With more than 40 years of experience in the horse and cattle production business, the Philipp Ranch is known for quality animals, and over the last decade, the Philipp family has brought that excellence to the Big Loop Big Money team roping tour across Texas as well.
The Philipp Ranch Corriente cattle spurred the family, led by Johnnie and Kathy Philipp, to start hosting ropings about eight years ago as a way to put the cattle to work.
“Our goals were to have good paying ropings and give more money back to the ropers than we took,” Johnnie and Kathy’s son and second generation rancher John Philipp said. “There’s a lot of families that can come and have a weekend to go rope and win some money.”
Although they’ve had up to 1,200 teams rope in one weekend, they average around 800 teams per competition. And although the events have grown and attracted new riders, there is a continuity of riders that John is proud of.
“You see a lot of the same faces there,” he said. “We grew, but we’ve kept the ones that started with us too.”
With seven ropings planned for the Big Loop Big Money Tour 2017-2018 season, the May final will run in conjunction with a sale of Philipp Ranch-bred and -raised horses.
“It ties in and gives us clientele from our ropings to our horses too,” said John. “It’s all based around team roping and raising horses and cattle.”
Johnnie and Kathy founded the Philipp Ranch, and sons John and Shane also work at the operation full time. In addition to around 40 broodmares and their offspring, the ranch is home to more than 2,000 head of Corriente cattle in Washington, Texas.
As the competition grew, the Big Loop Big Money tour added more prizes from sponsors like South Texas Tack. In addition to the 80 percent payback, the tour gives buckles to the average winners and a multitude of prizes in every category.
“We’ve had South Texas Tack for the last four or five years. The company has helped tremendously,” John said.
With a reputation to uphold, the Philipp family takes their sponsors seriously. Their commitment to quality in every area of their operation is reflected in how they choose company partnerships.
“What I like about South Texas Tack is it covers the whole realm. It’s not just one product,” John said. “If you need a set of hobbles to a set of boots or whatever you need, it’s just the quality of their products. They’re always evolving and getting better. You can go in there and get whatever you need. That’s what I like and look forward to.”
Although it can be easy to find sponsors for a popular roping, John knows that the Philipp Ranch clients shouldn’t just go anywhere for reliable products.
“We’re sending our clients to [South Texas Tack], and they take wonderful care of them, and they end up being clients of theirs, so it all works hand in hand,” he said.
