Rodeo brings feel of Wild Wild West
McVeytown ranch hosts sanctioned professional events
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MCVEYTOWN -- There are matches made in heaven, and then there is the tie that binds Kati Smith to her husband, Michael "Skip" Smith Jr.
That one was made at a corral.
Kati met Skip through a mutual friend at a rodeo event at Barry Smith's Arena in Ferguson Valley. The Mifflin County natives became friends, then they became closer friends. Then, in August 2007, they were married.
"My husband grew up around rodeos, and my father-in-law had rodeo'd," Kati said. "He grew up on a dairy farm then they got into longhorn cattle, and it grew from there. They built a building for him to ride and train, which became an indoor area.
"We've raised and bought all our own stock, including bucking horses and longhorn cattle and bulls for bull riding," she added. "We started having horse shows and held our first rodeo in September 2016."
Nearly seven years later, the Smiths are still going strong. Their farm Rocky Ridge Ranch in McVeytown, which is owned by Skip's parents, Mike and Fran Smith, hosts monthly American Professional Rodeo Association sanctioned summer series events.
The second installment is set for 7 p.m. Saturday. The series continues on Aug. 19 and Sept. 9. The finale is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8.
Kati said the first rodeo show in June drew more than 500 people. "Weather certainly plays a factor," she said. "A lot of the western shows we go to are drawing people. I think people want to get out and want to be entertained."
Kati believes the crowds at their events are a mix of curious first-timers and dedicated fans. "There are people that go to every show," she explained. "The nice thing about having a local show is we get locals to enter in addition to the cowboys and cowgirls that run the circuit."
That's right. Since the Smith's shows are sanctioned by both the APRA and the International Pro Rodeo Association, professional cowboys and cowgirls visit Mifflin County when the series stops there.
"We do get riders at a higher competing level," Kati said of holding sanctioned events. "Those cowboys and cowgirls compete at sanctioned events all summer and winter long."
Gates open at 5 p.m., with the kids rodeo starting at 6 p.m. The entry fee is $15, with spectators age 5 and under getting in for free.
The Rocky Ridge Ranch is located at 4357 Ferguson Valley Rd.
While bronco and bull riding are often associated with rodeo, the slate of events at the Rocky Ridge Ranch show includes kids activities, such as sheep riding, or "mutton busting" as it's called at the rodeo.
"They get in the chute and hold onto the wool or put their arms around the sheep, and we let them run through the arena," Kati said. "There's also a horse race and they get to meet the rodeo clowns."
The grand entry features all of the contestants entering and circling the arena floor, followed by the individual events with bucking horses, steer wrestling, breakaway roping for the girls and tiedown roping for the guys.
After a brief intermission, there are more kids activities with a calf scramble, along with adult events with team roping, barrel racing and ending with the fan-favorite bull riding.
"We are putting on a performance, and it's always live action," Kati said. "We have various acts throughout the rodeo to keep people entertained.
Kati even performs as a trick rider at rodeos and was featured at the American Finals rodeo in Atlantic City, N.J., in 2018. She also performed with the Texas Trick Riders at Frontier Town in Ocean City, Md.
"I also compete in the women's breakaway roping and haze for my husband in the steer wrestling," Kati said. "The hazers job is to help keep the steer straight while the steer wrestler rides up beside the steer and catch it from horseback. Believe it or not, all these rodeo events derived from activities cowboys and cowgirls do on the ranches out west to care for and doctor their stock."
The Smiths also compete in sanctioned rodeos.
"My husband Skip used to bull and Bronc ride in high school rodeo, but now mostly focuses on steer wrestling and roping," Kati said. "My father-in-law Mike rode bulls and steer wrestled also. He is now the director of the steer wrestling in the APRA."
The Smiths also hold clinics at the ranch for bull and bronco riding as well as roping and steer wrestling.
"It's definitely worth getting out there and having fun," she added.
When traveling to other shows, they often see a lot of familiar faces. "We have our family and our rodeo family when we are out on the road," she said.
The Smiths are also taking their show on the road, sponsoring the first Mifflin County Fair Rodeo Night at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Mifflin County Youth Park in Reedsville. Spectators can experience the thrill, excitement and rugged charm of the Wild West at the event, which is also being sponsored by the Midridge Farm in Lewistown.
"We'll have trick riding and some other acts, horse events and kids riding sheep," Kati said.
For more information, call (717) 994-0462 or find the Rocky Ridge Ranch Rodeo's page on Facebook and Instagram.