Twenty-five years ago, a group of folks associated with Falls Distributing, Budweiser and the North Texas Rehabilitation Center met to put together the first ranch rodeo in the country to honor the working Texas Cowboy. Three charities were selected to receive the proceeds: the North Texas Rehabilitation Center, the West Texas Boys Ranch and the West Texas Rehabilitation Center.
That first year, participants in the Texas Ranch Roundup were from the following Texas Ranches: R.A. Brown Ranch (Throckmorton), Coldwater Cattle Company (Borger), Cowan & Son, Circle Bar Ranch (Seymour), Double U Ranch (Post), Lewis Ranches (Clarendon), Moorehouse Ranch Co. (Benjamin), Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company (Guthrie), Renderbrook-Spade Ranch (Colorado City), Scharbauer Cattle Company (Midland), Swenson Ranches (Stamford),Rocker b Ranch (Barnhart), Tongue River & Spur Headquarters (Dumont & Spur), U Lazy S Ranch (Post), and the W.T. Waggoner Estate (Vernon).
Other participating ranches have included Bridwell Ranches (Wichita Falls), Burnett Ranches (Guthrie), Green Land & Cattle Co. (Albany), J.A. Cattle Co. (Palo Duro Canyon), Johnson Ranches (Amarillo), King Ranch, Inc. (Kingsville), Kokernot 06 (Ft. Davis), Nail Ranch (Albany), Quien Sabe Ranch (Channing), and Tongue River (Dumont). The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association joined the competition as a guest team in 2000-2001.
This year's Ranch Roundup is co-sponsored by the North Texas Rehabilitation Center and Bud Light. To be eligible to participate in the Texas Ranch Roundup, a ranch must be selected by the Roundup Committee with consideration given to working ranch status, length of ownership or management and historical significance. Contestants and alternates must be full time employees of their ranches, and they must have been employed a minimum of six months. They ride their own horse or one belonging to the ranch. What makes the Texas Ranch Roundup unique is the fact that working cowboys are performing those tasks, which are typical of everyday ranch work.
EVENTS: A display of working cowboy skills, the Texas Ranch Roundup pits real ranch hands against each other in five events executed just as they would be on the open range, Speed and style may bring success in the professional rodeo arena where entertainment is the goal, but in actual ranch work, a smoother and slower pace of movement is more important; the cowboys try their best to handle the cattle with ease, which insures heavier weights at sale time. Steer wrestling, bull riding, and other events may be popular on the professional rodeo circuit and are not part of the Texas Ranch Roundup because they did not originate in ranch work. Precision and care take years to learn on the range.
WHEN & WHERE: August 18 & 19, 2006. The Evening Arena competition begins at 7:30 PM both Friday and Saturday at the Kay Yeager Coliseum in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas. During both days, a trade show with over 200 booths will be held at the Exhibit Hall from 9:00 AM until 7:30 PM, the Ranch Cutting Horse Competition will begin Friday at 7:30 AM and a Ranch Horse Competition will take place Saturday Morning from 7:30 AM until noon at the Coliseum.