HEMPSTEAD, Texas – There’s a lot of pride that organizers have in the Waller County Fair and Rodeo.
They point to great community interest. With that kind of support, they envision growth and development in the annual expo. They realize the foundation has already been laid, and now is the time to develop it.
“We hope this event gets bigger and bigger,” said Clint Sciba, co-chairman of the committee that produces the two-day rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1. “We don’t want this to be a small fair stop but that the world’s best rodeo cowboys want to come to.”
The big change for the expo was in the rodeo, which a year ago was amateur. This year, it will be sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the elite governing body in the sport. The PRCA’s top contestants compete for those coveted gold buckles awarded to each year’s world champions during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
The NFR is also home to the greatest animal athletes in the sport, and that includes the great bucking bulls and horse from Dallas-based Carr Pro Rodeo. Over the past six years, Pete Carr and his crew have become one of the most sought-after livestock firms in the business, and the tremendous bucking beasts are the big reason why.
“Pete Carr’s got some great rodeos, and he’s got the good horses,” said Cody Taton, the saddle bronc riding director for the PRCA. “That kind of combination makes quite a difference, plus Pete’s good to work with.”
That’s why events like the Waller County Fair and Rodeo are drawing cards for cowboys who make their livings on the back of bucking horses and bulls.
“Pete is always honest, and he always brings good horses to rodeos and runs a good show,” said bareback rider Clint Cannon of Waller, Texas, a two-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and a two-time winner of RodeoHouston. “Probably a bigger part of Pete is that he’s willing to give back. I put on a bareback riding school, and he brings horses to our school. We tried to pay him, but he won’t take it.
“He’s just a good person.”
Cannon isn’t the only cowboy who feels that way.
“To be successful, you’ve got to want to win,” said bareback rider Justin McDaniel, a four-time NFR qualifier who won the 2008 world championship. “Pete goes all out. He tries really hard. You can go to any of Pete’s rodeos and win on any of his horses on any given day.”