NOVEMBER 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Bob Kingsley & Bree
people and local associations.”
“She’s [Sheri] has been instrumental to the whole thing. Because we’re
in the cutting horse business, rallying
the troops, getting connections to
Jerry of Jerry’s Cadillac and the local
level,” Jeffrey Matthews said about his
wife. “Merle and Sandi don’t know
anyone around here and they stayed
at our ranch for about a year and a
half when they moved from Red Bluff
looking for property. Sheri’s been in
the horse business, we both have all
our lives, and she’s been instrumental
in the process.”
“One of the reasons we believe in
this so much as cutters is because we
use our dogs. We use our border collies and they’re all trained to be used
on the ranch. We use them to bring
in the cattle, sort them out. They’re
working dogs and the reason this
event is so unique from other cowdog events or stock-dog trials is that
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the handlers are on horseback. Even
in some other competitions where
the handler is on horseback, it’s very
limited how much they are allowed to
use their horse; but with the Rodear
you’re allowed to use your horse as
much as you want,” Sheri explained.
“The reason we’ve gravitated to that
so much is because that’s exactly
how we work on the ranch. We’re out
there working our dogs. We’re not
out there on foot; we’re on a horse
and when we’re working our dogs
we’re not making our dogs do all the
work. We’re actually getting out there
and working the cattle with them.
That’s two really important distinctions between Rodear competition
and other stock-dog competitions. It’s
really important though, because the
Rodear simulates using your dog in
a ranch setting and that’s the thing I
really want to stress. That’s the point
of difference for this event.”
Those differences have drawn
the interest of more Parker County
residents. Having only participated
for the first time in September, Rosemary Atwood won the beginner class
and is already looking forward to
the next event coming up at the end
of October. “I got started in Rodear
after a cousin of mine had given me
a dog that was a trained cow dog. So
when Sheri told me about it she said
it would be like a fun social gathering to do. I’d never seen it in action
before and Sheri and Bob and Nan
were telling me how good Sandi and
Merle were. So I sent my dog there for
a few months and they were teaching me how to do it,” Atwood said.
Atwood practically has cutting in her
blood, having grown up on a ranch,
and has been involved in cutting
since the ’90s. “I’ve had horses all my
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