The first annual Longview Memorial Ranch Scramble & Ranch Broncs, in memory of Tel Rhine and Ben Steiger, was held on Saturday, June 22.
According to Kersey, 126 contestants took part in the event at the Stampede Ranch, with 100 — 20 teams of five — in the ranch scramble, 15 riders in the open ranch broncs and 11 women’s ranch broncs competitors.
The scramble consisted of cowboys and cowgirls in teams of five competing in branding, load & tie, head and heel and doctoring.
The women's division of the ranch broncs, sanctioned by the Women's Ranch Bronc Championships, saw contestants compete to enter the championship finals held at the Ponoka Stampede.
Ranch scramble top five results:
1 - Hat Creek Ranch
2 - 2nd Chance Ranch
3 - Roseburn Ranches
4 - Wildman Livestock
5 - Anchor M
Ranch broncs top five results:
1 - Stephen Hochstein
2 - Austin Quiring
3 - Wolter Van der kamp
4 and 5 - Tyler Ritchie and Luiz Sopran (tie)
Women's ranch bronc winners:
1 - Blayne Bedard
2 - Avrie Rose
3 - Caitlin Langhofer
The event honoured the lives of two 16-year-old cowboys, Tel Rhine and Ben Steiger from Rocky Mountain House and Turner Valley, respectively.
"They were both 16 when they passed, but it's just stuff they love to do and we just wanted to raise some money and do what they loved," said event organizer Pearl Kersey.
Kersey said she knew Rhine well, and that she still finds it hard to talk about him after his death on Sept. 16, 2023.
"He just loved the ranch rodeo stuff," she said. "He loved the ranch broncs and he was so good at it, even though he was so young, like it was just meant to be with him, doing that kind of stuff."
Steiger died during a bronc riding accident at the Thorsby Haymaker Center on April 5, 2014.
"He was the kind of kid that helped everybody," said Chase Steiger, Ben's brother, in a previous interview while discussing the Ben Steiger Memorial Scholarship. "He wasn't just helping to be the most popular. He was the kid that it didn't matter who you were, it was the kind of person that you were."
The Longview Memorial Ranch Scramble & Ranch Broncs will return next year and become a yearly event to honour the two, says Kersey. Annual events are currently held respectively for both cowboys — the Tel Rhine Memorial Ranch Rodeo and Bronc Riding and the Ben Steiger Memorial Golf Tournament.
