Editor’s Note 10/1/14: We’re excited to be attending this event! Please take a moment between watching the houlihan’s, del viento’s, and turnovers fly to saunter over to our booth and visit awhile. It’s always great to catch up with our readers in person and we hope to see you there. — Emily

The 2nd Annual Wrangler Buck Brannaman Pro-Am Vaquero Roping will be held October 24, 25 & 26, 2014 at the Santa Ynez Valley Equestrian Center in Santa Ynez, California. The event’s namesake, horsemanship clinician Buck Brannaman, conceived this unique vaquero-style roping event building it on the model of pro-am golf tournaments where teams compete, each comprising two amateur ropers and one professional. This year, the event will run over three days instead of two—the extra day added to handle nearly doubling in size from 60 to 100 teams competing for a purse expected to be double last year’s at $50,000.

“The first year couldn’t have gone any better,” Buck says. “Everybody loved it. All the pros had a great time, lots of good vendors there. We drew a hell of a crowd—it’s amazing.”

The event is free for spectators again this year. Buck’s co-producer, Bill Reynolds, says it is important to them to make the roping a free event because it is an educational opportunity for folks to come and see that vaquero roping really is still practiced, alive, and well.

“The acceptance of the event was wonderfully significant last year,” Bill says. “It went very smoothly and a lot of that is the fact that all the people who attended—the vendors as well as the spectators—really wanted it to work. When you get that kind of good energy behind something it tends to be successful. It was very successful. We gave out about $25,000 in winnings to the teams.”

Originally, Frank Dominguez and Buck came up with the idea of a pro-am roping, Buck says. They talked about it for years, but it was Bill and Buck who finally decided to put it together.

“And then,” Buck says, “Reata [his daughter] kind of jumped in and really helped us, and really we couldn’t have pulled it off without her last year. She did a great job helping us. And a boy who works for me, Isaac [Johnson], also really helped a bunch. It ended up being a team effort.”

Buck made the decision to go from 60 to 100 teams competing this year. 50 teams will rope on Friday, 50 on Saturday, and then the top 30 teams return on Sunday for the finals. All of the money in the prize pot will be divided between the top eight teams.

“All the money that comes in from anything that’s brought in goes into the bucket for putting it on, paying the facility and all that, and what’s left goes into the bucket for the winners,” Bill explains. “Depending upon how many sponsors we get determines how much we give out to everybody, but we’ve surpassed the $25,000 of last year already, so we know we’re on the road [to the $50,000 goal].”

The vendor space is increasing this year as well. Most all of the vendors who were there last year are returning along with at least five additional ones.

“This year it’s going to be a bigger event than last year,” Buck says. “All the vendors we have are really classy vendors. There isn’t going to be a single booth that you’re just going to walk by and dismiss. You’re going to want to look at every one of them.”

Another change this year is that ropers are allowed to rope on two teams rather than only one. Last year there were 12 pros matched up to the 60 teams/120 amateurs.

“Most of those guys and gals [the pros] are coming back,” Bill says. “This year in addition to those, Martin Black is going to be there as a pro, and some other guys, so we will have 20 individuals. Each of the pros rope with five different teams. And they will be picked at random. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The attendance at last year’s event was four to five times what was expected. Things went extremely well considering the sizable interest, and this year big turnouts are anticipated for each day.

“There’s probably going to be 800 people there a day watching it,” Buck says. “It’s a big deal and people are really excited. There’s ropers coming out of the woodwork that want to get in it. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the fact that we’re getting a lot of money up in prize money. It’s kind of a labor of love for us because we didn’t do it to make money on it—we’re not making a penny on it. We pay our expenses on the cattle and stuff and every penny goes back to the ropers, which makes it pretty unique in that sense because a lot of people who put on ropings, they’re trying to make a little dough on the side. This one, you win the roping, you win a lot of money.”

Bill noted that last year people traveled from all over the country and Europe for this roping competition—both as contestants and spectators.

“I think it’s a testament to Buck,” Bill says. “When people come to this, the event is populated with people who really do love this culture and people who really want to share it. It’s not some sort of ol’ boys club. And that in itself creates, I think, an environment that’s really supportive of what it’s about.”

Teams, Go Order & Pros

NOTE: Adjustments will occur, be sure and check brannaman.com for updates on teams and order.

The Pros have been assigned. Plan to arrive Thursday, October 23 around noon. See the Spectator tab for the list of hotels in the area. Any questions contact Reata Brannaman at reatabrannaman@gmail.com

Day 1
Arena 1

1. Peter Taylor – Vince Muselli – Bobby Gordon
2. Lyman Clark – Matt Clark – Peter Campbell
3. Reata Brannaman – Devon Castle – Frank Dominguez
4. Bill Flynn – Jay Hogan  – Billy Askew
5. Trevor Carter – Tara Carter – Joe Wolters
6. Steve Howard – Russell Speaker – Scott Groskopf
7. Jim George – Jess Brackenbury – Dwight Hill
8. Cody Real – Joaquin Real – Jade Cooper
9. Logan Ferry – Dave Ferry – Cleve Anseth
10. Michael Giacopuzzi – Bruce Sandifer – Haines Holman
11. Cody Dawson – Sean Sowa – Ty Van Norman
12. Agapito De La Cruz – Adam Spence – Buck Brannaman
13. Jon Ensign – Rudy Lara – Dan Locke
14. Jeremy Morris – Paul Erickson – Caleb French
15. Bruce Campbell – Scott Davis – Jeff Hansen
16. Seth Redding – Marty Hedoesit – Matt Mori
17. Trevor Carter – Shamus Haws – Lorenzo Laurecia
18. Jymme Dominguez – Devon Castle – Martin Black
19. Terry Rodgers – Darian Morgan – Joe Wolters
20. Jennifer Black – Kyla Rianda – Ira Walker
21. Jim Prewitt – Wyatt Bourdet – Bobby Gordon
22. Jennifer Black – Clayton Edsall – Peter Campbell
23. Gary Ruttan – Robert Phinney – Frank Dominguez
24. Gary Myers – Bill Flynn – Billy Askew
25. Fabian Banderas – Randy Huber – Joe Wolters

Arena 2

1. Jeff Ohaco – Boone Campbell – Scott Groskopf
2. Noah Cornish – Wes Ferazzi – Dwight Hill
3. Scott Mc Culloch – Mike Monighetti – Chance Gee
4. Lyman Clark – Gabe Clark – Cleve Anseth
5. Mike Morgan – Darian Morgan – Haines Holman
6. Kyla Rianda – John Rianda – Ty Van Norman
7. Sterling Grosskopf – Dick Grosskopf – Buck Brannaman
8. Scott Davis – Luke Ferrari – Dan Locke
9. Don Chase – Jeremy Morris – Martin Black
10. Tom Harrington – Steve Howard – Jeff Hansen
11. Caleb Munns – Cody Hill – Matt Mori
12. Chris Bohenek – Ty Heth – Lorenzo Laurecia
13. Trapper Rodgers – Mike Morgan – Martin Black
14. Michael Giacopuzzi – Jeremy Dunn – Chance Gee
15. Jeff McKee – Seth Scribner – Ira Walker
16. Gabe Clark – Matt Clark – Bobby Gordon
17. Kevin Hall – Ty Weber – Joe Wolters
18. Isaac Johnson – Noah Cornish – Frank Dominguez
19. Logan Ferry – Wyatt Clark – Billy Askew
20. Clayton Edsall – Wyatt Bourdet – Joe Wolters
21. Kip Fladland – Wes Ferazzi – Scott Groskopf
22. Jeremiah Sobenes – Michael Bruce – Dwight Hill
23. Mike Monighetti – Pat Boyle – Jade Cooper
24. John Wright – Allen Renz – Cleve Anseth
25. Don Chase – Christian Clews – Haines Holman

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Day 2
Arena 1

1. Jim Prewitt – Adam Donati – Ty Van Norman
2. Valerie Chase – Jay Ohaco – Buck Brannaman
3. Scott McCulloch – Pat Boyle – Dan Locke
4. Derek Shaw – Bruce Campbell – Caleb French
5. Vito Antoli – Paul Bonnello – Jeff Hansen
6. Adam Donati – John Donati – Matt Mori
7. Jeff McKee – John Rianda – Lorenzo Laurecia
8. Staci Grosskopf – Dick Grosskopf – Martin Black
9. Gary Myers – Jay Hogan  – Chance Gee
10. Seth Scribner – Justin Bogle – Ira Walker
11. Valerie Chase – Glynna Hoekstra – Bobby Gordon
12. Walt Geisler – Geisler – Peter Campbell
13. Kevin Hall – Tom Harrington – Frank Dominguez
14. Dave Gamble – Chris Bohenek – Billy Askew
15. Tom Curtin – Ed Disney – Peter Campbell
16. Derek Shaw – Luke Ferrari – Scott Groskopf
17. Boone Campbell – Jeffrey Mundell – Dwight Hill
18. Gil Camarillo – Victor Cruz – Jade Cooper
19. Alie McKee – Gene Armstrong – Cleve Anseth
20. Sean Sowa – Ty Weber – Haines Holman
21. Ty Heth – Gary Ruttan – Ty Van Norman
22. Seth Redding  – Stacee Redding – Buck Brannaman
23. Cody Real – Gil Camarillo – Dan Locke
24. Paul Erickson – Cody Hill – Caleb French
25. Tom Curtin – Trina Curtin – Jeff Hansen

Arena 2

1. Michael Bruce – Jake Bowman – Matt Mori
2. Robert Phinney – Hyde Kramer – Lorenzo Laurecia
3. Dave Gamble – Isaac Johnson – Caleb French
4. George Masek – Joel Elliot – Chance Gee
5. John Wright – Greg Renz – Ira Walker
6. Roy Pelkey – Randy Huber – Bobby Gordon
7. Glynna Hoekstra – Mike Tarrant – Peter Campbell
8. Bill Barnes – Rick Myers – Frank Dominguez
9. Sterling Grosskopf – Staci Grosskopf – Billy Askew
10. Jeremiah Sobenes – Jeff Ohaco – Jade Cooper
11. Shamus Haws – Mike Warner – Scott Groskopf
12. Roy Pelkey – Christian Clews – Dwight Hill
13. Ed Disney – Marty Hedoesit – Jade Cooper
14. Bill Barnes – Wayne Anderson – Cleve Anseth
15. Trapper Rodgers – Terry Rodgers – Haines Holman
16. Kevin Jones – Jeremy Dunn – Ty Van Norman
17. Paul Dietz – Jacob Bowman – Buck Brannaman
18. Peter Taylor – Colton Shields – Dan Locke
19. David Wratchford – David Morrison – Caleb French
20. Reata Brannaman – Jymme Dominguez – Jeff Hansen
21. Paul Dietz – Joel Elliot – Matt Mori
22. Matt Coats – Maurice Thibault – Lorenzo Laurecia
23. Joe Olla – Paul Bonnello – Martin Black
24. Kip Fladland – Rick Myers – Chance Gee
25. Vince Muselli –  – Ira Walker

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The Pros

Here is the list of Pros coming to rope. These are very talented ropers and it will be great fun to see all these folks competing.

1. Bobby Gordon
2. Peter Campbell
3. Frank Dominguez
4. Billy Askew
5. Joe Wolter
6. Scott Groskopf
7. Dwight Hill
8. Jade Cooper – 4
9. Cleve Anseth
10. Haines Holman
11. Ty Van Norman
12. Buck Brannaman
13. Dan Locke
14. Caleb French
15. Jeff Hansen
16. Matt Mori
17. Lorenzo Laurecia
18.  Martin Black
19.  Chance Gee
20. Ira Walker