STX Women’s Ranch Rodeo kicks off in Nixon

Anna Cook of Nixon, a 20-year-old animal science major at Texas A&M, is hosting the first-ever STX Women’s Ranch Rodeo Saturday, June 9.

The event will be held at the Nixon Livestock Show and Arena beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, and will continue until whenever they decide they’re ready to stop.

“It’s very nerve wracking to put on a rodeo to begin with, much less a women’s ranch rodeo,” she says of her arduous undertaking. “Right now, I’m pretty nervous. But I think we’ve taken the right steps, and I’ve had a lot of people help me.

“I got the idea from the WRRA (Women’s Ranch Rodeo Association) in the panhandle,” Cook says. “A few of us were interested, and we looked into it and all the stuff we had to do. It was me, (co-director) Robin Zella and (assistant director) Will Bob Iams working together.”

Cook, Zella and Iams are quick to point out they aren’t holding a WRRA rodeo, nor are they affiliated with the organization. They were, however, very inspired by that association and would like to have one similar to it in South Central Texas to accommodate the cowgirls in the Southern Texas region.

“We went around asking women if they were interested in participating, and a lot of them said ‘yes’,” she says. “So we took the idea to the Nixon Livestock Show Board, and they approved it. They gave us the facilities for free.”

As far as the rules and regulations are concerned, the women’s rodeo has it just the same as men’s.

“Jim Gates, who is the owner and director of Triple R Rodeo out of Pearsall, does the men’s ranch rodeos down around here,” Cook says. “He helped out by giving us permission to use his ranch rodeo rules, and letting us borrow cowhides. So all the rules are just the same as they are for the men’s events.”

The event will feature seven teams with four members each, engaging in competitions such as mugging, calf branding, rescue race and cowhide race. There will even be a wild hog race.

“The prize money will vary depending if all the teams show up,” Cook says. “So there will be 100 percent pay back to the top three average winning teams. There’s a lot of money to be won.”

In addition to the cash prizes, there will be custom-made bull whips by J.J. Garza to the first place team. The second place team will receive ropes donated by Sutton Ropes.

The fastest time wins, and then the average of all those events wins “the pot.”

“We’re paying out 100 percent to the top three average winners,” she said. “It’s 50, 30 then 20 percent. So they get all their entry fees back, plus more.”

Cook is really grateful for the assistance her hometown was happy to provide, and notes that the rodeo is not an event wreaking of business profits.

“We’d like to thank all the local businesses in Nixon and the surrounding ranches for all they have done for us,” she said. “And we’re giving all the money back to the contestants.

“We’ve had people help pay for the insurance, and we’ve had stores in town help pay for the stock. I’ve found that you have to be pretty good with your finances to be able to put on a women’s ranch rodeo.”

The event will also have concession stands, but if you’re wanting to buy beer, then you’re out of luck – it’s BYOB.

“You gotta bring your own beer, but no glass bottles,” Cook says. “And it’s free admission.”

So what happens if the STX Women’s Ranch Rodeo is a hit?

“This first event is kind of like a test run,” she said. “Our goal is to have such a success at this event that we can eventually progress into forming our own association, like the WRRA, so next year we can put on a series of women’s ranch rodeos.”