Ranch Rodeo cowboys make their living everyday working for the cattle producer, be it in the Big Bend of Texas to the Mountains of Oregon to the Flint Hills of Kansas and to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
We feel there is nothing better than “riding for the brand” (the ranch we are employed by). Difference is, when the ranch rodeo is over, the same cowboys who competed against each other will be gathering cattle with each other the next day. In the ranch rodeo arena they are competitors, but outside the arena they are doing the same thing----living the working ranch cowboy lifestyle, preserving the working ranch heritage and passing the tradition on.
It is a passionate and loyal occupation, with very extreme elements of survival. The working ranch cowboy is a very loyal, gritty individual, with the survival skills to adjust to the extreme hazards that come with the occupation.
The working ranch cowboy’s everyday life isn’t measured in seconds or standings, it is measured in horsemanship, stewardship and heritage.
A pro rodeo cowboy may have grown up on a ranch or might even live on one now---but he makes his living rodeoing, not ranching.
In 1995, a group of people from across the western United States created the Working Ranch Cowboys Association. It exists to celebrate and preserve the working ranch cowboy lifestyle and the WRCA sanctioned rodeos exist to give these cowboys a forum to show off their skills. The champions of each sanctioned rodeo earn an automatic bid to the WRCA produced World Champion Ranch Rodeo that is a means to showcase the skills of the working ranch cowboy and to raise funds for the WRCA Foundation..
