Exciting things have been going with Grant County 4-H! The 6th Annual Donna Brown Memorial 4-H Rodeo was held on June 11-12, 2016 at the fairgrounds in Cliff, NM. As to be expected the youth of Grant County did extremely well. The local youth competed in Breakaway Roping, Flag Racing, Step Down Roping, Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Goat Tying, Ribbon Roping and Bull Riding.

All competitors are broken into age groups according to their age. For the Novice age group Riley Ybarra placed 4th in Pole Bending and 5th in Flag Racing. For the Junior age group Randi White placed 3rd in both the Pole Bending and Goat Tying. Among all the talented youth of Grant County, two young ladies placed in the Pole Bending, Mariah Humphrey-3rd and Shyrea Ormand-6th.

Baylee Motes and Megan Miller both competed in the Goat Tying. Baylee Motes won 2nd place in the event while Megan Miller placed 4th. Baylee Motes also competed in Breakaway Roping and placed 3rd. Quincy Reeves competed in Ribbon Roping and placed 2nd.

For the Senior age group, Cheyenne Eaves and Jenna Stanley competed in the Pole Bending with Cheyenne placing 4th and Jenna placing 6th. In the Barrel Racing Jenna Stanley placed 3rd and Cursten Blanton placed 9th. Shayne Ridder competed in the very difficult Bull Riding event.

The big winners of the day in the Novice age group were Everett Reeves as Flag Racing Champion, Step Down Roping Champion and All Around Winner for the weekend. Another Novice from Grant County Meason Ybarra was awarded Breakaway Roping Champion, Steer Roping Champion and Reserve All Around for the weekend. McKynna Motes was the Pole Bending Champion while placing 2nd in the Barrel Racing and 3rd in the Breakaway Roping.

For the Senior age group K'Dayl Looney was awarded Barrel Racing Champion and placed 2nd in the Breakaway Roping. Courtney Harding was also the Goat Tying Champion.

We would like to congratulate all of our youth who competed in the Annual 4-H Rodeo competition. We are proud of their hard work and dedication. We would also like to thank project leaders Shaw Motes and Melissa GǣMissyGǥ Brown for their endless hours of work that they have put into helping the youth of Grant County to be competitive and successful in New Mexico 4-H Rodeo Events. Also events such as this would not be possible without the help from all of the parents and volunteers that help and support the youth.

We are extremely grateful to Cane Spear Ranches, Arenas Valley Animal Clinic, Griffin's Propane, Western Bank, Tractor Supply, Diaz Farms, Dr. and Mrs. Stanley, Harrington Ranches, The Motes Family, The Sharpening Center, Sew What Custom Embroidery, 1st NM Bank, Grant County, TG McCauley, Kyle and Lela Goar, Moody Ranch, Dyeing 2 B A Cowgirl Salon and WB Roping Productions for their generous sponsorships for this event.

If you would like to donate to or volunteer for any of our youth programs, please feel free to come by the NMSU 4-H/ Agriculture Extension Office located at 2610 N. Silver St. or call us at 575-388-1559. You can also keep up with all the fun 4-H activities by liking our Facebook page Grant County 4-H.

New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity employer. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. New Mexico State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.