Verner gearing up for RAM Rodeo event

Christian Gammon-Roy

Tribune

West Nipissing is sure to be a hot destination on September 7th and 8th when the RAM Rodeo Tour makes a stop in Verner. Fans will get to see riders perform atop horseback and on bulls, in an exciting showdown between seasoned cowboys and cowgirls. Aiden Breer, a 16-year-old junior bull rider from Sturgeon Falls, mentions that it doesn’t matter if you’re a cowboy or not, watching someone doing acrobatics standing on a horse is fun for anyone. The Verner RAM Rodeo will be hosted by Verner couple Caroline Marx and Serge Lafrenière on their family farm. The pair promise tons of activities inside and outside the rodeo arena.

A veritable “field of dreams”

“If you build it, they will come,” jokes Serge Lafrenière while standing on the Northern Range Horse and Cattle farm. It’s a reference to the 1989 film Field of Dreams, and for his wife, Caroline Marx, it’s very on-the-nose. “I’ve been dreaming about this since January,” she says as she looks out to the currently empty fields. However, as she talks about the planning that has gone into the rodeo, it’s clear that she’s not seeing those quiet fields. “It’s hard to imagine, but I see it, I see the vision.”

The Northern Range Horse and Cattle Farm was originally Serge Lafrenière’s grandmother’s property. “When we bought [the farm] a few years ago, we knew we wanted to have some kind of event,” recalls Marx. After some deliberation, the couple thought that a rodeo would be ideal, especially considering that the area between Lavigne and Verner, where the farm sits, is prime real estate for hosting a rodeo. “The IPM was such a big hit, everyone loved it, so why not?” suggested Marx.

The International Plowing Match was hosted in Verner in 2019, not so far from Northern Range. As Marx mentions, it was a big hit with local residents and businesses, but also a huge hit with Ross Millar, President of the RAM Rodeo, which is affiliated with the IPM. In fact, Millar had been so impressed with Verner that when Marx reached out to him for information about hosting the rodeo, he expressed his long-time eagerness to come back to the region. “He said the hospitality down our way is not comparable, and that after the IPM they had such a great time, they’ve been wanting to come back,” recounts Marx.

“When we filled out the application in January, and we got the ok, we just started going ahead with working on this area,” she adds, pointing at the part of their field which will eventually hold the rodeo arenas. She explains that the RAM Rodeo requires an area of 90 feet by 180 feet, or 16,200 square feet, to accommodate their events. That area doesn’t take into account any of the space for vendors, parking, and for other entertainment. The grounds are also expected to hold between 3,000 and 5,000 people over the course of the weekend.

Marx estimates that their farm currently has approximately 14 acres of useable space, roughly 610,000 square feet, to fit everything at the rodeo. There is additional space on the farm as well, leaving her and Lafrenière confident in their ability to grow the event for the following years. “We have room to expand, but some parts won’t be moving,” Marx says as she points to parts of the field which will be dedicated to hosting the rodeo events. In terms of other attractions, only time will tell what those will be as the event grows, but the couple mention the possibility of truck pulls, and even someday getting helicopter rides. These are options they will consider after they’ve seen how things play out this year.

It’s clear that they’re dreaming big for the future, but for now they’re focused on getting this first event off the ground, and with minimal issues. “We were talking that if we do too much, it might gross us out the first year. If we grow it as we go, we’ll enjoy it more. Then if we enjoy it, it’s more entertaining to do it every year,” Lafrenière explains. The plan is to make it an annual event around the same time each year. According to Marx, RAM Rodeo organisers offer hosts first pick of the date for the following year, so they maintain consistency in the tour. “They have rodeos that have been going on for 26 years!” Marx exclaims, thinking well into the future. “Why not? If the people and the municipality continue to want it, why not?”

Early September is approaching quicker than Marx and Lafrenière expected, and it has been an occasionally stressful endeavour to get everything organised. However, they have not been alone. Marx makes it a point to thank family and friends for their help in getting the grounds ready for the rodeo. She also is grateful to local sponsors for help with funds and donations.

The municipality is also contributing how it can. “It’s not fair to ask for taxpayers’ money, but where they come in to help is that they are helping to push through any permits that I need, and we requested waste management, we got fencing and items that the municipality already has on hand. They’ve been super on-board with it,” acknowledges Marx, adding that the town has also sent staff in to put in culverts so that emergency vehicles can access the grounds during the event.

The rodeo company has also been helpful. The agreement is that they bring all the things required for the show, such as judges, livestock, competitors and more. “Then, I just have to make sure that the event runs smoothly,” Marx says. They’ve also been a good source of information on how to get things prepared.

In terms of challenges, Marx mentions that certain supplies have been difficult to acquire, and finding the proper vendors has been quite the process. She mentions trying to find bleachers for seating as a particularly daunting task. However, she expects that once this first event is over, her list of contacts will be established, and procurement will be much easier going forward.

Despite the stress, Marx, Lafrenière and the whole family are clearly excited. They are particularly impatient to see the Canadian Cowgirls and the kids rodeo, and Lafrenière says he’s waiting for the bull riding. But what they most want is to share that excitement with others, to see people enjoying the rodeo at their home and bring something great to the community. “To be completely honest, just to see this happening at our farm is beyond words. We purchased this place from his grandma, so this is a family farm, and this went from a dairy operation, to nothing for a few years, and then a cattle operation with horses with us, and now a rodeo. Just to see the space change and grow and build, I’m sure memère, as nervous as she seems, she’s pretty excited for it,” expresses Marx.

Local rider will compete at the RAM Rodeo

The excitement of having a local rodeo is being shared by 16-year-old Aiden Breer of Sturgeon Falls. The junior bull rider is on his second circuit as part of the RAM Rodeo Tour and has been doing extremely well. Currently, Breer has won 3 out of his 5 competitions, making him the RAM Rodeo’s number one junior rider. He is also on-track to compete in the RAM Championships on October 18th to 20th in Ancaster.

His journey to competing in the RAM Rodeo Tour began as an attendee not so long ago. “We went to their championship finals in 2022. There was a mechanical bull there, and I got on it. It was at max speed, and I think I was on there for about 2 minutes. I was the 3rd person to do it in Ontario, and the other two peoples were its owners,” recalls Breer. With his interest piqued, he decided to attend the Dickies Build-A-Cowboy Rodeo School near Hagersville, on the Six Nations Reserve. The school is affiliated with the RAM Rodeo, and its owner, Alex Van Every is the Arena Director at the event. It was a natural fit for Breer to follow the same circuit.

To the uninitiated observer, bull riding might seem like a simple fight to stay on an enraged animal. However, Breer points out that there is a lot of technique that goes into the sport. “You have to ride 8 seconds to get a score, and they judge you on how your body position is. So, if you’re flopping everywhere, you’re going to get a lower score. If you have a really good form, you’re sitting straight up, and you’re on top of the bull, not on the side, you’re going to get a better score,” he explains. Riders also earn a score based on the challenge that the bull presented. For each ride, the bull is selected from a hat. “It’s a draw, you get a different one every time, or you get unlucky and get the same one for 2 weekends in a row,” laughs Breer, who likes the challenge of riding a variety of bulls.

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