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Cowboys Ropin' In The Open
Cowboy skills competitions have become quite popular, but there’s only one event that takes place in a real working ranch pasture, according to Mac and Pat Scott. They started “Ropin’ In The Open” 10 years ago and now hold it every year on the first Saturday of October at their New Cambria, Mo., ranch.
  The ranch has a natural amphitheater, so visitors can view the action from the hillside. Without any fences, it’s challenging for cowboys. If they go out of sight from the announcer’s stand, their time isn’t counted.
  Competitions include: cow/calf penning, roping and branding, cow milking, and sorting out a steer.
  “All the spectators and cowboys like it. Basically, we simulate what we do on a working ranch,” Scott says. Branding, for example, uses a cold brand that makes a lime mark.
  It’s not a moneymaker, Scott admits. He just hopes to cover expenses and offer a fun event for people in the area. Participants pay $100 each, and adult spectators pay $5. The majority of the money goes into a jackpot for prizes and buckles.
  “If it weren’t for family and friends helping, we couldn’t do it,” Scott adds. Helpers provide extra corral panels and assist his wife in the cook shack.
  It takes 12 to 14 teams of 4 cowboys for the Scotts to cover the event costs. Cowboys travel as far as 200 miles to compete.
  Scott invites anyone interested in Ropin’ In The Open to contact him.
  “My goal is to have it good enough to show on RFD TV,” he says. “It’s neat to have something that’s the only one like it in the country.”
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mac and Pat Scott, 12652 Bear St., New Cambria, Mo. 63558 (ph 660 226-5351; mpscott@cvalley.net).


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2011 - Volume #35, Issue #6