Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Courtesy photo: Susan VickVick's all-women rodeo team wrestles a calf during the tie down event in Derby, Kansas, last year.
Couresy photo: Lynde MayLynde May keeps the rope tight while her teammate, Megan Burris, ties down the steer."We had women's rodeo last year, but this is our first year for RCRA sanctioned women's rodeo," Elliott said. "It really is pretty impressive to watch those girls do their thing," Elliott said.
When mild mannered Melrose accountant Susan Vick leaves the office Friday, she will transform into a dirt-eatin', calf-wranglin', rope-slingin' cowgirl.
Courtesy photo: Susan Vick
Vick's all-women rodeo team wrestles a calf during the tie down event in Derby, Kansas, last year.
The 38-year-old mom, who has been rodeoing for three years, will compete at Clovis' Grab the Gold rodeo with her all-women rodeo team, which includes DeAnn Parsons, a school teacher from Portales, Stacy Mathis, a real estate agent from Roswell and Shannon Pope, who works for Hunter Creek Farms, a foaling facility in Roswell.
"I played a lot of softball in high school so I love team sports and I'm very competitive," Vick said. "It's a good opportunity to go out with the girls and improve our ranch skills."
The team won first place in the rodeo mugging event last year at Derby, Kan., and plans to compete in 16 rodeos this year, not including finals.
Unlike other rodeos, a ranch rodeo includes competitions based on tasks performed by ranch hands on a daily basis.
Vick said three of the women on her team are married to ranchers, all hold down full-time day jobs, do ranch work on weekends and rodeo as a hobby.
"We try to have fun. We don't let the pressure get to us," Vick said. "When we have fun we do really well and win or lose, we know we got the fun part down."
The Grab the Gold Ranch Rodeo, opening Friday at the Curry County Events Center, is in its third year and is the highest paying ranch rodeo in the world, according to organizer Jaree Elliott.
The $135,000 in cash awards has attracted two National Finals Rodeo contestants to the event, Elliott said.
"These guys are competing for some big money," she said. "It's exciting."
The three day event will host its first Ranch Cowgirls Rodeo Association all-women rodeo on Sunday.
Couresy photo: Lynde May
Lynde May keeps the rope tight while her teammate, Megan Burris, ties down the steer."We had women's rodeo last year, but this is our first year for RCRA sanctioned women's rodeo," Elliott said. "It really is pretty impressive to watch those girls do their thing," Elliott said.
The rodeo, which has grown from 15 to 40 teams this year, will be televised on HRTV, a satellite channel, and entitled "Riding to win."
Coli Hunt, owner of Joe's Boot Shop, said "This is an economic boon to the community." Hunt, the sponsor of the event, said "I've had several restaurant and gas station owners tell me this is their biggest weekend of the year."
Days Inn and Suites manager Ted Sandoval said Thursday morning "We're booked all weekend."
Elliott said competitors from six different states, including Utah and Nebraska, have registered for the event.
Hunt said ranch rodeo competitors and their families should bring more than 500 people from outlying states into town this weekend, and 1,000 more are expected next weekend for a calf roping event.
The rodeo will give adventuresome folks the chance to ride a mechanical bull, attend a free hamburger feed at Joe's Boot Shop, or browse 20 vendors that will be on site selling everything from jewelry to saddles, Elliott said.
An auction on Saturday will give attendees the chance to bid on quarter sides of beef, antelope and cow elk hunts and other items, with proceeds going to the RCRA rodeo crisis fund.
Ticket prices — $12 at the gate-kids under 12 are free. $3 off with military I.D.
Schedule of events
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
By the numbers
Number of cowboys competing — 240
Number of cowgirls competing — 52
States represented at the rodeo — Seven: New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Nebraska and Utah.
All-women's rodeo event definitions provided by Vick:
Sorting: Each calf in a herd is marked with a number. Each rodeo team member draws a number and attempts to cut that particular calf out of the herd, without letting the other calves cross a designated line. Vick said this is the most difficult event in the competition.
A good time for the event: 45 seconds
Doctoring: A calf is released from the opposite end of the arena. Team members are required to lasso its head and heels, dismount and place a mark on its forehead.
A good time for the event: 20-25 seconds
Trailer loading: Team members cut a calf out of a herd, herd it the other side of the arena into a livestock trailer, dismount, load two horses on the trailer and secure the doors.
A good time for the event: 45 seconds
Branding: This event requires a team of four; one roper, two flankers and a brander. The team pursues a calf, ropes its heels and applies a chalk brand to its flank.
A good time for the event: 60 seconds
Mugging: Team members get two chances to rope a calf's head and heels and flip it on its side.
A good time for the event: 40-45 seconds
National Finals Rodeo contestants competing in Clovis:
