Category

Rodeo

Like a West Texas ranch that still hauls out the wagon for brandings, the Stock Horse of Texas Association hasn't changed much, either. Oh, it's grown during the past decade-both in memberships and the number of yearly events-but it's stayed true to its roots.

 

In the last decade, professional rodeo has skyrocketed into the mainstream. Cowboys have become superstar athletes, and fans turn out in record numbers to cheer on their favorite riders. So why has PRCA, rodeo’s driving force, had to fight to stay alive?

Fancy loops, masterful horsemanship and great gear are just part of the allure of the Californios Ranch Roping & Stock Horse Contest. The buckaroo brotherhood and unguided stock-handling philosophies are what make it a tradition.

Active ImageTime off and a change of scenery prior to January’s AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Show proved just the right mix for Sixes Pick and Chance O’Neal. 

Known for his playful personality and love of the spotlight, Sixes Pick felt right at home in January as he made history on versatility ranch horse competition’s biggest stage. The Four Sixes stallion carried Chance O’Neal to the open championship at the first-ever American Quarter Horse Association Versatility Ranch Horse World Show, held during the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, Colorado.

Despite the stakes, the horse was as laid back as ever while performing in both the Denver Coliseum and the National Western Events Center during the two-day competition.

"I haven't felt the need to compete since I retired," says seven-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association all-around champ Ty Murray. "I haven't missed competition or felt the need to replace rodeo with some other competitive event."

She’s already the National High School Rodeo Association’s student president and a champion competitor, but this summer Raley Mae Radomske will take on a new set of challenges—college, developing a career and reluctantly parting with the horse that helped fuel her success.

Seven years ago, a horse-crazy kid and a reject cutter joined forces. Then-11-year-old Raley Mae Radomske wanted a horse she could spend every waking moment with, and then-5-year-old Venture On Me, also known as “Harry,” needed someone with a lot of free time. Together, they’ve ridden seemingly a million miles on the Radomske family’s Venture Farms and Caribou Creek Ranch in Ellensburg, Washington.

Two months from now, the pair will make what could be their last ride together, at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Farmington, New Mexico. Raley Mae will try to become just the second cowgirl to win three NHSFR girls’ cutting titles.

ImageFirearms engraving has been around for hundreds of years, but acclaimed engraver Ernie Marsh helped popularize the smoky finish on bits and spurs.

MUCH OF ERNIE MARSH’S JOB
as a bit and spur maker is mechanical by nature, but the craftsman thinks more like an artist than a machinist. His creative expression starts in his imagination and is unleashed when he picks up his hammer and chisel.

Each time the craftsman engraves a new pattern or attempts to resolve a problem with an existing design, he grabs a pencil and sketches scrolls on anything in front of him. Unlike a fine artist who has a large, blank canvas on which to create, Marsh’s challenge as an engraver is to find ways to fill odd-shaped spaces with fluid, attractive patterns. Scrollwork is one of the most graceful, ornate elements Marsh has found to fill space, and they provide limitless design possibilities.

Marsh’s uncontrollable urge to use scrollwork started more than 20 years ago, when he first discovered its decorative value in firearms engraving.