Adams County teen partners with Florida rider to win Ranch Sorting National Championship

COLUMBUS, Ill. — When Ripley Echternkamp learned she and partner Caden Simmons had won, it wasn’t immediately a moment of celebration.

Instead, it was a moment of relief.

Echternkamp, who lives just outside of Columbus and recently graduated from Central High School in Camp Point, partnered with Simmons to win the Rated Youth division at the Ranch Sorting National Championship, held June 10-17 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Simmons, who lives in Florida, and Echternkamp took first place out of 157 teams in their division. 

“It was just a relief, because it was a hard week,” Echternkamp said. “I mean, it also was super exciting. I’d known Caden for many years, and I’d hung out with him for a long time. But I hadn’t really won anything. I really struggled getting anywhere. I’d never got past the first or second round. I’m not sure it’s really anyone’s fault. It’s just how the cows worked out, or maybe me or my partner didn’t get to where we should have been. Sometimes things just don’t work out. 

“I definitely like to win more than most people. Yeah, it was fun being there, no matter what happened. But winning makes it 100 times better.”

Ranch sorting is typically a 2-man team sorting 10 cattle numbered 0-9 and 1 unnumbered cow for a total of 11 head. It is a timed event. Contestants are rated in a nine-point rating system based on statistical performance.

A run starts with a team on the opposite side of the start line from cattle. The judge signals the beginning of the run by dropping the flag when the nose of the first horse crosses the start/foul line. The announcer draws a number, which will determine the first cow to be sorted. Cattle are then sorted from one pen to another, going through a 14-foot-wide gate.

Cattle must be sorted in number sequence. The 10th cow must be completely across the line before the blank cow starts across, or the team will not receive a time.

Echternkamp qualified for the event in Fort Worth by attending five regional shows throughout the Midwest. 

She’s been involved in ranch sorting since she was 7 years old. 

“When I was growing up. I remember going for a couple of years or so and watching,” she said. “One day I think Dad just kind of threw me out there and said, ‘Go figure it out.’ I mean, I’ve watched Dad do it for years before that. It was just a matter of time for me getting on the horse and getting out there.”

Echternkamp says horsemanship makes a good ranch sorter.

“When you work with your horse, there’s a partnership there,” she said. “A lot of people treat their horse as an animal and not their partner. In a relationship, if your partner is struggling, you need to help them and not get mad at them.”

When she was at the week-long competition in Fort Worth, Echternkamp noticed her horse, Bama Mate, was getting tired (She also partnered with Gage Moore, another Florida rider, in another class). She switched to Sweena Cat, her father’s horse, to finish the competition. 

“The Rated Youth class is my second class, and I’d already ridden a full class before that,” Echternkamp said. “I knew my horse was tired going into the first class, and then after that, I could just feel he was drained. He was standing there. He wasn’t really wanting to move. Dad’s horse hadn’t even rode yet. So I kind of asked, ‘Hey, Dad. Can I use your horse?’ The thing is, if anything happens with my horse or his horse, we ride each other’s horses all the time.”

Echeternkamp’s father, Max, is a horse trainer. Eight to 25 horses typically are on the family’s property.

If Echternkamp isn’t helping her father with the horse training, they’re on the road to another event.

“I love it,” she said. “I love the traveling. There’s a lot of bonding going on. A lot of the time on the road, it’s really just me and my dad. I get to travel the country with my dad. My dad’s always been home my entire life. When I was little and I would get on the bus to come home, he’s be there when I arrived 10 minutes later.”

Echternkamp says she plans to remain active in ranch sorting and “ride ‘til I can’t ride any more.” However, she’ll start attending classes at John Wood Community College in the fall. She plans to become a dentist.