Started in 1995, the Working Ranch Cowboy Association (WRCA) was established, in part, to preserve and promote the heritage of the working ranch cowboy and his traditions. Since that time, 12 world-class championship rodeos have been held in Amarillo, Texas, each of which has featured the top ranch rodeo teams from around the country.
In 2007, the WRCA sanctioned 22 rodeos in eight states, and the 22 winning teams from those rodeos all got together last November in Amarillo to decide which team was the very best one of all.
The World Championship Ranch Rodeo has become a huge annual event that brings thousands of people together to watch more than 100 of the nation's best working ranch cowboys compete in five ranch-style events ranch bronc riding, team doctoring, team penning, wild cow milking, and team branding.
In addition to the four days of rodeo competition, participants and attendees also enjoyed a gigantic cowboy trade show, a top-notch Western-art show, cowboy poetry and music, a ranch-horse show, a horse-training clinic, and a fund-raising auction that benefits the charities of the WRCA. The Working Ranch Cowboy Foundation supports ranching families in need, both through its crisis fund and its college scholarship fund.
Picture captions: Top left, Rodey Wilson, winner of last year's Top Hand and Top Horse awards, carries in the colors in the opening ceremony of the WRCA World Championships. Wilson won reserve Top Horse this year and is part of the AzTx Cattle & T4 cattle team based in Hereford and Canyon, Texas. Top right, Brad Shadle of the Meyers Cattle Company & Mimms Cattle Company team shows a little style as he tips his hat to the fans. Bottom left, Lee Hart, this year's Reserve Top Hand winner, drops a perfect head loop on his doctoring cow. Hart is with the D&M Cattle Company out of Greeley, Kansas.
The winners of this year's rodeo were:
World Championship Ranch Team - Sandhill Cattle Co., Earth,
Texas
Reserve Champion Ranch Team - Hatchet Ranch, Hachita, N.Mex.
Third-Place Team - Thompson Ranch, Munday, Texas
Fourth-Place Team - Lazy B Ranch/Beachner Bros. Livestock, Grenola and St. Paul, Kan.
Top Hand - Hegan Lamb of Thompson Ranch, Munday, Texas
Reserve Top Hand - Lee Hart of D&M Cattle Co., Greeley, Kan.
Top World Championship Ranch Rodeo Horse - Top AQHA Horse - PG Shogun, owned by Craig Haythorn of Haythorn Land & Cattle Co., Arthur, Neb.
Hard Luck Cowboy - Brooks Bland
Event Winner-Ranch Bronc Riding - Sandhill Cattle Co., Earth, Texas
Event Winner-Team Doctoring - Sandhill Cattle Co., Earth, Texas
Event Winner-Team Penning - Buck Creek Ranch/Scribner Ranch, Cottonwood Falls and El Dorado, Kan.
Event Winner-Wild Cow Milking - Thompson Ranch, Munday, Texas
Event Winner-Team Branding - Lazy B Ranch/Beachner Bros. Livestock, Grenola and St. Paul, Kan.
Ranch Horse Show-Ranch Hand Division - YB One Bar, shown by Tim Washington
Ranch Horse Show-Cowboy Division - Josephs Yellow Chick, shown by Kelby Phillips
Ranch Horse Show-Junior Horse Division - Lectic Lad, shown by Kelly Sullivan
Ranch Horse Show-Senior Horse Division - PG Shogun, shown by Craig Haythorn
Overall ranch horse show winner, the 2007 WRCA Top Working Ranch Horse - PG Shogun, shown by Craig Haythorn
