A ranch rodeo in Glouster brings the Western lifestyle to Ohio

GLOUSTER, Ohio (WOUB) — Racing against the clock, a cowgirl swings her lasso through the air, catching a cow from the herd. Jumping off her horse she guides the cow into a trailer, closing it and joining her team in the truck.

This was one of several real-life activities ranchers took part in Saturday at Smoke Rise Ranch in Glouster. The event included trailer loading, cattle sorting, branding and ended with a mystery event.

Five teams of four cowboys and cowgirls put their ranch skills to the test.

“We’re just having fun doing some really old school ranch rodeo events, just kind of keeping the heritage alive,” Lexi Downard said.

Downard, like many other ranchers in attendance, has spent her whole life rodeoing and riding horses. “We love spending time with our horses and just the crowd, everyone here, it’s like family,” she said.

Many participating and attending had a personal connection to the ranch. Jake Davis grew up on Smoke Rise Ranch and now works on the ranch and helps out at events like these.

He said many at the event have spent their whole lives there while some are visiting for the first time. “It’s either word of mouth or they rode with us for the past 20 years,” Davis said.

The goal of the event was to bring Western lifestyle to Ohio as it’s not often seen in this area. Smoke Rise is one of the few ranches that holds real old-school ranch rodeo activities in the state. “If you bring it to the East Coast it shows people where their food comes from, how it’s worked and they see that it just don’t come from grocery stores,” Davis said.

The competitions reflected real skills needed to manage a ranch. Ranchers sort and load cows based on next steps. “You could select the cows you need to bring in to doctor, to sell, to go to market, whatever that would be,” he said.

Trailer loading included a herd of cows in the arena with a team of four using lassos and horses to capture a cow and load it into the trailer in a timely manner.

The following event had teams sort cows based on their number. This meant they had to capture and hold down a cow starting at zero and continuing on with the goal of getting the most cows in a set amount of time.

The final ranch-themed event was branding. Though they weren’t actually branding the cows, teams got to practice their speed and what it would be like doing this as a traditional rancher.

The competitors were primarily those who sell, trade and buy horses for a living. “So they’re coming out and showing their skill set as a business purpose to promote their business as well as come out and have fun with people,” Davis said.

The rodeo ended with the mystery event: a relay race that included barrel racing, shooting balloons and pulling a team member on a sled behind the horse around the arena.

“You get to see everybody’s skill level, learn stuff from new people, and you get to see the horsemanship,” Davis said.