Ranch, Rodeo, And Random News Outlet

Anyone venturing into the great outdoors this summer in Texas should be ready for chiggers. That’s the message from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist Dr. Mike Merchant in Dallas. He said reports of chiggers to AgriLife Extension offices have seen a sharp uptick in recent weeks compared with normal seasons over the last 28 years.   “If my phone calls are any indication, this appears to be a whopping chigger season,” he said, adding that unseasonably high temperatures and humidity during June have likely produced perfect conditions for chigger reproduction and higher populations in time for summer. These nearly microscopic mites climb up a person’s legs, leaving red, itchy bites as high as the armpits and usually concentrated near the “sensitive skin areas” around the waistline. Bites are itchy for a few days and take up to two weeks to disappear. “They’re my personal worst nightmare,” Merchant said. “The only good thing I can say about chigger...

A Wichita Falls man has been arrested on theft charges in a case that encompasses more than 10 counties in Texas and Oklahoma, 8,000 head of cattle and outstanding loans of more than $5.8 million. The arrest is the result of an investigation led by Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Rangers John Bradshaw and Troy McKinney. The investigation began more than a year ago in March 2017, after Bradshaw was contacted by representatives of the First United Bank in Sanger. It was indicated that Howard Lee Hinkle, 67, had defaulted on several loans with past due balances totaling more than $5.8 million. When bank officials acted on a court order to gather the approximately 8,000 yearling cattle put up as collateral, they were unable to locate any of the animals. Hinkle had purportedly told the bank the cattle were scattered across properties in 10 counties in Texas and Oklahoma. Bradshaw enlisted the assistance of fellow special rangers to help identify an...

Lari Dee Guy left no doubt about why she’s the winningest female roper of all time on Thursday during BFI Week in Reno. The horse trainer and roping clinician from Abilene, Texas, won first and second in the Charlie 1 Horse All-Girl Challenge Team Roping. She took home a total of $25,500, along with multiple saddles, buckles, spurs and the custom Montana Silversmiths bronze awarding her mare, Sabrina, as the best head horse of the roping. Lari Dee Guy and Brazile horse award Photo: Olie's Images “This is the one all-girl team roping I have never won,” said the seven-time WPRA world champion. “I’ve won the Wildfire on both ends and I’ve won the Windy Ryon at both ends, but this was eluding me.” Wrangler BFI Week is annually held in conjunction with the "Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West" and was  live-streamed daily on  www.wranglernetwork.com . It  kicked off in Reno on June 18 with the 41 st Annual Bob Feist Invitational (BFI) and wrapped up with the Charl...

New Mexico’s Chris Francis and Cade Passig bested 108 of the top teams in the world to win the 41st Bob Feist Invitational. A couple of lifelong friends from New Mexico corralled the biggest win of their lives Monday at the 41st edition of the Bob Feist Invitational in Reno. The BFI presented by Yeti annually kicks off Wrangler BFI Week in conjunction with the Reno Rodeo, dubbed the "wildest, richest rodeo in the West."        Chris Francis, 40, and Cade Passig, 24, of Las Vegas, New Mexico, roped six steers in 43.34 seconds for first place, padding their pockets with $122,000 cash, tens of thousands of dollars in prizes and bragging rights for winning the oldest, richest and most prestigious invitational team roping in the sport. Known for its 18-foot head start for extra-strong steers, the BFI is a challenge even for the professionals. “This roping has been around so long and all the greats have won this,” said Passig. “And some of the best cowboys in th...

Seventy students from the Texas 4-H program will attend college thanks in part to $1.4 million in scholarships from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™, presented during the Texas 4-H Roundup in College Station, Texas, Thursday, June 14, 2018. “Texas 4-H is the largest youth development program in our state, promoting knowledge, leadership and self-confidence through hands-on learning experiences, many of which involve some facet of agriculture,” said Joel Cowley, Show president and CEO. “Because these goals and values directly align with those of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, it is very rewarding to recognize the accomplishments of these talented scholars.” Of the 70 students receiving a Texas 4-H scholarship, 57 percent are female and 43 percent are male. Students hail from 50 different counties across Texas, and will be attending 19 different Texas colleges and universities. They will major in 32 different fields of study. The top two universities these scholars...