2024 PRORODEO Media Guide

STOCK CONTRACTORS

Powder River Rodeo Stock contractors: Hank, Lori and John Franzen LOCATION: Riverton, Wyo. BUCKING STOCK OF THE YEAR: Shepherd Hills Tested, 2013, also top bucking bull, 2012 Wrangler NFR; bareback horse Khadafy Skoal, 1990, 1995-96, inducted Into ProRodeo Hall of Fame, 2012; saddle bronc Miss Congeniality, 2005, 2007, top three, 2008; reserve champion bareback horse Skoal’s Frontier, 1991. OTHER NOTABLE LIVESTOCK : Craig at Midnight won the Pendleton Whisky Bareback Horse of the Year Award in 2016 after tying for third the previous year; Craig at Midnight tied for the top bareback horse at the 2017 Wrangler NFR; SweetPro’s Bruiser won top bucking bull of the 2019 Wrangler NFR. BACKGROUND: Hank Franzen, a PRCA Gold Card member, began in the PRCA stock contracting business in 1986 after spending all his life in rodeo arenas. He and his wife, Lori, started the company on their own. In those 25 years, they have earned 148 “top stock” awards, including RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo and circuit awards, and were nominated for Stock Contracting Firm of the Year in 2012-13 and 2015. The Franzens’children, Jill and John, are a huge part of their family entertainment productions. The Franzens run more than 350 head of horses, 150 head of bulls and 50 head of cows, most of them raised in the “born to buck” breeding program they started more than 20 years ago. The Franzens produce or lease stock to 35 rodeos a year. Hank has also served as stock contractor representative for the RAM NCFR and on the PRCA’s stock contractor executive council. Powder River sent five bareback horses, two saddle broncs and five bucking bulls to the 2020 Wrangler NFR. The firm won the 2019 Polaris RANGER Remuda Award. The firm’s bucking bull Chiseled earned the Pendleton Whisky Let ‘Er Buck Stock of the Year award in 2020. Rafter G Rodeo Stock contractors: Jim and Neal Gay LOCATION: Terrell, Texas. NOTABLE LIVESTOCK : Assault, top bareback horse of the 2013 Wrangler NFR. BACKGROUND: In 1958, a group of cowboys, including Neal Gay (father of eight-time World Champion Bull Rider Don Gay), Jim Shoulders, Ira Akers, Bob Grant, Harry Tompkins and D.J. Gaudin, formed the company. In 1999, Gay changed the name of his rodeo company to Rafter G. In 2020, Rafter G Rodeo sent one bareback horse, one saddle bronc and three bucking bulls to the Wrangler NFR. Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Stock contractor: Dell Hall LOCATION: Hulbert, Okla. BUCKING STOCK OF THE YEAR: Saddle bronc Alibi, 1983; bull No. 105, 1981, 1984; Skoal’s King Kong, 1998. OTHER NOTABLE STOCK SENT TO WRANGLER NFR: 2011:

13 Spade, reserve saddlebronc horse; 2012: Vertical Exit, reserve bucking bull; 2015: Bull Breaking Bad had one of three top scores of 88 and Cowboy Cool was one of top five bulls. BACKGROUND: Dell Hall has been in the stock contracting business since 1961 and a member of the PRCA since 1976. As a former contestant in both riding and timed events, Hall knows that the stock draw can make or break a contestant. Rafter H Rodeo has sent stock to the Wrangler NFR every year since becoming a member of the PRCA in 1976. Located on a ranch 10 miles northwest of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Rafter H Rodeo is a family-run operation. Dell’s wife, Betty, is a PRCA timer, while his daughter, Shelley, is the manager of the rodeo company as well as a PRCA secretary. Rocky Mountain Rodeo Stock contractor: Glenn Southwick LOCATION: Jay Em, Wyo., and Madill, Okla. BUCKING STOCK OF THE YEAR: Bull Biloxi Blues, 2006. BACKGROUND: Glenn Southwick has been involved in rodeo since his youth, when he was a bull rider. For the past 20 years, he has been contracting stock for rodeos at all levels, and he has been a PRCA member since 1998. Rocky Mountain sent a bucking bull to the 2020 Wrangler NFR. Rosser Rodeo Stock contractor: Reno Rosser LOCATION: Marysville, Calif. NOTABLE LIVESTOCK: Wrangler NFR selections have included Flood Waters, Black Jack, Dirty Water, Hot Water and Reindeer Dippin, the latter voted Top Bull of the 2004 Wrangler NFR. BACKGROUND : Established in 1994, Rosser Rodeo is a sister company of Flying U Rodeo. Its principal card-holder is Reno Rosser, son of Cotton Rosser of Flying U Rodeo, a PRCA member since 1998 who competed for more than 10 years in saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling and team roping, then worked as a bullfighter for another 15 years. Rosser Rodeo and Flying U Rodeo focus on rodeo production, breeding and genetics, investing in their own “born to buck” program for bucking horses. The firm sent one saddle bronc and a bucking bull to the 2020 Wrangler NFR. Salt River Rodeo Stock contractor: Jerry Dorenkamp LOCATION: Tucson, Ariz. NOTABLE LIVESTOCK : Primetime, top bull of the Wrangler NFR, 2001; son Out of Time, Wrangler NFR, 2005. BACKGROUND: Skip Beeler became a PRCA bullfighter in 1978, built a concrete and framing company in the Phoenix area, then returned to the rodeo industry as a stock contractor. In 2013, Jerry Dorenkamp – a longtime PRCA stock contracting partner – purchased Salt River Rodeo from Beeler; the firm sent two bucking bull s to the 2020 Wrangler NFR.

288

STOCK CONTRACTORS