Press Releases

ANNUAL PARKER RANCH INDEPENDENCE WEEKEND RODEO SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, JULY 3

Waimea, Hawai‘i’s Big Island ~ ¬ Parker Ranch has celebrates their 47th Annual Independence Weekend Rodeo and Horse Races on Friday, July 3, 2009 at the Parker Ranch Rodeo Arena in Waimea.

July 3rd Rodeo Results

Fast paced rodeo action begins shortly after the 9:00 a.m. grand entry parade and continues non-stop until 12 noon. The line-up of rodeo events, featuring Parker Ranch cowboys joined by paniolo from ranches all around the Big Island, is full of excitement. Spectators enjoy thrilling horse races, double mugging, dally team roping, the unique-to-Hawai‘i Po‘o Wai U and more.

This event is an opportunity to see Hawai‘i’s cowboys in action while enjoying local food, keiki (children) activities, and shop for Parker Ranch logo items at the Parker Ranch Store booth.

The Parker Ranch Rodeo was first held just three years after Hawaii became a state in 1959 and is a highly anticipated summer event for visitors and the local community.

Tickets for the Friday, July 3 event are $5 per person in advance or $6 at the gate/online. Presale begins June 1 at the Parker Ranch Store at the Parker Ranch Center, Waimea. Children 10 and under are free. For more information, call 808-885-5669 or visit www.parkerranch.com.

The rodeo grounds are 37 miles by car from Kona International Airport and 57 miles from Hilo Airport on Highway 190.

Parker Ranch Inc. is a highly respected cattle ranch known for quality beef, producing ten million pounds of beef each year and ranking as the 5th largest cow-calf operation in the United States. Visitors can enjoy parts of ranch through tours of two Historic Homes, Cowboys of Hawaii at Parker Ranch , LLC horseback and ATV rides or the Ranch’s exclusive Cattle Country Tour. A hunting program is also offered within controlled areas of the vast ranch.

Annual Parker Ranch Rodeo Event descriptions

Po’o Wai U
This event is found uniquely at Hawaiian Rodeos and has evolved from when cowboys would rope wild cattle in the mountains and tie them up so that they could continue to gather more cows and later lead them to their pasture. This event requires the contestant to rope a steer and get him to a Y shaped post (called an amana) placed in the middle of the arena. Once the steer is roped the cowboy pulls the animal close to the Y and he flips his rope into the Y, the steer is held tight to the Y by the horse and then the cowboy dismounts and ties the animal with another rope up close to the Y post. This is a timed event.

Dally Team Roping
Sometimes referred to as Head and Heels roping, this is a timed team event where one cowboy (the header) ropes the head or horns of a steer—the head loop must go on before the second cowboy/girl throws their rope. The second cowboy/girl’s job (the healer) is to rope the 2 back legs of the steer. Once this is accomplished, they both wrap their ropes around their saddle horns. The two cowboys/girls turn and face each other, pull the ropes tight thus stretching the steer between them for a brief moment to stop the time. The team with the fastest time wins. There are several opportunities for penalties or disqualifications i.e. a head loop with 1 front leg; breaking the barrier (the barrier allows the steer to have a 3-5 second head start); a heeler roping only one back leg; or excessive roughing of the stock.

Mugging Events
Our Mugging events are a part of the daily routine for working cowboys. Frequently an animal must be immobilized for administering medication, treating wounds, for loading into a trailer, or for other reasons. In order to restrain the cattle cowboys must “mug the animal”. This means they rope then lay the cow on its side and tie any three feet together so that it can’t get up. This allows the animal to be treated without having a rope tightly around its neck for a long period of time (which could lead to choking).

Mugging requires, agility on the part of horse and rider. Mugging also requires cowboys who are strong, experienced, and work well as a team. The animals being mugged can be large and dangerous to handle. Cowboys want to immobilize the animal quickly and carefully so the cow is not harmed.

Ribbon Mugging
This is an “ohana” (family) event. A family team of a junior/senior or father/mother and child. The “roper” ropes the steer or calf, the second person, the “mugger” holds the animal. The roper dismounts and then takes the ribbon off of the animal’s tail. The team then removes the rope around neck and together the roper and mugger run to a designated finish line (generally a barrel). The first to the finish line wins!!

Ranch Mugging
In The Ranch Rodeo Mugging event one team member, mounted on horseback, ropes a yearling (yearling beef cattle typically weigh 700 to 1,000 lbs.). The cowboy takes the yearling, across a marked line to the remaining team members. Team members will then ”mug” the yearling to the ground and tie 3 of its feet together. The team that accomplishes the mugging in the fastest time wins the event.

Mugging is an exciting and intense event as ranchers are faced with a limited number of chances to restrain the yearling.

Calf Dressing / Battle of the Bulls
This charity event invites local businesses to participate by putting together a team of three employees to try and “dress” a calf. Not for the faint of heart, 500-600 lbs calves are selected by Parker Ranch cowboys to be the “dressed”. Six Teams will compete all at the same time and the fastest team will win. First, the calves are loaded into the bucking chutes; then the cowboys put a rope around the neck of each calf and hand it out to each team waiting outside the chute. The teams wait for buzzer that will indicate to the cowboys to release the lively calves from a chute. The object is to take an ordinary t-shirt and put it over the head and front legs of the calf. The first team to achieve this goal, remove the rope around the neck of the calf, and run to a barrel holding hands wins! Each team makes a contribution to participate and the winning team collects all of the Calf Dressing entry fees, selects a non-profit organization to make a donation and then presents that total sum to a non-profit. It is a fun event, a crowd pleaser and gives back to our community.