Monday, November 10, 2014

Cowboy Hats, Wild Cows & Blindfolded Roping


For the last 19 years, the best ranches from across the U.S. have gathered in Amarillo, TX for the World Championship Ranch Rodeo. As the main event for the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, this ranch rodeo separates the best from the rest of the top-notch cowboys. On Sunday, Royce and I attended. It was the first time for me, but let me tell you: it didn't fail to impress!

The five events provide a good peek into the day in the life of a ranch cowboy, from riding ranch broncs to milking a wild cow. I'm really glad I never pursued that dream I had of working on a ranch full time after watching these cowboys on Sunday. I would not have survived the first day!

The entire show was superb, and unfortunately, most of my iPhone photos turned out blurry so I don't have many to share today. I did manage to get a couple of videos of the intermission show: the charro ropers from Escamilla Entertainment. These guys were seriously bada** with their ropes. Watch the videos below. You'll see what I mean.

The most important knowledge I took away from the WCRR, however, was the realization of just how many people still make their living the Cowboy Way. Sure, we have cows on our farm/ranch, but nothing to the scale of these ranches. Those ranches, despite their size, still have people out there checking, doctoring and caring for those cows all the time. That's amazing. If I, a person who has been around agriculture her entire life, didn't make those connections, how can the average American who is three or more generations removed from the farm? We as an agricultural industry need to share our story. A good place to start would be inviting them to events like the WCRR.

This, my friends, is impressive. What more could they possibly do?


Try putting a blindfold on a guy, giving him a rope and letting him jump another rope. Wow!


How many cowboy hats can you count in this photo?

This is the tenth day of my 30 Days of Texas Panhandle Agriculture series. To read more, please visit this introduction post. If you have questions or ideas you'd like me to write about concerning Texas Panhandle agriculture, I'd love to hear from you!

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