Shannon Hall was born to parents Donnie and Sandy Paul Hall in 1964 in Amarillo, TX. His father was born in Cook County, Texas in 1941 in a house in a cotton patch. Grandfather George Hall worked on ranches around Goodnight and Clarendon. Shannon’s mother was born in Knox City, Texas in 1943. Her family farmed and ranched on his Uncle Bud Roberts in around Tulia. His mother and dad met in a grocery store in Wayside, TX when Donnie was working on the JA’s in 1959. His Dad worked for the W. J. Lewis Estate on the RO ranch in Briscoe and Donley Counties where he retired in 1999 and his mother now lives with Shannon and Ronda on their ranch.
Shannon is now the third generation in his family earning a living on the back of a horse and chasing cows. Shannon has worked for the RO’s, Cash, 6666’s, -B, Spades, Babbit’s, and has been self-employed since 1988. His fondest memories go back to age 11 when the family moved to the W. J. Lewis Estate. He said every day was an experience working with his dad and his crew! One of the best lessons learned was on his 1st paid job on a ranch at age 12 when he was tasked by cattle buyer Douglas Shelton to keep a set of Lewis calves off of water till after they were weighed. He fell asleep. He never forgot that disappointment in himself and letting others down when he did not do his job. Shannon has one full brother, Buddy, a Judge in New Mexico, a half-brothers Shane, a horse trainer in Weatherford, and Tim a police detective in Pittsburg, TX.
Shannon met the love of his life Ronda Lynn Blunk while working in Kansas riding horses and she was working in a restaurant. They were married in 1991. Ronda’s family ranches on country in SW Kansas and NW Oklahoma that has been in their family since the 1800’s. Ronda and Shannon have three children, Whitney Nicole, Kadee Bell, and Dakota Jo. Whitney is a partner at the ranch, Kadee Belle is in college and Dakota Jo is in the 8th grade. They all make hands when work is to be done, but Whitney takes care of the cow herd.
His greatest hope is for his children to intimately know God, be happy in their life choices, and continue to keep the ranch working. Like all of us his greatest fear of nature is drought and fires. He believes his fear of his Lord God is the beginning of wisdom, as spoken in Psalm 111 v. 10.
Shannon believes his greatest pleasures in life from his work come from being able to saddle his horse, see the sun rise, and enjoy God’s creations and simply being a cowboy. The family does everything horseback on high maintenance country where cattle have to be checked regularly, roped and doctored horseback, and they ride for fun. The kids show in cuttings, reinings, cowhorse, roping, barrel racing. It’s just what they do!
And he did it well, too! He became associated with a former Proctor award recipient, Billy Cogdell of Tulia, Texas and took the horse Shania Cee to the 1999 National Cutting Horse Futurity and won it with a 225.5 and made the cutting world take notice. He is now only riding horses for family or close friends. Oh, and by the way, he has won over $3 million dollars in his cutting career, and is in the NCHA Hall of Fame. And he gives back. He has conducted free clinics for the 4-H horse club in Paducah, TX and a clinic in the Chicago area for wounded veterans. And every once in a while, he gives walk, trot, and lope riding lessons.
Horses. When asked about any favorite horses he can recall, he said that is a hard question. He tells us that he has been blessed with several great horses, Skip was his best all-around horse. He was a super horse to work a round-up or rope on and was a big and strong horse. His current favorite is a horse named Lucky Nedd Pepper. He says, “We raised him and named him after the outlaw in True Grit, portrayed by Robert Duvall, not knowing he would live up to his namesake. As a two year old, he bucked off my horse breaker, then my cowhand, and was scared to death of everyone. I rode him two weeks and had to leave for a lengthy horse show, so sent him to a friend that is great with broncs and a NFR bronc rider. Nedd got him twice! I brought him home and decided we must be friends. One year later he has won over $30,000 cutting and is my buddy, a super athlete and extremely smart.” He says, “My daughter Whitney shows him and Lucky Nedd Pepper is my favorite.”
