Gallup’s B e s t o f t h e B est is Becoming Youth Rodeo’s Premiere Event
The beauty surrounding the arena - Church Rock in the Background (All Photos by Ben Welch) By Sandra McKinney Throughout the warm months of each year, you can find a rodeo somewhere around Gallup on any given weekend. We are definitely RODEO COUNTRY! For eight years, Gallup was fortunate to host the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals each summer at Red Rock Park. This weeklong event was very beneficial to our economy and the sport of rodeo. The contestants and their families loved coming to Gallup and to Red Rock Park with the beautiful arena. Unfortunately, 2013 was the last year that Gallup was able to host this event. Those who love the sport of rodeo in our community know that we have a premier arena
for hosting large rodeo events. There was great disappointment in Gallup and in the Junior High rodeo community that they would no longer be coming to Gallup and Red Rock Park to compete. This brought about some thinking “outside the box.” The City of Gallup decided to host their own rodeo for Junior and Senior High School students; thus, THE BEST OF THE BEST event was born in 2014. There may have been a few rodeo enthusiasts working at the City, but not someone who was knowledgeable enough to coordinate and run a rodeo event of this magnitude. In comes the name of Walt Eddy, a top-notch rodeo participant himself, but also a knowledgeable promoter in the world of rodeo.
Contestants in line for the Team Roping
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August 2018
Walt Eddy is Gallup born, the former owner (along with his mother) of Trice’s Western Wear. This man knows rodeo; how to procure high-dollar sponsors, how to reach out to rodeo participants around the United States, and how to provide excellent prizes worth traveling to Gallup for from around the country. The first three years of Best of the Best contained some growing pains, but word started getting around about the excellent arena and the high-dollar payouts. By the fourth year, the event had become very well-known and more participants and their parents began traveling to Gallup, New Mexico. Out of the $250.00 entry fee per event, 80 percent is returned to the prize fund, and 20 percent goes to City expenses. An additional $35.00
Presentation of Colors on Horseback
