Oliver Saddle Shop commemorates 100 years with a bona fide cowboy competition in Amarillo, Texas.

T.J. Bohlender and Reece Roberson
T.J. Bohlender and Reece Roberson of Clymer Cattle pen a yearling at the Oliver Saddle Shop’s 100th Anniversary Celebration.

A long history of working together pays big dividends in the end. The Clymer Cattle crew of Claude, Texas, proved that to be the case by winning the 3-in-1 ranch rodeo event at the Oliver Saddle Shop’s 100th Anniversary Celebration, held July 22 in Amarillo, Texas.

“We don’t compete in ranch rodeos,” says Mike Johnson, one of the cowboys on the Clymer Cattle team. “We work together all the time. It helps a lot.”

Mike Johnson and his teammates of Clymer Cattle won the 3-in-1 event.
Mike Johnson and his teammates of Clymer Cattle won the 3-in-1 event.

The celebration included a ranch bronc riding and a 3-in-1 event, which requires a team of three cowboys to work three yearlings turned loosed in the arena. One yearling is penned, another is doctored (headed, heeled and marked with chalk), and the third yearling is roped and tied down. The fastest time wins.

Johnson and his teammates, T.J. Bohlender and Reece Roberson, won the 3-in-1 event by completing their run in 2 minutes and 9 seconds.

The team-focused cowboy competition was appropriate for marking Oliver Saddle Shop’s 100 years of business. Family-owned for four generations, the Amarillo shop operates with the help of a dedicated staff, which includes Richard Oliver, grandson of founder Claude Oliver, and his two sons, Zeb and Bryan. All three build saddles, as did Richard’s father and grandfather.

“We’re proud of that,” Richard says. “God has blessed us. It wouldn’t have happened any other way.”

The celebration also featured a ranch bronc riding, won by Tanner Hart.

Richard added that the event was also designed to benefit the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, which through its foundation has assisted many ranch families that have fallen on hard times. During the rodeo, Oliver Saddle Shop presented a check for $2,500 to WRCA.

“It’s our way of giving back to cowboy families,” Richard says. “There is no better way to do that than through the scholarships and crisis fund of the WRCA.”

Richard Oliver and family standing by saddles
Oliver Saddle Shop is owned and operated by (from left) Richard, his wife, Sharon, and sons Bryan and Zeb.
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