Stock contractor awarded
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Awards Banquet was held Dec. 2 in Arlington, Texas before the opening night of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR). During the event, held to honor cowboys and cowgirls for their contributions to the western sport, Summit Pro Rodeo was selected to receive the 2020 Polaris Ranger Remuda Award for providing the “best, most consistent pen of bucking horses, creating the best opportunities for contestants to score well,” according to a PRCA news release.
Summit Pro Rodeo is based in Centennial and is run by J.D. Hamaker and his sons Ty, Blaze and Colt. The stock contracting company primarily provides stock for rodeos in Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington.
“It’s a tremendous honor to have our name put on the list of other contractors I really admire those who have won in the past,” said Hamaker. “It’s a great honor to us, and we are very humbled by it.”
“We pretty much came from the ground up,” he continued. “We started with high school rodeos and amateur rodeos and then bought out Hal Burns’ Pro Rodeo deal and expanded it from there.”
Since forming Summit Pro Rodeo in 2011, Byron Juma of Torrington has taken over the bull program, and Daniel Beard of Ellensburg, Wash., has added a few more horses and bulls as a minority partner.
The Hamakers will be taking home a bronze statue modeled after their string, even branded with their brand, and a Polaris Ranger to commemorate the recognition of their work in providing the best, most consistent bucking horses.
The PRCA’s Remuda Awards also recognize the winning rodeo committee, going to the Ute Stampede in Nephi, Utah this year.
“It might not necessarily be the contractor with the best set of horses, or the most horses at the WNFR, but the contractor with the evenest, best set of horses contestants like to get on and we are really grateful for it,” Hamaker shared.
