Cowboy Up_1A
The Coors Cowboy Club Ranch Rodeo has a mystique for promoting the cowboy way across the Texas Panhandle and surrounding areas, which include New Mexico and Oklahoma.
It’s mission is to honor the everyday ranching culture and showcase what the cowboys do on a ranch on a day-to-day basis.
One cowboy on display this weekend at the annual event is Zack Burson. Burson, who grew up in Silverton and is a 2005 graduate of the school, is now the assistant manager and cow boss of the 290,000-acre Bell Ranch in Conchas Dam, N.M., which is a division of the Silver Spurs Ranches.
The Bell Ranch is competing at this rodeo for the fourth year in a row and Burson says it’s one of his ranches
favorite weekends.
“We love this rodeo,” said Burson, whose Bell Ranch won the Coors Cowboy Club Ranch Rodeo in 2013. “We’re in a secluded area so it’s neat to let the cowboys off the ranch and be able to do something that they enjoy. They come can come let loose and it gives them something to compete in. This is stuff we do everyday.”
Burson adds that he loves the fact that this rodeo is unique compared to a regular rodeo.
You won’t find bull riding, instead you’ll see more of a team sport which brings together cowboys and has them working in unison to rack up points in events like stray gathering, trailer loading and wild cow milking.
“It makes a huge difference, ”said Burson, whose favorite event is stray gathering.
“It’s cool to have your buddies out there with you. It makes it more fun than just being out there competing by yourself.”
This also gives cowboys a chance to compete and come see some of their friends from other ranches across the area.
“There is a lot of competition,” Burson said. “We all trash talk each other but that makes it fun.
“If you can’t have fun while giving each other a hard time there is no sense in doing it.”
Burson hopes this rodeo also educates the public on how hard each ranch works.
“A lot of the world doesn’t know what we do or where there beef comes from,” said Burson.
“As an agriculture industry I think we need to educate the general public and I think that is what this rodeo does.”