Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Hermiston Herald and is part of a content-sharing partnership between Northeast Oregon Now and the Hermiston Herald.
By Annie Fowler
The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association took note of the Farm-City Pro Rodeo’s equal treatment of breakaway roping in August and honored the committee with the Breakaway Trailblazer of the Year award on Dec. 1, at the South Point Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.
“It was nice to be recognized with a couple of our sponsors (Wind Wave and Inland), who were a big part of it,” FCPR board member David Bothum said. “A lot of the rodeos, they didn’t make it equal. Here we did. If we are going to do it, we are going to do it right. That made a lot of difference.”
Each timed event participant gets two runs at the FCPR, on the same day. When money was added to the purse for each event, the breakaway roping event got equal money added like the others.
“A lot of the rodeos that have it don’t add equal money,” Bothum said. “Some of them have a smaller limit of breakaway ropers. We wanted to do it right. We offered the same money and kept the same limits.”
Bothum said the feedback from the contestants was positive.
“I think the people liked it and enjoyed it,” he said. “It brought more contestants, which brought more money to the town. There’s quite a few girls from the local area who do it (breakaway), so it was a good place to showcase it.”
