News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail, May 1
Jacobs Crawley, the 2015 PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Champion, is expected to be sidelined for 10 days with a sprained right wrist on his riding hand. Crawley is leading the May 1 WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings with 82,152.”I jammed it in Red Bluff (Calif.) last week getting off with the pick-up man and hitting the ground hard,” Crawley said. “Then, I was getting on bulls all week and I got on a bull in Jourdanton (Texas) on (April 27), the night before Corpus Christi (Texas), and I stretched my foreman out real bad and I couldn’t squeeze my rein in Corpus. I tried to ride in Corpus and I got bucked off in one jump. I was supposed to go to California the next day and I just doctored released out of this next week of rodeos to try and get healthy, and leave that bull riding to the bull riders.” Crawley had not ridden bulls in about 11 years, and he rode some practice bulls leading up to competing in Jordanton. “I was riding bulls to test myself to see if I could still do it. I had a lot of fun and it was a blast doing it, but once it started messing with my bronc riding, that might have been the debut and finale (of his bull riding) all on one. I got bucked off in Jourdanton right before the whistle.”
Kaycee Feild, a four-time bareback riding world champion (2011-14), will be out of action for six to eight weeks after suffering a broken right riding arm April 28 at the Clovis (Calif.) Rodeo. “I was riding a young horse at Clovis and at about six or seven seconds he got mad and threw himself down,” Feild said. “He drove my elbow into the ground where his weight came up over and he compressed my arm down into the ground. I broke my right arm in 2010 and I still have plates and screws in that arm and it broke this time right at the end of the plate. My goal is to get back by the Reno Rodeo and then hit the road hard for the Fourth of July.” The Reno (Nev.) Rodeo takes place June 15-24.
Walter E. Mecomber of Cheyenne, Wyo., passed away April 27. He was 83. He was a fifth-generation Cheyenne resident. Mecomber worked for KFBC television station as a cameraman and farm and ranch reporter. He was a civil engineer at Lowry Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo., from 1962-94. Mecomber worked for several rodeo companies as the arena gate man, and he was a volunteer on the contestants’ committee and the committee for Cheyenne Frontier Days. He was proud to be able to say he attended 80 consecutive Cheyenne Frontier Days celebrations.
After a one-year hiatus, the annual Mineral Wells (Texas) Rodeo trail ride returns this year. Sponsored and organized by the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse, the ride is set for May 11. Lineup begins at 7 a.m. (CT) at the PCSP grounds in Weatherford at 2251 Mineral Wells Highway, just west of the Ric Williamson Memorial Highway. Riders must have release forms signed and be ready to leave at 8 a.m. Forms can be found on the PCSP’s website www.parkercountysheriffsposse.com. The Mineral Wells Rodeo is May 11-13.
The start of the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo was delayed to Tuesday. Blizzard conditions and high moisture snarled traffic in and around Guymon as of Sunday afternoon. Steer roping was scheduled to begin Monday, but organizers have opted to postpone it until 9 a.m. (CT) Tuesday at Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena. Instead of four go-rounds, steer roping will only feature three rounds. “It’s important that we keep everyone as safe as possible, and this is in the best interest for the contestants, their horses and the livestock they’re going to compete on,” said Earl Helm, president of the committee that produces the annual rodeo. “The arena itself is in good shape. It can handle a lot of moisture, so that’s not the delay. The travel conditions are dangerous, so it’s just best to be safe.” The rest of competition should go on as scheduled. The rest of the timed events – tie-down roping, team roping and steer wrestling – will take place Wednesday and Thursday, and the first round and part of the second round of barrel racing is set to begin Friday morning. Forecasters are predicting a slight chance of rain Wednesday, but the rest of the week looks to be clear of poor weather. Performances are set for 7:30 p.m., May 5; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., May 6; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 7.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I’ve just been getting my feet under me and staying consistent, and getting ready for the summer and I think I’m in the right place.”
– Bull rider Trey Benton III said on Pro Rodeo Roundup with Rob Matthews. Benton has been battling injuries the past couple of years and won the Red Bluff (Calif.) Rodeo and is 16th in the May 1 WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings with $28,421.
Courtesy of PRCA