Daily Archives: January 11, 2010

It is a commitment to excellence that made Fergus Falls’ own Red Horse Ranch Rodeo the winner of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association of America’s (WPRA) award for the 2009 Small Committee Event of the Year, and owner Leigh Barry said that same commitment will only improve the Red Horse Ranch Arena in the years ahead.

The arena’s annual rodeo is a full Professional Rodeo Cowboys of America (PRCA) affair, boasting events as varied as barrel racing, bull riding, steer wrestling and more. The award, according to the WPRA’s Web site, is given to “recognize those partners who have gone out of their way to encourage, spotlight and appreciate the WPRA membership.” A small committee event is one that offers under $5,000 in prize money. Barry speculated that what set the Red Horse Ranch Arena’s rodeo apart was the attention to detail.

“We make sure the ground is right [and that] all of the conditions are even for our competitors,” Barry said. The arena also provides good accommodations, meals for competitors, VIP seating, quality stalls and other little things that Barry identified as points of pride for the arena. (read more)

Stan Williamson of Okmulgee, a two-time world rodeo champion, has been hurt plenty in his steer-wrestling career.

“There might be somebody there to fix you at the bigger rodeos,” he said. “But at a small rodeo, you’re on your own.”

Rodeo athletes will now have access medical providers around the United States and in Canada through the Rodeo Medicine Referral System launched this month. It is sponsored by the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

“I think this will go big,” Williamson said.

He is well acquainted with the inconsistent medical care that goes with being a rodeo cowboy. He also knows that most rodeo cowboys won’t stop competing just because of injuries.

“You want to go try to win something, not go to a doctor,” he said. “Unless you’re around that culture, you don’t really understand.”

That lack of understanding is a problem with many physicians too, said Dr. Mark Brandenburg, a Tulsa emergency physician and the system’s medical director.

“Part of it is the cultural divide the rodeo athletes face when they enter a doctor’s office. They may have a ripped tendon or dislocated shoulder, yet they get no empathy or cultural understanding of rodeo life by the physician,” he said. (read more)