Rodeo Team Raffling Donated Saddle

Rodeo coach Roger Hanagriff (left) and alumnus Benton Moore show off the saddle, hand made by Moore, which will be raffled off to benefit the Sonny Sikes Rodeo Endowment Fund.

The SHSU Rodeo Team is selling raffle tickets for a hand-made saddle valued at $3,100 as a major fundraiser for the Sonny Sikes Rodeo Endowment fund.

The saddle was made and donated by alumnus Benton Moore, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science and biology simultaneously in 1968.

“He (Moore) came to us last year and said that he wanted to donate a saddle to help build the rodeo endowment at Sam Houston State,” said rodeo coach Roger Hanagriff.

Moore, who has been making saddles since 1976, said he donates a lot of saddles to be raffled for scholarship programs because he had worked his way through college and wanted to help others who work hard while in school.

“I swore once if I could get out (of college) and help somebody go to school, that that’s what I wanted to do, in whatever capacity I could,” he said. “I always feel like if you drink from the well and don’t put something back, it’s going to dry up.”

In addition to the saddles he makes and donates for school groups, Moore made a saddle, named “Saddle of Independence,” that now sits in the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station.

“One of our claims to fame was last year we made and presented a saddle to President (George W.) Bush,” Moore said. “We made the saddle and toured it all over the United States and got to personally present it to him in Rapid City.


“It’ll be put in his library museum after his presidency,” he said.

Moore, who owns a saddle shop and ranches in Groesbeck, said he was a member of the rodeo club while at SHSU and had Sikes as a teacher.

“Mr. Sikes helped me a lot in college,” he said.

The endowment was established about four years ago in the name of alumnus and former rodeo coach Sikes, according to Hanagriff, and is given to a member of the rodeo team.

The rodeo team sold tickets for the saddle at the SHSU-hosted rodeo both last year and this year and will probably hold the drawing for the saddle in April, according to Hanagriff.

“I think one of the future angles of Sam Houston’s rodeo success is the building of endowments. This saddle auction is probably our largest effort in trying to obtain financial support, and so we’re excited about it and excited about exploring other avenues as well.”

Tickets can be purchased for $5 each, or six for $25, by contacting Hanagriff at 936.294.3867, or in the Alumni Association Office.

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SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
Nov. 10, 2003
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