Ranch rodeo captures the heart of day to day cowboy life

With most people’s work it is the end product that is interesting to other people. For a journalist you read the story, there is little intrigue in watching the interview or the hours of the writer sitting over a keyboard. With cowboys and cowgirls, the end product is a steak or a burger, both interesting, but not always as interesting as the work that was done to get them to your plate. 

Ranch rodeo has showcased the work that cowboys and cowgirls do to get that burger to your plate and made it competitive and spectator friendly. It’s a completely different vibe than you find at the pro rodeos where cowboys are driving all over the map for the opportunity to win a few thousand dollars in eight seconds, but it is no less exciting. 

It starts with four cowboys (or cowgirls,) a stock trailer and five head of cattle. A judge on horseback drops a flag to start the clock and the cowboys get to work. They’ve got seven minutes to get all of their tasks done. 

First they use their horses to cut out the two calves and get them out an arena gate. If they’re having a good day, the horses do the work of sorting the calves from the cow and steers and the calves recognize and go through the gate before a cowboy latches it and they move on. It doesn’t always go that way. About half the time a stubborn calf gets a better idea than going out the gate and the cowboys have to run it down, turn it around and convince it that the gate is its best option. 

Next the cowboys will generally split into teams of two to tie down one steer and trailer the other. Trailering the steer is often the most difficult and entertaining of the tasks. Roping the steer is step one, then the challenge becomes convincing the steer that its best life choice is to go into the dark trailer. This is often where you can feel the cowboys second guessing their life choices. 

A wide variety of tactics go into play to get this done. Often there is a cowboy inside the trailer trying to encourage the steer to come inside. A proven strategy is to loop the cowboy end of the rope through the side vent on the trailer and use the power of the horse to pull the steer inside. When all else fails, it never hurts to throw manpower at the problem and get your team together to push the steer in. Once the steer is in, the rope is out and the trailer is latched the judge drops the flag to declare the task complete.  

Tie down roping a steer is a considerably different task than the tie down roping of a calf that you see in a pro rodeo event. It starts with a head and heels team roping. Once the steer is immobilized, one (or more) cowboys will dismount and wrestle the steer to the ground where they will then tie its feet. The judge keeps a close eye to make sure the steer stays tied for six seconds. Once the flag drops the cowboy unties and releases the steer. 

Whichever team finishes their task first will take to doctoring the cow. Again there is a head and heels team roping effort to get the cow on the ground. Then a cowboy dismounts and goes to mark the head of the cow with a dauber that was given to the team before the initial flag drop. Remembering who has the dauber and getting it before the cow can work free of the ropes is often the challenge here. Once the task is done to the judges satisfaction, the cow is released to its feet and the team sets to getting all of the cattle out of the same gate the calves were sorted through earlier. When the cattle are out and the gate is latched the flag drops one last time and the clock stops. 

It’s a day's work for the cowboys, but with a few lucky breaks it can be done in about three and a half minutes. If the clock reaches seven minutes, the team is disqualified and they sort the cattle out of the arena so the next team can test their skill. 

The teams with the top five times participate in an exciting Calcutta auction to determine how much prize money will be on the line. While that is important, the most rewarding and important aspect of this work seems to be the camaraderie of competing over a beer or two and the bragging rights that winners will have until next year.