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Flat-hats from Nevada, sharp creases from Oklahoma and cattleman’s brims from New Mexico. They all converged in Amarillo, TX the weekend of November 9th-12th, 2006 for the 11th Annual World Championship Ranch Rodeo, sponsored by the Working Ranch Cowboy’s Association (WRCA). This was the finale of a year of working cowboys competing in sanctioned events for the distinction of being known as the best of the best. These cowboy teams have competed throughout the year using their ranching skills in events such as team doctoring, bronc riding, team branding, wild cow milking and team penning.

A total of 23 ranches qualified for this year’s finals, with 128 total cowboy (and cowgirl) competitors traveling from Oklahoma, Nevada, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota, Missouri and Texas.

According to Keith James of Datil, NM, Team Captain of the Ute Lake & Yolo Ranch team, “The bronc riding is the most dangerous. We’re lucky because our team has done well in this event and are contenders this year with Jake McCorkel. The calf doctoring is our strongest area because we’re all good ranch ropers with rodeo backgrounds”.

As for their weakness; it’s team penning. “So much of the penning depends on luck and how the cattle you draw behave”. As for the wild cow milking, “It really doesn’t happen on the ranch this way…” according to team member Gregg Gudgell. “….if we have to milk a cow she’s gonna be roped for sure!”

James’s team qualified for the WRCA finals by winning the Ft. Sumner, NM ranch rodeo a few months back. Team members include James, his brother Ken, Jake McCorkel, Gregg and D’Aun Gudgell and Devin Kanapilly.

Like many teams, The Ute Lake and Yolo Ranch team represents two outfits that combined to form one team. “We just didn’t have enough guys to have individual teams. My brother Ken runs the Yolo in Arizona and my buddy Gregg (Gudgell) operates the Ute Lake Ranch near Logan, NM. Together we have a great bunch of cowboys.”

Monroe Timberlake, cell phone to his ear, had some arrangements to make at the end of the Ranch Rodeo Competition at the Amarillo Civic Center.

“We have two trailers to pull home,” he explained before his enthusiasm bubbled over the top: “Woo!”

He had good reason to be excited. He and his teammates on the Monroe & Timberlake Ranch and AzTx Cattle Co. team were named world champions at the Working Ranch Cowboys Association’s World Championship Ranch Rodeo.

“Everybody wants to be a world champion at something,” he said. “Just being called a world champion will stand out in my mind for a good while. Whatever you do, you want to win the world.”

So that accounted for one trailer: a 20-foot stock trailer courtesy of Gooseneck Trailers. The other one, a 16-foot Gooseneck trailer, was awarded to teammate Rodey Wilson of Canyon, Texas, for being named the top hand at the rodeo.

Wilson piled in more honors when the horse he was riding, Budha Enterprise, owned by Becky Meyring, also of Canyon, was named the top horse at the rodeo. Since “Budha Momma” is a registered American Quarter Horse, she was also named the top Quarter Horse of the rodeo. That award was sponsored by the American Quarter Horse Association.

Wilson describes Budha as one of the best horses he’s ever ridden. “She’s just a good all-around horse. She’s fun to rope on; she’s fun to work cattle on. She’s really calm and quiet around cattle, and she’ll really cut a cow.”

But then again, it’s in the 7-year-old mare’s blood. Her sire, Natural Enterprise, once placed in the top 10 in reining at the AQHA World Show, and his sire was a world champion son of Be Aech Enterprise, a member of the National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame. Budha Momma’s mother is a daughter of Doc’s Budha, who earned more than $86,000 in National Cutting Horse Association competition.

So, if Budha Momma comes by her talents naturally, so does Wilson. His father, John Wilson, was also on the team, and gesturing toward him, Timberlake said, “I’ve learned more from this guy here than anybody. He’s been in every situation that there is, and he just keeps us sane.”

John Wilson, for his part, chuckled humbly and explained that he has worked cattle for just about all of his 52 years. So, can he take credit for teaching his award-winning son the ropes?

“I went with my dad (to work cattle) ever since I was 2 years old,” said Rodey. And as he got older, “He was there to get me out of school every day at noon. He’s run cattle and worked cattle his entire life, and he’s never had a hired hand. I’ve been the only one that’s ever helped him.”

The Wilsons, who work for AzTx, find themselves roping and working cattle on a daily basis, and so does Timberlake, so there wasn’t a need to practice for the ranch rodeo.

“It seemed like things just seemed to fall into place pretty easily,” Timberlake said, which was a contrast to last year, the team’s first time to qualify for the championship rodeo. In 2005, the team members had some bad luck in their very first performance, which took them out of contention.

Other team members include Jason Thomas and Matt Mardis, who both do day work for AzTx.

It was western shopping paradise as vendors from all over the country filled the Amarillo Civic Center as part of the final’s weekend. From custom saddles and spurs to western collectables, this was the place to spend a year’s wages. Add a world class art show and sale with benefit auction and it becomes pretty tough to leave empty handed! In fact, the savvy buyer could easily outfit the ranch, headquarters and himself at the WRCA trade show event.

The weary shopper had plenty of reasons to find a chair and sit-a-spell as cowboy poetry and western music were offered as part of the weekend activities. If that wasn’t enough, The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) offered free demonstrations and problem solving techniques from their expert members and competitors. Other activities included a full fledged Ranch Horse Competition and for the kids, Pokey’s WRCA Junior Ranch Rodeo Finals.

Originally the dream of several men and women across the United States, the WRCA was established in 1995 to “preserve the lifestyle of the ranch cowboy and promote ranching on a national level”. According to the WRCA, this includes a continuation of what America stands for; strong work ethic, high self-imposed standards and basic values. The organization also provides scholarship opportunities for members and their families, awarding 22 scholarships in 2006, worth over $24,000.

Another part of the organization’s mission is to provide assistance to cowboys and their families in crisis through their Working Ranch Cowboys Foundation.

For more information on WRCA events, membership, and foundation fundraising, visit their website at www.WRCA.org.

The WRCA Championship Rodeo is held every year in Amarillo, TX, in November.

Christina Fleming is a writer, clinician and horse trainer living in Tucumcari, NM. She can be reached at NMVaquera@plateautel.net.