Common sense is the mantra during this summer’s excessive heat when caring for rodeo livestock, according to Regan Mc-Kellips of C.R. McKellips Rodeo Company.
The Raymore, Mo.,-based rodeo company brings its rough stock to Iola this week for the 27th annual Allen County Fair Rodeo. The rodeo kicks off the 119th annual Allen County Fair with two nights of action Friday and Saturday.
Performances are at 8 o’clock each night at the rodeo arena in Riverside Park.
Tickets for each performance can be purchased at the gate for $10 for adults and $5 for children 6-10. Children age 5 and younger will be admitted free when with a paid adult.
It will take two event tickets per adult and one per child to attend the rodeo. The annual fair rodeo is sponsored by B&W Trailer Hitches, Humboldt, and Twin Motors Ford, Iola.
The Allen County Rodeo is sanctioned by the United Rodeo Association (URA) and the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association (MRCA).
“We’ve been going all summer and we haven’t had to cancel any performances because of the heat. It is hard on the animals and people alike and we really watch our stock even closer during the hot weather,” McKellips told the Register in a telephone interview Tuesday.
“It’s using livestock common sense to start with and we’ve made a few changes on the care of the stock this summer.”
They travel by night as much as possible instead of when they normally load the stock and move in the morning or early evening. The animals are left on water longer during a competition day.
“Here at home, we’re fortunate that our pond is spring fed so we haven’t had to worry about a water supply for the animals,” Mc-Kellips said. “We have had to feed more hay and grain to the animals because the grass is pretty much gone.”
McKellips said their rodeo herd is large enough to alternate stock throughout the rodeo season. The rodeo company produced a rodeo at Pleasant Hill, Mo., last weekend and have a one-day rodeo at Corder, Mo., Thursday before traveling to Iola.
“We rotate our livestock so they don’t have to perform every show for us. We are fortunate that we have quality bulls and bucking horses to do this. Once we get to a rodeo, we are leaving the animals in more open areas as long as we can and not penning them up too soon. We’ve even used sprinklers at one rodeo,” McKellips said.
There are nine standard rodeo events — bareback bronc riding, calf roping, Forty and Over calf roping, girls breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, team roping and bull riding — sanctioned by both the URA and MRCA. The URA is headquartered in Yates Center.
Allen County’s mutton busters will hit the rodeo arena at 6:30 each night. Registration starts at 5:30, plus there is an early registration period. There is room for 60 mutton busters — 30 each night — before the rodeo performances. The top five mutton busters will ride again during the rodeo. The sheep are provided by McKellips Rodeo Company.
For boys and girls, ages 7 and under, Friday has the boot/shoe race and Saturday features a stick horse race. The boot/shoe race has each child taking putting one boot or shoe in a pile at the center of the rodeo arena.
