Sheridan WYO Rodeo Contractor Talks about the Business

(Sankey Photo, used by permission)

The Sankey Pro Rodeo stock contracting company has been the stock contractor for the Sheridan WYO Rodeo since 1994.

Several of their animals have been named PRCA bucking stock of the year, and this past year was no exception. Black Tie, a horse that also won at the Sheridan WYO Rodeo in 2022, again was named bucking horse of the year at the 2022 National Finals Rodeo. Wade Sankey talked about the NFR this year.

He said this year was really good, every time you get there, to the NFR, you just hope to not fail. The horses win when the cowboy wins. Sankey said that go-round buckles are awarded to the contractors who owns the animals that the contestants win on.

Sankey said his father, Ike Sankey, has been stock contracting in one form or another since the 1960s and made it a professional business in 1979. They have around 300 head of horses, they run around 300 head of cattle, and along with their partner, Phenom Genetics, they have 50 head of bulls and about 50 head of cows for breeding the bucking bulls.

The Sankey company travels throughout the western United States, supplying rodeos with bucking horses, bulls, and stock for the timed events. “We do a lot in Montana, we do rodeos in Idaho, we are the primary contractor for Pendleton in Oregon. We travel as far South as Fort Worth, Texas and as far West as Clovis, California.

Wade Sankey loves what he does, and his favorite part is the animals they raise.

When asked how long a horse’s bucking lifespan is, Sankey said it depends on the horse, and a lot of people rodeo with them until they are 25 or so, but Sankey’s like to retire them around 15 years.

He said that for thousands of years people have bred horses to take the buck out of them, but in the last 100 years of so the stock contractors are looking for horse that want to buck.

It doesn’t matter what breed they are, “We are no longer looking for individual horses that can’t be ridden,” Sankey said. He added that what they look for is performance. “Our horses are five or six generations deep of horses that are bred to buck.”

The bulls are bred by their partner, Phenom Genetics owned by Matt and Kelly Scharping in Arlington, Minnesota.

He also talked about how stock contracting has changed over the years,

When you watch the WYO Rodeo, remember that these animals are just as much professional athletes as the cowboys are. According to the Sheridan WYO Rodeo website, much of the success of the Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo can be attributed to Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics. They continue to ensure that the best livestock is available for the Sheridan WYO rodeo every year.