Burning Bush Cowboy Church in Troy will present its first Ranch Rodeo with two performances Saturday at Cattleman Arena. Admission and fun are free.

The gates will open at noon with half event performances at 2 and 7 p.m.

Alvie Walker, church minister, said a ranch rodeo is different from traditional rodeos that feature events such as bull riding and barrel racing.

“The events at a ranch rodeo are based on the daily activities that a cowboy would actually perform on a ranch,” Walker said. “One of the events is the sorting of cows. The cowboy draws a number and has to sort out the cow with that number and then go backwards from that number until all of the cows are sorted.”

Walker said one of the most popular events is cow milking.

“The cowboy has to catch the cow and milk it into a bottle,” he said. “The winner is the one who catches the most milk in the bottle.”

Cowboys and/or cowgirls compete in teams of four to get the best times in each event.

The Burning Bush Cowboy Church Ranch Rodeo will feature teams from Georgia, Florida and north Alabama as well as local teams.

“The team that wins the Burning Bush Cowboy Church Ranch Rodeo will qualify to compete in the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches Finals in Texas later this year,” Walker said.

Burning Bush Cowboy Church is offering the Ranch Rodeo to the community admission- free.

“We want families to be able to come out and enjoy the fun of rodeo and sometimes admission charges prevent families from attending events,” he said. “We want the Ranch Rodeo to be available to everyone who wants to come out and have a good time at the rodeo. And, they can come for the two o’clock rodeo or the seven o’clock rodeo or come and stay for both. There will be plenty of things for kids and adults to enjoy.”

The Ranch Rodeo will have pony rides for the kids, mule and wagon rides, bouncies and other activities. A vendor will be at the rodeo with western-type jewelry for sale.

“We’ll have an intermission between the two performances and, at that time, we’ll have Kevin Adair in concert,” Walker said. “Kevin is a local guy who is a great singer and everyone will enjoy him.”

The Banks Volunteer Fire Department will have the grills going throughout the Ranch Rodeo and will have burgers and hotdogs and a variety of snack items and cold drinks for sale.

“We hope everyone who enjoys rodeo will come out Saturday for the Burning Bush Church Ranch Rodeo,” Walker said. “This is our first Ranch Rodeo and plans are to make it an annual event.”