Craig McKenzie, taking home the 2nd place award for Ranch Bronc Riding. (Photo by WDPhotos)
Sperry Horses and Reid Ranch teamed up for the 6th Annual NILE Ranch Rodeo Finals, held annually in Billings, MT. In order for teams to get to the finals, they must place well in one of the NILE sanctioned Ranch Rodeos from across the region. The team of Sperry and Reid qualified for the Finals at the local Neal Hermanson Memorial Ranch Rodeo in Sidney. The team brought home 4 awards at this year’s finals, including 1st in Team Branding, 3rd in Wild Cow Milking, and 2nd in Ranch Bronc Riding. Placing in 3 categories also won them 3rd in Top Teams.
Sperry Quarter Horses is a family owned ranch near Trotters, ND. They have been a horse oriented ranch since 1999, when they started focusing on top-notch horse breeding, raising, and training. The team members for this year’s rodeo were: Craig McKenzie, Wilbur Reid, Robert Sperry, Clint Neshem and Jason McNally.
The Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) started in 1966 as a livestock show. In 2006, the NILE added Ranch Rodeo to their fall events. This event and the display of real ranch cowboys quickly became popular across the region. It wasn’t until 2009 that they established the Finals and the qualifying sanctioned rodeos across the region.
On the NILE website it states, “The NILE is dedicated to the promotion of livestock promotion, agricultural education, and respect for our western tradition. We believe those are important for the future of agriculture and we ask you to join us if you share those same values. As partners together we can accomplish more than any one individual”.
This year’s Rodeo Finals were held in Billings, MT in the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. On October 17th, at 7:00 pm, 12 rodeo qualifying teams gathered to show off their skills in the categories including: saddle bronc riding, team trailering, team branding, team doctoring, and wild cow milking.
The team of Sperry/Reid placed 1st in Team Branding, where the 4-person team has 2 minutes to catch two calves and get them branded on their ribs on either side. The winner is determined by the fastest time on two calves.
Sperry/Reid also placed 3rd in Wild Cow Milking, in which a 3 or 4-person team has 2 minutes to catch a cow and milk it. They must fill a 12 oz. longneck bottle and run it to the judge. Fastest time wins.
In Ranch Bronc Riding, a rider will “ride as ride can” for 8 seconds. Points will be awarded for difficulty of the horse, degree of aggressiveness, control, and exposure demonstrated by the rider. Sperry/Reid tied for 2nd in this category.
In order to be eligible for the team championship, teams must enter all events. The standings in each category are given points and added up to determine the team winners. The team of Sperry/Reid came out in 3rd place in the Team Championship category.
When asked how they felt it went, Robert Sperry with Sperry Horses stated, “Overall the rodeo went well. I feel we work well as a team. We all have our place in the ranch rodeos as to which job we are going to do. We would have placed better if we had drawn better cattle for the team trailering event, but that is how the luck of the draw is. We did our best with what was dealt to us. Our team was on top of their game, and I feel we did the best we could and worked well together. We enjoy getting together as a team and giving it our best. There are some great teams at these and we always like the challenge.”
Sperry/Reid has been to the NILE Ranch Rodeo Finals once before. “Last year was our first year at the Nile Finals and we won 1st place and Robert Sperry was honored with top hand of the rodeo receiving a saddle,” Robert Sperry mentioned.
Overall, a successful couple trips to the NILE Finals for the Sperry/Reid team.
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