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2009 ICA Rodeo Committee of the Year:
Fairfield, ID
BY SARAH SKAAR - reprinted courtesy
of Horse Sports
FAIRFIELD, Idaho - The country around
Fairfield, Idaho, is a patchwork of rocky, sage-dotted grazing
ground, cattle ranches and high desert farms. Cowboys, cowgirls and
saddle horses are a common sight, crossing the range or traveling
the mostly gravel roads between pastures. Many top amateur and
professional rodeo athletes hail from nearby, and several herds of
NFR-quality broncs and bulls pasture in the scablands stretching for
miles to the south and west.
For an area steeped in the real "western lifestyle" the lack of a
local rodeo was unusual. But until 2009, there hadn't been one in
Fairfield since 1968. The western tradition is back now, with
second-year plans even more ambitious.
Several factors contributed to the rodeo resurrection . . . Brent
Williams, the unofficial chairman of the new committee, has family
photos from the last Fairfield event - his grandmother's brother
riding bucking horses in a grassy field ringed by parked pickup
trucks. The fair board of the sparsely populated rural county was
interested in adding a rodeo to Camas Prairie Days and Fair - but
didn't have facilities or the extra personnel to do it. Brent and
his partner, Royce Ford, had a stock contracting business and
arrangements with timed event contractor, J3T cattle (Jeff Faulkner)
for roping and dogging stock.
A rodeo tradition, a supportive community, and a crew of
hard-working cowboys brought rodeo back to the tiny rural community
of 200.
"It went even better than we could have hoped," says Brent, who was
joined by Rachel Pantone and Royce Ford as the committee. "Don Gill,
the manager of the Gooding Rodeo, helped us so much. We met with the
fair board and they said they were behind it if we could do all the
work. It was just amazing how much support there was from the
community."
The rodeo is a bonus for the community and great exposure for one of
Idaho's newest stock contracting businesses: Williams and Ford
Rodeo.
After supplying rough stock and using J3T timed event cattle for
three years of high school rodeo, the partners looked to the ICA as
another market for their services.
"To be approved as an ICA contractor you had to bring a new rodeo
(to the schedule)," Brent explains. "We wanted to do something with
Fairfield, and decided we were willing to work really hard to put on
a great rodeo and to show the ICA and everyone else what we could
do. We used our stock but also brought in some of another
contractor's bucking stock for the Sunday perf, to change it up a
little. We wanted them to see that we take this seriously."
When the Fairfield Rodeo Committee began planning their debut event
they pledged to make it a great experience for the spectators, the
contestants, and the community. Certainly they had plenty of
hands-on experience to draw from: Williams is a former ICA and PRCA
bull rider; Royce Ford is a Colorado-based PRCA bareback champion;
and Rachel Pantone is a savvy cowgirl with the organizational smarts
to promote and run the complex event.
Brent says, "We were new and our rodeo was the same weekend as some
others on the ICA schedule. That can work for and against you. But
we had cowboys say they'd support us and they did. I think this year
(2010) the dates are working out so it's going to work well for
everyone."
Williams acknowledges that putting a rodeo together from nothing was
a major undertaking. And one that they could not have accomplished
without the much-appreciated time and labor invested by Jeff
Faulkner, Casey Brunsen, Royce, Rachel, himself and many others,
including businesses that pitched in with equipment and materials.
For a full month before the early August dates, the crew labored
over a patch of hard, bare ground at the edge of town, building
bleachers, working the dirt, laying out pens and setting up the ICA
arena. MORE IN THE JUNE ISSUE OF HORSE SPORTS.....
Favorite Links:
Professional Western Rodeo Association (PRO-WEST)
Northwest
Professional Rodeo Association (NPRA)
Intermountain Pro
Rodeo Association (IMPRA)
Miss Rodeo America
WT Bruce Photography
Horse Sports
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