story by Lindsay King
“The ACA is an association for the every-day, hard-working person that gets off work and comes out to the rodeo with their family,” says Cline Hall, second generation owner and operator of Hall Rodeo, LLC, out of Ash Flat, Arkansas. Named rodeo producer of the year for six years and counting, Cline knows nothing other than the life of a rodeo producer. Hall Rodeo started in 1983 by Cline’s late father Keith. Cline took over in 2009, producing nearly 70 total performances each year. “We are out on the road almost every weekend. We haul a brand new WW portable arena for each performance.” Hall has started to branch out and produce bull riding events also. Every Wednesday night in Ash Flat during the summer, they hold the Mike Watson State Farm Summer Series rodeo. “Our whole family comes out to the rodeo, we have a good turn out every week. That is what we get to do at home and it is what we enjoy.” Tradition is the name of the game for Hall Rodeo, sticking to the traditional events, nothing more and nothing less. “We have a lot of history in Hall Rodeo and we try to keep it alive through each of our events. Everything is back to the roots of rodeo, we don’t try to change a lot of stuff.” Cline is married to Ashely and they have four-year-old Kelton and one-year-old Kohen. “We always try to get the kids involved. We have a calf scramble at every rodeo and sometimes we will have mutton busting at special rodeos.”
This will be the first year Cline will produce the rodeo at the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, Missouri. Started in 2012 by Aaron Own, the fair manager, it has grown quickly. “There are usually more than 200 contestants at this rodeo.” Held August fourth and fifth at 7:30 p.m., Guy Mclean, an Australian horse trainer and entertainer will be featured. “We do a lot of fairs in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, we are excited for the opportunity to do a fair as large as the Ozark Empire Fair. It is one of the biggest in the state of Missouri and usually gives the state fair a run for its money.” Cline started his own bucking bull breeding program as a child and has been growing it ever since. Winners of the ACA bucking bull of the year seven of the last eight years, Hall Rodeo owns and breeds 15-year-old bucking bull Vertical Limit. “One thing I am proud of is we are raising all of our own bucking bulls and horses. We are also starting to raise our own roping steers. So we are getting to where we raise all of our own stock for our rodeos.” Cline runs Rodeo Ranch out of Ash Flat, nearly 300 cross-bred cow/calf pairs run along side bucking stock on almost 1,500 acres. Cline’s favorite part of each rodeo is the chaos of each performance, he gets an adrenaline rush from trying to keep everything running smoothly, one that usually lasts about two hours. “There is a lot of work leading up to those performances so when we are having a really good rodeo and the crowd is enjoying it, that is easily my favorite part of the whole thing.” They have produced the Newton County Fair rodeo in Jasper, Arkansas, since 2011, winning rodeo of the year numerous times in the ACA. “We always have fun there in Jasper and look forward to it every year. We feel like that is one of the good ones to look forward to every year: when the rodeo of the year and producer of the year get together.”
