story by Lindsay King
Rodeo contestants hailing from as far as away as Canada and Australia find themselves members of the Mid States Rodeo Association. The Mid States Rodeo Association hosts more than 60 rodeos a year with about 400 members from across the nation. “We have grown exponentially in the last few years,” said Becky Reaume, contracts act director for MSRA. The association originally began in Ohio in 1954 as the Ohio Cowboys Rodeo Association, as it grew it changed to MSRA in 1972 to encompass the members in surrounding states and beyond. Becky started on the board in 2007, when a majority of the board was based out of Michigan. “We had very few rodeos and when we did they were in Michigan. Now our board members are from all over the territory and our rodeos have grown because of that.” Part of this growth is in part to co-sanctioning with the International Professional Rodeo Association. “It has been mutually exclusive and allowed for much better competition.”
Becky comes from a less than traditional rodeo background, she grew up riding and showing hunter jumper and dressage horses. She began working as a full-time hunter jumper trainer and kept her horses at a calf roping barn just down the road from her house. This peaked her interest in rodeo. She headed down the rodeo trail about fifteen years ago and started barrel racing in 2007. “It was very different for me and eye-opening. I really like the comradery and appreciate the family aspect, but especially enjoy the lasting friendships made through this sport.” Along with serving on the board, Becky is a sales representative for Nocona Boots, JPC Equestrian and Moss Bros. T-Shirts. In 2014 she was the first woman in company history to be the salesman of the year for Nocona Boots. Her current job coupled with her sales experience led her to serving on the MSRA board of directors.
“Everyone on the board brings something different to the table and this allows us to adequately assist our members and stock contractors so we can have quality rodeos every year.” In 2016 the Rodeo of the Year was The Cowboy Up for a Cure Rodeo sanctioned by MSRA in Lexington, Kentucky. Hosted by Three Bar J rodeo company, the Alltech Arena has sold out their 5,800 seats for the past two years for the event. Becky coordinates the entertainment, rodeo announcers and all other personnel for the MSRA rodeos. “Our stock contractors pride themselves on providing quality family entertainment. I think this allows for communities to feel confident that there will be entertainment for the whole family at a Mid States rodeo.” One contractor partners with the local Wal-Mart of the rodeo locations to provide winners of the stick horse and boot race with a bicycle. “We are a big association as far as numbers go but we are a small one at the same time.” Mid States’ season starts in February in East Lansing, Michigan, at the Spartan Stampede. Their season hits the ground running in June and ends the first weekend of October. A majority of the rodeos are held in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, with others sprinkled throughout their region. “As a board, we want to help the association grow, we want to be an association that people are proud to be members of and that people want to join and participate in. We try to do everything we can to make this the best possible association.”
