Bushyhead roping event still a go

July 23, 2008 10:52 am

— Clem McSpadden’s legacy ... and his Bushyhead 101 Labor Day Pasture Roping & Barrel Racing spectacle ... will continue.
Schedules and plans were announced today by the McSpadden family and the Claremore Convention & Visitors Bureau.
McSpadden, who died July 7 at the age of 82, had fashioned his roping and barrel racing event into an Oklahoma tradition on the Bushyhead ranch that has been in his family for more than 100 years.
The latest chapter of the McSpadden tradition is scheduled for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.
The roping is a throwback to old-time ranch roping, and the entire weekend is a preservation of heritage, family and competition.
McSpadden brought the roping and barrel race to his Rogers County ranch in the mid-1980s, having seen a similar competition in Texas. McSpadden, though, went Texas one better. He added his own Oklahoma touch. He added one foot to the start, or score, expanding the roping run to 101 feet — Texas had a 100-foot score.
No arena is used in the roping. The boundary is set with a single yellow rope, and vehicles, trailers, and tents set up behind the “legal line.”
On Aug. 31, events will include 9 a.m. Cowboy Church services. The team roping starts at high noon, with two go-rounds. The top 75 teams advance to the Finals the next day, with no times carried forward.
On Sept. 1, events include the roping Finals, with two go rounds, and the 12-team short go. The top 4 teams in average will compete in the sweepstakes with 1,600-pound Texas longhorns for $2,000 extra. The pasture barrel race will be run with a half-mile pattern around two barrels 650 feet apart with third turn around a pond.
Deadline for entries is Aug. 26. For information, entry forms, contact: Bushyhead Events, PO Box 317, Chelsea, OK 74016, or (918) 789-2408, or (918) 789-3237.