News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail – Feb. 24
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo donated $30,000 to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and $25,000 to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame during the Feb. 20 performance.The fundraising effort is undertaken by the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Fall Committee, which is chaired by Terry Olivarri.The Cowboy Classic Golf Tournament,benefiting the JCCF and Hall of Fame,was held Feb. 18 at the Republic Golf Club in San Antonio.The tournament was sold out and many contestants joined in the fun, including Heith DeMoss (who also stepped in to help auction off some items), Cody Taton, Chet Johnson,Cort Scheer, Ty Kirkland andR.C. Landingham …
Matt Tyler, a team roping header who competed in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for 20 consecutive years (1986-2005) and won the WNFR average title in 2003, heads the induction class which will enter the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame this spring. He will be joined in the men”s category by Ricky Canton, who holds the tie-down roping world record with a 6.3-second run in Strathmore, Alberta, in 2005; five-time NFR tie-down roping qualifier Johnny Emmons; four-time NFR steer wrestling qualifier Rick Bradley; three-time National Finals Steer Roping qualifier Jimmy Hodge; 1985 NFR steer wrestling qualifier Olie Smith and stock contractor Roy Carter. Eight-time World Champion Don McLaughlinwill be inducted in the deceased category along with 1976 NFR tie-down roping qualifier Butch Bode and J.D. Tadlock Sr. The ceremonies will be April 11-12 in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District …
Four-time PRCA Bullfighter of the Year Dusty Tuckness came up on the short end of a face-to-face confrontation with a bull Feb. 20 at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, Ariz., ending up with 35-40 stitches in his right ear. And, yeah, he reported for work the next day …
Jarrod Branch”s great tie-down roping horse Peppys Docarony (Peppy), 17, was euthanized Feb. 24 in San Angelo, Texas, after being stricken with a virus that paralyzed her hind legs. Two-time World Champion Tuf Cooper rode Peppy when he won the Justin Boots Championship in Omaha two years ago and she was also ridden with great success by reigning World Champion Shane Hanchey, 2008 World Champion Stran Smith, Clint Cooper, Jerome Schneebergerand Jake Hannum. Branch”s father, Roger, rode Peppy at the 2005 American Quarter Horse Association World Finals when she was named reserve champion …
Cord McCoy, a bull riding qualifier at the 2005 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, and his brother, Jet,were back for their third adventure on the CBS-TV reality series The Amazing Race when it made its season debut Feb. 23. This is an all-star edition of the show and the McCoys are back in harness chasing a $1 million prize after finishing second in season 16 and lasting nine weeks in season 18. The McCoys finished first in this season”s premier episode, aptly titled Back in the Saddle. “We continually hear from fans that they want their favorites back and we listened to them,” said Phil Keoghan, the show”s host …
A German crew from Profil GmbH Film, working on a show which explores the difference between real 21st century cowboys and those in the movies, followed 2010 Wrangler NFR tie-down roper Joseph Parsons around while he competed at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, Ariz. They also visited Parsons” ranch in Marana, Ariz. “Their perception has been a little bit off,” Parsons told the Arizona Daily Star. “They talk about lassoing, and they don”t understand what we say when we”re going to go rope. They think it”s maybe a little more of the old Wild West.” …
Bennie Beutler, whose family has been providing stock for La Fiesta de los Vaqueros since 1952, was named a lifetime member of the Tucson Rodeo Committee on Feb. 23, an honor that has been bestowed just twice before, to Jim Ronstadt, the former director of the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department, and Louise Serpa, the legendary rodeo photographer …Cody (Wyo.) City Council members have approved a $175,000 community enhancement grant application to the Wyoming Business Council to enclose the south grandstand at Stampede Park, creating a Western façade. The grant will match funding from the Cody Stampede Board to cover the project”s $350,000 cost and will allow construction of “small rooms which can be rented, without any structural changes,” Stampede Board President Larry Johnson told theCody Enterprise. At present, the space under the grandstands is unused except for the Mo Betta Rodeo Company store. The addition will complement the new steel archway and Americans with Disabilities Act parking lot which were added to the rodeo grounds last October …
Clay Crago and Justin Tupper, officers of the Black Hills Roundup Rodeo Committee, appeared before the Belle Fourche (S.D.) City Council on Feb. 18 to outline initial plans for a $37,294 renovation of the bucking chutes at the rodeo grounds, and to get the city council”s approval and assistance in revamping them in time for the annual Fourth of July weekend rodeo. Preliminary plans call for replacing the bucking chutes, the alleys leading up to the chutes and raising the crow”s nest, so a gate can be installed beneath it. Tupper said if money allowed, they would also like to create some extended walkways above the chutes. “Those are proposed things,” he said. “The high school rodeo committee and Black Hills Roundup have teamed up with this proposal to pay for those chutes in a joint venture split.” …
Bob Irwin, Chief Operating Officer at the Georgia Fairgrounds, projects that this past weekend”s Georgia National Rodeo in Perry produced a net benefit to the community of $3 million …
Thousands of people attended the Cowboy Breakfast at the Long Center Feb. 21, which served to kick off the 76th annual Rodeo Austin (Texas). The event began at 6 a.m. with biscuits and gravy served out of a chuckwagon operated by Brianand Susan Frankum. There was live music from Barry Chinn and Route 66, as well as exhibitions of trick roping and chainsaw art …
The Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo board elected Dan Morgan and Scott Pernaa asdirectors at their Feb. 19 board meeting.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I love the horses, the animal athletes. I am impressed what those guys (saddle bronc riders) can do on them. It”s kind of like an automatic chiropractic adjustment every time you get on a horse.”
— Deborah Barnett, the first female chairman of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in the Tucson Rodeo”s 89-year history, telling the Arizona Daily Star about her favorite event to watch.
Courtesy of PRCA