Three Generations
Continued from page 31
NOVEMBER 2016 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
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with both dogs and horses at the same time . “ It ’ s a great challenge . It ’ s fun to get out there with your horse and dog and move those cattle . And who doesn ’ t love to just watch dogs work ?”
The Newtons wanted to bring Rodear to Texas because “ there seems like there ’ s more people who know how to ride in Texas .” When asked what they hope to accomplish by bringing Rodear into the limelight , Merle said , “ We want to familiarize people with it and get more people to participate and see how it ’ s going to work , so that people understand . Most other cow dog competitions have a lot of rules . This is on horseback and there are no rules . You get points for accomplishments and you won ’ t get disqualified for waving your hand or running your horse or going into an obstacle . We want to see how you work your horse like you would at home .”
“ Weatherford is the hub of the cutting horse industry and always has been , but with the National Reining Cow Horse Association moving their largest events to Fort Worth , this event is perfect for this area ,” Jeffrey Matthews said . “ Cutting horses are to Weatherford what racing is to Lexington . This is such a perfect sport for Parker County and lots of people have horses here and they also have stock in horses . The biggest Rodear event to date was out in Fort Klamath . It was the biggest because people from New Zealand , Australia and Canada hosted the event and they brought other dogs , dogs that weren ’ t border collies . To say this is a border collie only sport isn ’ t fair .”
“ Border Collies make up about 90 percent of the competition ,” Sheri said . “ There ’ s a lot of people here who get having dogs but don ’ t get the true correlation between a true horse / cattle operation and how this event simulates the work we do on ranches . That ’ s what is important to put out there and that really speaks to our horse population . That ’ s who we ’ re trying to promote this to . The people who ride and the people who work cows , are in the business of ranchsorting or cutting or run cow horses or are just ranchers . A lot of people who compete in this are ranchers .”
Now that they ’ ve started , both the Newtons and the Matthews are ready to get the ball rolling . “ Rodear is all about having fun and spreading the joy . There ’ s nothing more fun than completing a task with your two best friends — your horse and your dog . That ’ s how we ’ d do it on the ranch . You use your horse and your dog to get done what you need to ,” Mark Newton said . “ You know , Outback Steak House has a motto that I really like and it fits Rodear perfectly . It says , “ No rules , just right .” We give people the freedom to work the way they would at home . A lot of times you leave a gate open or something and you lose points . Rodear isn ’ t like that . We just want people to have fun and relax . We just want to spread the joy .”