This rodeo is gladly a Turkey

BENSON — Everyone’s welcome at the Turkey Creek Ranch Rodeo — whether they want to watch or compete.

On a recent Tuesday night, Mason Price, 19, of Angier was competing in amateur bull riding. “I have been riding for 14 years,” he said before that night’s competition. “I started horseback riding because I enjoyed trail riding.”

Price said he was sold on bull riding after his first try. “I fell in love with the competition and wanted to be better,” he said. “There is something that draws you to it that you can’t explain.”

Bull riders practice on something akin to a mechanical bull. A rider straddles a plastic barrel turned on its side. Ropes flow from what passes for the barrel’s corners, and fellow riders pull on the ropes, mimicking, as best they can, the movements of a bull.

It’s not the same of course, Price said. “You just practice like if you were on a bull, but nothing beats getting on the real thing when you go into the rodeo practice pin,” he said. “There isn’t anything that can make the motion of a bull.”

The 10-year-old Turkey Creek Ranch Rodeo is convenient but also good competition, said Price, who’s been there since the beginning. “There is no other rodeo within 15 minutes of my house,” he said. “It’s a great rodeo. There were some bumps in the road getting to where they are now, but at this point, they got it locked down. They run it just as smoothly as it can be.”

On the same night Price competed, Regina Griggs, 49, of Angier was there for the breakaway roping event. The object is to lasso a calf as it darts around the arena.

“This was the first year that this rodeo has breakaway roping, so I decided to come out,” Griggs said. “We have a breakaway pin at my house where I practice a few times a week.”

She’s been roping for around 12 years, Griggs said. “I went to N.C. State, where I met my husband,” she said. “He was a team roper. I wanted to learn how to rope so that I could rodeo with him.”

It’s an expensive hobby to take up, Griggs said. “When you get started, you have to find someone who can teach you how to do it,” she said. “It’s not something that you can just go and pick up. You have to have someone to train you, and you have to have the right horse. You have to have all the equipment.”

But once you get into roping and competing, it can be a lot of fun, Griggs said. “When you start, you are going to miss more than you’re going to catch, so don’t give up,” she said.

The Turkey Creech Ranch Rodeo brings out participants of all ages and all experience levels.

Bailey May, 13, of Benson, has been competing in roping for two years now. This is her second year at Turkey Creek.

“I participated last year in barrel racing,” she said. “They didn’t have breakaway roping last year.”

But now she’s hooked on the new event. “I’ve done it every single time this year that they have had breakaway roping,” May said.

It takes a lot of work to be competitive, “I practice every single day,” she said. “I practice by roping calves at home, roping the dummies and roping them on the ground.”

May typically competes in junior rodeos but enjoys the challenge of Turkey Creek. “I do better at junior rodeos because it is more of my level,” she said. “But this rodeo does put the pressure on, and it helps me do bigger rodeos.”

Turkey Creek Ranch Rodeo was born when his family decided to switch things up, said Hunter Denning, owner. He and his family used to raise turkeys on the farm on Benson-Hardee Road.

“What we were making versus what we were spending just wasn’t working,” Denning said of raising turkeys. “We tried to switch things up. We started boarding horses, and then we built the arena.”

Turkey Creek Ranch Rodeo started with just barrel racing, Denning said. “That’s how we could afford to do it,” he said.

But the rodeo gained so much traction that the Dennings needed a better venue. “We rented an arena in Benson in 2019,” Denning said. “Then, unfortunately, my dad passed away in February of 2020 due to a massive heart attack.”

Proceeds from his father’s estate helped him finish what his dad had started, Denning said. “I wish he was here to see it all,” he said.

Denning said the rodeo owes much to his son, who embodies the never-quit spirit of rodeo competitors. “My son, Waylon, just turned 14 a couple of weeks ago, and he started driving sheep when he was 5 years old in 2015,” Denning said. “Ever since he started, it didn’t matter if he fell off because he would just get up and do it again. I think that’s kind of what drove my dad and me to pursue the rodeo as hard as we did. We were just trying our best to create what we have now.”

Turkey Creek Ranch Rodeo remains a family venture. “My wife is my legal secretary,” Denning said “My mom helps run concessions. It’s just a really tight-knit, family-run business.”

The rodeo seems to have taken off this year, Denning said. “Our crowds this year are way better than they were two years ago,” he said. “The community has only said great things about it being a great place to go during the summer and bring your kids.”

For more information, visit Turkey Creek Ranch Rodeo’s Facebook page.

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