they worked on remote ranches in Northern California. They
began the foray into Rodear after they sold a dog to a man
in Oregon named Ambrose McAuliffe. “He saw us working
with the dogs and he started using the dog he bought from
us for the same purpose,” Merle Newton said. “He’s the one
who put on the first Rodear competition and kind of made
a game out of it. That was 12 years ago. It was the first Cow
Dog Rodear competition and we assisted, but McAuliffe was
the host and that was in Fort Klamath, Oregon.”
Sheri and Jeffrey Matthews of Parker County are also
heavily involved. Close friends with Merle and Sandi, the
Matthews were excited to get started. “The Newtons are
originally from Red Bluff, Calif., so they started this Rodear
event on the West Coast and about two years ago they
decided to leave California and move to Texas. Now they
live two hours away from here in Grand Saline. They’re
very close friends of ours and have trained all of our dogs.
With them moving out here they brought this sport out here.
They’re like family to us,” Sheri Matthews said. Sheri is from
California and her husband Jeffrey is from North Carolina,
having moved here in 2009. The Matthews have been using
their dogs to work cattle for about 10 years.
“We always thought this would be such a great sport
for Texas because there are so many people that not only
have dogs but that ride and have lots of stock involved in
cattle or the cutting horses and everything, so we thought
it would be a natural thing. When they [Merle and Sandi]
got settled in their ranch this year, we started the competitions, and it’s been gaining momentum. We are so grateful
Brazos Bash Open Champions Greg Coalson and his dog Lex
NOVEMBER 2016
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