Women saddle up for debut of ranch rodeo
The first women's ranch rodeo in the history of the Marion County Fair will debut at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at the fairgrounds in Hillsboro.
Teams of four will compete in several events including trailer loading, calf doctoring (roping), team sorting, and calf branding.
Callie Peterson, rural Marion, was instrumental in organizing the event. She is being assisted by Chuck McLinden, also of Marion.
Peterson said men's ranch rodeos have been around for a long time, but women's ranch rodeos are quite new. She has been participating in women's ranch rodeos for about three years and has been a member of a winning team four or five times.
Peterson and Pat Christiansen, Durham, are working ranch hands and often act as a team gathering and roping cattle.
The two are part of the only local area team which will compete in the rodeo. The other members are B.J. Claussen, Burns, and Lana Steuve, Olpe.
Known as the "Rafter P," the team has competed in women's ranch rodeos at Ellsworth and Council Grove.
Peterson said four teams have signed up. She's hoping for a total of five or six. The deadline is today, Wednesday.
She said she is pleased with the response so far. The event has gotten a lot of publicity and attracted many good sponsors to provide prizes. First and second place prizes will be awarded in each event, as well as a first and second place all-around.
McLinden assisted a sister-in-law in putting on a similar event at Council Grove. He will be announcing the event at Hillsboro.
Peterson believes it will prove to be entertaining.
"It's fun to watch just because people don't see women doing this kind of thing," she said.
