LIFE BEHIND THE CHUTES

Look inside Cowboy life at Wimberley Memorial Day Rodeo

It’s known as the wildest show on dirt as the 2023 Texas Open Pro Rodeo Tour made their annual stop in Wimberley for the 16th annual Memorial Day Rodeo.

While competitors in the rodeo are looking to make a name for themselves while also making a little bit of money, the rodeo is a lot more for bullrider Gene Ratliff of College Station.

“Rodeo is a big family,” Ratliff said. “It’s about a bunch of people who gather together to not only compete but also kick loose and have fun. You will not find a more tight knit community like a rodeo crowd.”

In this year’s event, the Wimberley Memorial Day Rodeo hosted twelve different events from Bronc riding, Calf Roping, Breakaway Roping, Team Roping, Mutton Busting, Barrel Racing and Bull Riding.

Kids and teenagers also competed in the rodeo in Mutton Busting, Mini Bronc Riding, Mini and Junior Bull Riding, and a calf scramble.

While on the surface, the competition is seemingly between the people themselves.

But in reality, the people in the arena are competing against themselves and the animals.

“It really is a brotherhood,” Ratliff said. “You are not really competing with the guy next to you but rather it’s man vs beast. At the end of the day, you and your buddies are there for each other and are the ones who got your back. You want everyone to do their best so I would love to see my buddy win the rodeo because he is doing his job. It’s just you vs the animal.”

Much as how the competitors are important to a rodeo, the livestock is just as important.

Lester Meier, who created the Lester Meier Rodeo Company out in Fredericksburg, is responsible for not only providing the livestock but the production of the rodeo as well.

For Meier, the animals are just as important as the competitors themselves when creating a successful rodeo.

“It’s just like anything, without the steers, the calves, the horses and the bulls, there is no rodeo,” Meier said. “What we strive to do is to have good healthy calves and steers and good bucking horses and bulls that can put on a show. With the roughstock, you don’t want to have what we call eliminators that just buck everyone off because people want them to be ridden as well. So we try to have a set of roughstock that can be ridden while having the eliminators in there as well. Tonight we had a couple of the bulls that were ridden and the horses were outstanding which is all you can hope for.”

With the Wimberley Memorial Day Rodeo going on for 16 years, Meier strives for putting together a professional yet consistent rodeo as well as giving back to the community.

“I credit the committee and for ourselves because we are really in the production of it all,” Meier said. “It comes down to the consistency of the show. Come Memorial Day you are going to see a lot of contestants and an outstanding rodeo which people will remember. That’s how this thing got started 16 years ago as a partnership with the Wimberley 4-H Club and it’s grown very well not only for them but for us as well.”

One of the competitors who had a successful weekend was Tanner Hernandez of Boerne.

Competing in both the Bull Riding and the Ranch Bronc Riding, Hernandez placed 2nd in both events and brought home nearly $1000.

Despite both events needing both riders to stay on for the full eight seconds, different strategies are needed for both a bucking horse and a bucking bull.

“In the Ranch Bronc Riding you are having to lean back while in the Bull Riding you are having to ride on the front end,” Hernandez said. “Tonight I was blessed to ride well.”

Much like his fellow bull rider in Ratliff, the rodeo life is deeply connected for Hernandez.

“It’s pretty much a Rodeo family,” Hernandez said. “We all try and cheer each other on and hope for the best.”

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc