story by Lily Weinacht
Thirty-four years ago in August of 1983, Scott McDaniel put on his first full rodeo with his newly minted rodeo company, now known as Slash M Rodeo Company. He has nearly as long of a history with the Arizona Rodeo Association (now the GCPRA), putting on rodeos for the association the last 32 years. “The Grand Canyon membership is outstanding to work with,” says Scott, 59, who hails from Sonoita, Arizona. “It’s really been a strong organization. Just about every year, I take stock to the finals, and it’s always been a good production. I don’t get to make the finals every year, but in the last few years I’ve sent stock with my son and some of my help.”
Scott rode steers and junior bulls growing up, but he was primarily a team roper through his early twenties. “It was a lot of fun, but when I got married and had a family, it was hard to compete due to my job,” he says. Scott started his rodeo company soon after, having originally leased timed event cattle out to stock contractors in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. “I really appreciate what my partners and family have done with me. My family’s been in the beef industry forever, so we had ranches and feedyards and I had a place to hold my roping calves and steers. I made decent money at it, but I had no idea about the mechanics or business end of it!” When Scott put together a herd of bucking bulls for a client who changed his mind at the last minute, Scott decided to lease the bulls out and start putting on a few rodeos, and the company grew slowly but surely.
While he explains that Arizona can be a challenging area to produce rodeos in because of the scattered rodeo season, Scott still contracts out 16 rodeos a year, having scaled back from the 20 – 25 a year he did in the past. “This is real manageable for me,” says Scott, who also works for his family’s beef industry brokering firm. “I import cattle out of Mexico, and I’m in a partnership on a livestock auction in Willcox, Arizona.” Though Scott can’t make all the rodeos, his son, Jake, is his right-hand man. “Right now I have a hard working young crew. It’s a lot of fun being around them and working with them. They’re good help, and I’m thankful for all of them.”
Likewise, Scott enjoys working with the many rodeo committees he’s come to know over the years. “The committees I work with and for are outstanding, and they have a lot of hard working men and women. They have some really good sponsors, and I’m appreciative of all that. I put on my own events, and I learn to appreciate everything they do. It’s like putting on three rodeos to put on one of your own from start to end. It’s a lot of work transporting in and out, but I am thankful for the contestants and the people that work for me, and the committees and all the hard work they put out.”
Scott also puts on rodeos with the Arizona Cow Punchers Association and NIRA. He even has several racehorses running in Arizona and California, but his latest venture is raising his own bucking horses. “My family has raised running horses, and the bucking horses are different, like learning the bloodlines and crosses when you’ve just heard about them, but never experienced them. We’re going to use our own colts this year, and no matter if it’s a race horse or a bucking horse, what turns out to be a strong competitive horse is a real accomplishment.”
Along with developing his bucking horses, Scott’s goal is to continue producing quality rodeos. “We very seldom cross a state line, and we enjoy what we have right here. There’s always room for improvement on my part,” he finishes, “and we want to hold on and do the best job we can.”
