Maryville residents create calf tracking app
· Yahoo Sports
MARYVILLE, Mo.— Two Maryville men created a phone application designed to help rodeo contestants keep better track of timed-event livestock.
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According to a news release, much like football teams study film of upcoming opponents, cowboys and cowgirls try to learn as much as possible about the animals they draw. For years, contestants have studied notes and made phone calls to gather information about animal tendencies, hoping the knowledge will pay off in competition.
With that in mind, Gary Shipps and the late Rob Espey developed Calf Tracker, an app that allows rodeo contestants to access information about livestock with the touch of a button.
“I just saw a need,” Shipps, a Maryville businessman, said in a release. “I watched Rob use his phone to write down cattle. He was using the notebook app on his phone, and I thought, ‘That’s got to be incredibly hard to find a specific number, especially in the heat of the moment. It cannot be that hard to solve.’
“That’s what got me going, and I just looked around and found a guy to do it. With just a phone call, he really nailed that first version. Rob got to test it and gave thoughts on what it needed, gave really positive feedback. Rob was the guy you needed to make it work like it works.”
Just as Calf Tracker was gaining traction, Espey was killed in June 2024 after being struck by lightning. Shipps has continued developing the app as a tribute to his friend.
“I’d just like to see the app become prevalent,” Shipps said. “I wanted to see it succeed for him. He knew how to make it work. He knew how good it was.”
Calf Tracker has gained a following among rodeo competitors. The app allows users to view information on individual animals. If no notes exist for a specific animal, competitors can begin building a profile. The goal is to create a detailed outline for each calf or steer in a herd, with additional information added over time.
“We use it all the time,” Jackie Crawford, a 23-time world champion roper from Stephenville, Texas, said in the release. “It’s a great app.”
Calf Tracker has become especially popular among breakaway ropers, including Crawford.
“We were all just standing around there in the arena, and my husband ended up actually downloading it,” said Christi Braudrick, a past Prairie Circuit breakaway roping champion who also serves as rodeo coach at Kansas State University and breakaway roping director for the WPRA. “… That’s how it started, and then I guess we just started sharing it. It’s super convenient and way better than writing stuff down.”
Users can enter the number associated with a cow to locate information about that animal. In Braudrick’s case, her husband, Kyle, enters a calf’s brand digits to pull up its profile. He then reviews the information to help his wife and other ropers gain an advantage before competing.
Users say the app is easier and quicker to use than traditional note-taking methods and is especially useful when competitors rope the same calves throughout the summer.
The app can be used for all cattle-based timed events. Many rodeos use the same stock contractors, meaning bulldogging steers that compete in Sydney, Iowa, one week may appear in Sikeston, Missouri, the next.
“It’s just so simple to use,” Shipps said. “I showed this to some team ropers way back in the development, and their eyes just bugged out of their heads.”
Calf Tracker has evolved over time, as most apps do. Some features have been added while others have been removed, allowing it to better meet users’ needs.
“I really think the reason a lot of the guys in other events don’t use it is because they’re just not familiar with it,” Braudrick said. “I’ve thought about telling the bulldoggers on my rodeo team that they should download that so they can keep track of their steers better. I think everybody would benefit from it.”