Rough stock school draws 30 participants
Bull riding was one of the many events that took place at the rough stock school sponsored by RRCF earlier this month. BULLETIN PHOTO/Tracy Thayer
The Ridin the River Cowboy Fellowship sponsored a “rough stock” school for aspiring rodeo cowboys May 14-16 at Mansfield Park that drew over 30 participants aged nine through 41.
“This outreach by the church is in its fourth year,” comments organizer Troy Crow. “We just want to use the sport of rodeo to make these young cowboys into men.
The weekend began with a “meet and greet” and dinner on Friday evening.
The fun began on Saturday morning when the students started learning the basics of rodeo and progressed to live action rides on Saturday afternoon. The students learned the skills needed for saddle bronc riding, bareback riding and bull riding.
Even though the stock was selected to fit the cowboy (youngsters got small animals, while teens and older folk got moderate sized animals), the animals came fired up and ready to show the riders who was boss.
Ponies, small horses and bulls gave the students some great rides and were just as feisty and spirited as their full-size brethren.
Parents cheered and church members clapped for the aspiring cowboys learning rodeo the hard way – usually with an abrupt face plant in the arena dirt.
With a little more live practice before the church service on Sunday morning, the students were able to hone their skills for the jackpot competition held after lunch.
“This jackpot is the first rodeo for most of our students,” commented Crow.
Winning the bareback competition was Kash Lyod. In the Saddle Bronc competition, Jaspur Farris took first, and in bull riding, Smiley McGinnis won the competition. Coach’s pick for bareback was Maverick Drinkard. Levi Sanchez was the Coach’s Pick for Saddle Bronc and in Bulls the Coach’s Pick was Will French. Best All Around Cowboy was Wild Willie.
The stock used in the school was provided by the Lester Meier Rodeo Company & More.
For more information on the Ridin the River Cowboy Fellowship, go to ridintheriver.com or find them on Facebook.