News
Annual Don King Days held on Sunday and Monday
This past weekend marked the 34th anniversary of Don King Days, which is always held on Sunday and Monday of the Labor Day Weekend. Don King Days features a variety of events; polo, cowboy polo, championship steer roping, and bronc riding.
Don King Days stared in 1989 when a group of ranchers, ropers and friends of Don King organized the event and named it in honor the world-renowned saddle maker and King’s Saddlery founder who contributed so much to the western culture. Their intent was to celebrate the classic equestrian events unique to the Sheridan area — polo, steer roping and bronc riding. This event truly recaptures the spirit and traditions of the west, and the open-air, unconfined and unhurried atmosphere of rodeos past.
Spectators can get right close to the action, there are no arena fences or barriers. On Monday, Sept. 5, 2022 at the event, one steer from the steer roping ran into the line of camp chairs causing some of the spectators to hurry out of the way, and a bronco nearly did the same, only to be run back into the grass by one of the cowboys. No one was injured.
The largest polo tournament of the Big Horn Polo Club’s season is played over this weekend, culminating with the Don King Days Cup on Monday. This year the Wyo Ag Services polo team took the win over the Evergreen team.
Polo has been played in Big Horn for over 120 years. On July 4, 1893, there was a polo game played pitting Beckton vs Sheridan. In addition to polo that day there was a steeplechase, as well as flat races, and a trotting race. But it was the polo game that started the festivities.
Today the Big Horn Polo club has about 30 local players, and out-of-town players come as well to enjoy polo here in Big Horn.
Cowboy polo has become a tradition at halftime of the Polo Games. Featuring teams from the local dude ranches, this is a wild and wooly event: Players ride stock saddles, have wide mallets, (some teams use brooms) and a basketball size ball instead of a small white sphere. There are no rules, and cowboy polo is a crowd favorite. The 2022 Champion team was the Steerhead Ranch over the Tongue River Roadrunners.
Steer roping is a sport that developed out of necessity on the open range in the late 1800’s and continues to be a common method of doctoring cattle on ranches today. The Wyoming Steer Ropers have selected Don King Days as the scene for their season finals. In the steer roping competition, the cowboy must rope and throw the steer, and tie up three legs to keep the steer down. Fastest time wins.
The invitational matched bronc riding at Don King Days is truly unique. Most years, the bronc is saddled and blindfolded, then snubbed up to a pick-up man’s horse. The cowboy, riding double behind the other pick-up man, eases himself onto the waiting bronc, and the bronc is turned loose. This year, due to time constraints and safety issues, the horses were let out of a bucking chute instead.
WYO Rodeo Royality and the new Miss Rodeo Wyoming, Reata Cook, were honored at Don King Days as well as Zane Hilman, Big Horn, who was recently inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Sunday and Monday evening, the spectators enjoyed live music in the Club House. Nashville recording artist Paul Bogart makes Don King Days a regular stop on his late summer tour each year. An avid horseman himself, Paul writes his own songs about the cowboy lifestyle.
