Jake Clark Mule Days, held June 15-19 in
Ralston, Wyo., is an annual rodeo and saddle mule auction
hosted by Jake and Kay Clark, along with their children and
their spouses (with a few grandbabies thrown in the mix).
It is always a full week of amazing mules, wonderful mule
people and pure exhaustion. This year’s event was no
exception.
The week begins with a Brad Cameron
Clinic and ends on Sunday with the sale of over 100 head of
exceptional mules. As a prospective mule buyer, you
can watch each mule for a week before bidding on it at the
sale. If you haven’t figured out what kind of mule you
are buying by Sunday, you probably shouldn’t be bidding.
You get the opportunity to watch the mules being saddled,
bridled, ridden, led, fed and see how they react to all of
the stimulus occurring around them.
Brad Cameron Clinic
There was a great crowd for the
Brad Cameron clinic. He conducted a Mulemanship 1
Class which was for saddle mules that could be ridden.
The class was designed to improve the riding skills of the
owner and participants were taught how to produce a soft and
responsive animal that was balanced and sensitive to their
requests. He also conducted a Ranch Mule Class which
was designed for people who wanted to learn the basic
procedures of working with cattle. It provided emphasis on
cow working techniques, ranch roping and stock handling. The
emphasis was how to safely and effectively work with cattle
while on your mule. Both clinics were fun for both the
participants and the spectators who were present to watch.
More information about upcoming dates for Cameron clinics
can be found in this issue. I would encourage anyone who
hasn’t attended a Brad Cameron clinic to make plans now to
attend. Everyone (even long time riders) can learn
something new. It benefits you and your mule to
revisit techniques you thought you had forgotten.
Mounted Shooting
The mule competition events began on
Wednesday with the mounted shooting. The competitors
are given several patterns to complete, with the top four
hightest scorers receiving checks. The top four
mounted shooters this year were: TJ Clark, Colby Gines,
Mark Bailey and cowgirl Jessie Konoski. Three of the four
were riding mules that would go through the sale on Sunday.
TJ was riding a five-year-old, sorrel john mule named
Theorodore who ended up bringing $7,900 in the sale.
Colby was riding a six-year-old, gray roan mare mule named
Madina who brought $9,000 in the sale. Colby had ridden
Madina the year before while announcing the 2010 rodeo from
the arena. Mark Bailey was riding a five-year-old red roan
horse mule named Hancock who brought $5,300 in the sale.
Team Sorting
Team sorting was held on Thursday
morning. There was a huge turnout for this event.
Loren, Cori and Cole competed with varying luck. There were
those that were really good at this event and those who had
a great time competing. The first place winners were
the first team up and the cattle got crazy from there.
I enjoyed watching the dynamics of the teams. For one
event, the partners were drawn out of a pot. Those
teams were much more polite to each other than the teams
that were chosen by the competitors.
It was interesting to watch the first
timers and hear them exit the ring saying they wanted to do
it again. I think that team sorting is a sport that even
beginning riders can enjoy. There were numerous mules
entered in the team sorting that would be in the sale. Brad
Cameron also competed in this event. It was nice to
see him out of the clinic ring and having a good time.
Team Roping
Each evening from Wednesday through
Friday there was jackpot team roping. There were
several fantastic teams and the team ropers were amazing.
It was rare to see anyone miss. (Until we got to the
rodeo on Saturday and then no one seemed to be able to
catch...) Loren roped very well and I was proud of him
and Wounded Knee. A special thanks to Loren (Jiggs) Loesch
for donating the breast collars for the high money earners
in the roping events.
The cover this month features two of the
jackpot team ropers, Jerry Cobb, riding Tequila, the second
high selling mule, and Justin McManigal, riding Mouse.
Trail Preview
Each of the mules that goes through the
sale must go through the trail preview. It gives
buyers the opportunity to watch each mule go through various
obstacles: saddling, bridling, getting in and out of
the trailer, crossing logs, waiting in a box, trotting
through pylons, trotting in a circle, dragging a log,
crossing a bridge, leading a pack mule, going through a
creek, putting on a slicker and dismounting. It really
does give everyone a real idea of what to expect from the
mule. Buyers are allowed to wander around and talk to
the sellers, ride the mule, ask a million questions. I
think every buyer is exhausted by the end of the day.
Jake removed several mules from the sale following their
performance in the trail preview. The trail results
indicated about four mules had perfect scores and another
10-15 had scores of 98 or 99.
Parade
The Parade was held on Saturday morning.
It was a beautiful day. The goal was to get everyone
to the start of the parade without incident. This
didn’t occur. It was a large group and there were a
couple runaways. One rider had to have a few stiches
after his mule stepped on his face. He was well enough to
win the race later in the day, though. It was a great
parade. The streets were lined with spectators.
The mules were well behaved. There was a lot of
traffic this year but the local police did a great job of
preventing any incidents during the parade route. The
Bailey family looked outstanding in their matching orange
shirts.
Rodeo
The Rodeo went smoothly. It was
fantastic to watch so many outstanding rodeo mules in one
place. An added bonus was seeing Jake Clark rope with the
auctioneers son, Seth. Just like all of those who
roped before him – they received a no time.
There were several highlights in the rodeo: watching the
younger kids steer ride; cheering the mule racers on;
laughing at the chaos in the wild cow milking and seeing the
smile on Jenna McManigal’s, (Mark and Jennifer Bailey’s
youngest daughter) face as she ran her mule around the
barrels. Her absolute joy in running the barrels and
crossing the timer reminded me of why we all ride and sell
mules...we do it because we love it. We do it because
there is incredible joy in our day-to-day lives with the
mules. The mules are as big a part in this rodeo as their
cowboys/cowgirls. Her smile encouraged me to look
closer at the mountains in the background, the flag flying
high above the arena and reminded me of how thankful I am
for my family and friends who were experiencing this moment
with me. Her smile and joy were a reminder to take
pleasure in all of the simple things in life and to express
that joy when you can.
Click above to watch the Wild Bunch's sale preview
performance...then click "Continue reading" to read more
about the sale preview and saddle mule auction!
