans can ask questions, learn about the history of rodeo, see the equipment and try their hand at roping. The Rodeo Experience is supplied by the PRCA during the first five nights of the fair.
Vanessa Hansen, whose son, Ryan Hadden, is currently serving in the military in Afghanistan, was a guest of honor at the Great Northwest PRCA Rodeo in Klamath Falls, Wash., on Aug. 16. She was also on hand to auction off a pair of handmade red, white and blue chaps, which were made and donated by Russel Bustos, on behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project. Overall, $2,500 was raised during the auction, including the chaps being purchased by rodeo patron Gene Thomas, who then, in a wonderful gesture, told announcer Rob Smets that he wanted to give the chaps to Hansen as a present to her son when he returns from overseas.
The Steamboat Springs (Colo.) ProRodeo Series ended its season on Aug. 16, and named the year-end champions of the series. Cole Dorenkamp was the top all-around cowboy, and was joined by bareback rider Micky Downare, steer wrestler Cutter DeHart, team ropers Tyler Schnaufer and J.W. Borrego, saddle bronc rider Cody Martin, tie-down roper Jake Hamilton and bull rider Clayton Savage.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Rodeo is just a natural extension of the Western way of life. It’s a very pure thing, just you and the animal. I think it’s ingrained in you, if you come up around it so much that it’s a part of who you are, and you never lose the love for it. At least I never have.”
-World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Bud Munroe talking to the Daily Record before his induction into the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo Hall of Fame on Aug. 28
Courtesy of PRCA