ProRodeo Sports News - July 10, 2020

people we have coming,’ and they (the stock contractors) were amazed too,” said Dr. David Peck, secretary of the Woodward Elks Rodeo committee. “I was going through the current standings and it was, ‘Boom- boom-boom, man, look at that!’ We might find one from the top 20 every once in a while, and the timing of it kind of put us on the map.” The Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fouche, S.D., celebrated its centennial in 2019 with more than 850 contestants. This year, that number ballooned to 1,275. The Liberty National Xtreme Bulls competition in Lawton, Okla., typically has 80 cowboys enter, but this year it had 111. “The more (contestants) there are, the tougher it’s going to be, and it was good bull riding,” said Maury Tate, owner of Mo Betta Rodeo Company and producer of the Liberty National Xtreme Bulls. “The big thing was there were no turnouts.” “It’s an honor to even have a rodeo this year, and a lot of that has to do with having such an open state and an extremely good governor,” said Keith Anderson, Chairman of the Black Hills Roundup committee. GROWING WITH THE FLOW As the first rodeo up, the spotlight was on Cave Creek. “We had it dialed in and know how to go about it, and the contestants were cooperative, and it went almost like clockwork,” Cornell said. “We took some guidance from the PRCA, managed to bring it in and kept track of everyone.” Woodward set a limit of 48 cowboys for bareback riding and saddle bronc riding and 60 for bull riding when the rodeo was moved from July to June in 2018. This season marked the first time reaching those limits. “I didn’t think we would ever see 48, and we had 48 in both of those,” Peck said. Typically, slack at Woodward is one evening. This year it was a full day and finished the following morning. The increase in contestants for the Black Hills Roundup first hit the committee’s radar at about noon on the day entries opened. “We only take 60 bull riders, but 130 had entered already,” Anderson said. “The roughstock was second to none for the caliber of athletes.” That didn’t give the Black Hills Roundup crew much time to prepare. “We basically put this thing together in six weeks,” Anderson said. “We were cheated out of three months of preparation, but it all came together with a great volunteer crew and the board of directors delegating tasks.” The Black Hills Roundup typically has 50-75 volunteers, but more were needed this year to help keep the area sanitized. “We had people going through the grandstands to wipe handrails and sanitize the bar areas, and it added a lot to what is already a lot of work,” Anderson said, adding that their rodeo is run entirely by volunteers. “Our local hospital helped on getting protocols in place to manage and maintain it, and that was a huge help.” It was a different story in Lawton. “We were really hoping to get more than what we got,” Tate said. “We thought we might get 150, but it was good with 111.” Finding enough stock is the other half of the battle. “Heath Stewart helps me with it, and he said to take everyone who enters,” Tate said. “We knew we would have the bulls for it.” About the only change Lawton’s Xtreme Bulls competition had was cutting back on the clown acts so the event could run through each bull ride in a reasonable amount of time for the fans watching. “With bull riding fans, the more they can see, the better,” Tate said.

Alaina Stangle photo Horse trailers fill the rodeo grounds at the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche, S.D. This year’s rodeo had 1,275 entries, about 400 above normal.

RISING NUMBERS An increase in contestants at several rodeos this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic meant an increase in total payouts. • Woodward, Okla.: $158,580 in 2020, up from $135,620 in 2019 • Belle Fouche, S.D.: $220,395 in 2020, up from $136,131 in 2019 • Cave Creek, Ariz.: $78,372 in 2020, up from $75,412 in 2019 • Lawton, Okla.: $19,270 in 2020, up from $16,262 in 2019

ProRodeo Sports News 7/10/2020

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