YOUR AD HERE »

Jan Swan Wiid: Bozo put down, ranch rodeos and ranch bronc ridings galore, ranch roping clinic, Newell Playday Series, Ken Cook pole clinic

It sure felt summery last week. Hotter’n a $2 pistol! Our stretch of country has been awfully dry and that hot weather really turned the green that was left. I’m going to keep telling myself that the grass will be extra potent though. Not washy at all.

I must have been dozing and didn’t hear at the time, but I got word this week that the great old barrel horse French Flash Hawk, aka Bozo, was put to rest on May 4. He was 29 years old and had had a wonderful life and a dignified death. Owned from his two year old year on by Kristie and Chuck Peterson, he brought the Sun Frost bloodline into the spotlight in the barrel racing world. He carried Kristie to the NFR many times and won the world multiple times. His lifetime earning exceed the $1.3 million mark. The arena record that he and Kristie set at Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1996 still stands. He was an amazing, tough, gritty competitor that truly enjoyed his work. He’ll surely never be forgotten.

One June 17-18 in beautiful Miles City, Mont., will be the Miles City Ranch Rodeo and Bronc Riding! It is a WSRRA sanctioned, Eastern Montana Ranch Rodeo qualifier. June 17 will be the women’s ranch rodeo, plus the bronc riding, with 20 entries. There will be a 5:30 calcutta, with the ranch rodeo at 6 p.m. On the 18th will be the open ranch rodeo and the top 8 bronc riders back for a short go. The calcutta that day is 12:30 with the performance at 1 p.m. There will be a street dance that night at 9 p.m. For info call 406-951-4735 or 406-951-1564.



The Sheridan (Wyo) Vaquero Roping Series are as follows: June 18 at Mefford’s Arena, Sheridan, Wyo.; July 2 and 3 at Box Equal Ranch, Weston, Wyo.; August 6 and September 3 at Mefford’s in Sheridan. For info, call 307-751-3374.

There will be a Ranch Roping Clinic at Gillette, Wyo. on June 18-19 with Herb and Caleb French. They’ll cover the cattle handling, horsemanship and various loops during the clinic. Beginners will be in the morning with others in the afternoon. What a great opportunity to improve every aspect of your horsemanship and roping! You can call Claudia at 307-660-8469 for more information.



The 10th Annual Custer Ranch Rodeo and Bronc Ride will be June 25 at Custer, Mont. There will be a grand entry at 4 p.m., then the ranch rodeo, with the open ranch bronc riding after that. Entry fees for the ranch broncs is $75 and pays out 100%. To reserve a bronc, call 406-354-6012 or 406-853-3474. This is great family entertainment at a family friendly price admission with adults getting in for $5 and the kids free. There are also kid’s events such as calf race, stick horse bronc ride, and a boot race. It would probably be worth the drive and admission just to watch that stick horse bronc riding. I remember some pretty rank stick horses from way back and they’ve probably gotten tougher with those good bucking stick horse breeding programs.

The Rainbow Bible Ranch east of Sturgis, S.D. will be having it’s Dakota Horse Challenge Finale at the RBR Arena on June 25 at 1 p.m. There have been 11 horses with 11 trainers and it will be fun to see what they’ve gotten done with those good ranch raised colts.

The Newell Playday Series has announced it’s dates! They are Mondays, June 27, July 11, July 18, and July 25. Enter from 3-4 p.m. and it starts at 4:30. I’m pretty excited about this as my grandboys like to be in this and that means they need to come to Grandma’s house to ride their horses and get ready!

There will be a ranch rodeo at Jordan, Mont. on July 9 with 10 open teams, four women’s teams, and 10 ranch bronc riders. Entries opened on June 4 and you can enter by calling 406-557-2313. The events are wild cow milking, branding, rustler race, and team penning.

Big Horn Ranch Days (formerly Will James Roundup) at Hardin, Mont. will be July 9-10 at the Big Horn County Fairgrounds. Saturday will have Youth ranch horse competition, tie down stray gathering, and women’s ranch rodeo. On Sunday will be the open ranch rodeo, ranch bronc riding, women’s steer stopping, and pony races. For entries call 307-620-5830 or for other info, call 406-670-3400 or 406-665-9957.

There will be a Ken Smith Pole Bending clinic on August 8-10 at Sidney, Mont. The advanced clinic is August 8 and is limited to 7 riders and costs $350. The two-day clinic open to ages 12 and up will be August 9-10 for $350. You can call or text Tanya at 701-260-1847 to find out more.

Well, that’s my very long circle for this week. I’ll put my tired, sweaty horse up and say so long!