The Solomon Family, Region VIII's McCoy's Farm and Ranch Family

Region VIII’s McCoy’s Farm and Ranch Family is the Solomon Family.

Mike and Brooke met in late 2003 and were married in 2008. They each brought a daughter to the family, Mika and Mackenzie.

Mika is a college student in Uvalde and Mackenzie is a Junior in high school and competes in Region VIII. Mike raises and feeds cattle and prides himself in the preconditioning care he puts into his operation.

Solomon Cattle Company is a 4 man/woman operation: Mike, Brooke, Mika and Mackenzie. Mike oversees the care of the cattle and does all the purchasing. Brooke tries to keep the books straight, which is sometimes a chore because Mike uses all kinds of tiny pieces of paper to write down notes for her.

Brooke also homeschools Mackenzie, incorporating the cattle business as a real life teaching tool .... her “field trips” are also cattle business related.

“The girls are very key components in our business. Mackenzie can sort and load a truck with cattle better than most men. They both learned to count by counting cattle. They both can pull a 36ft trailer loaded with cattle with no issues,” said Mike.

Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, Mike and Brooke love their ranch life together. Mike was raised in Falfurrias, Texas his entire life. He is the son of a rancher whose roots reach back to the early 1950’s. Brooke spent most of her growing up years in Sonora, where her parents made their living in the oilfield.

Mike spent his younger years on the football field or helping his father in their family owned dairy and cattle operation. As Mike approached adulthood he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps as a cattleman. Since the early 1980’s, Mike’s main way of life has been as a cattle feeder, where he has fed cattle in several different feed yards over the years.

As life changed for Mike he decided to try his hand in the bucking bull business. He soon was very successful with salebarn purchased bulls. When asked about it he says, “I was in the perfect situation, buying cattle to put on feed allowed me to have plenty to try in the bucking pen.” These bulls became very well known in the PBR for many years. One prized accomplishment was having the only 3 year old bull to buck in the PBR Finals short.

Brooke however spent most of her life in the rodeo arena. Basically born on the back of a horse, barrel racing and horses have always been her passion. At the age of 16, Brooke filled her WPRA permit in one run, then hauled to PRCA rodeos for approximately two years. She competed in rodeos like Houston, Denver, Kansas City and Cheyenne. After a vehicle accident left her good horse injured, Brooke returned home and started her college education gaining a Business Degree.

She has now taken her love of horses into a business fueled by her education through the school of hard knocks. After many years of caring for horses that some had deemed “used up” Brooke has learned how to use modern medicine and different rehabilitation techniques to bring those horses back to competition form. Brooke and her family own Fithorse by Equatics Fitness Center in Kingsville, TX (a swimming and Rehab facility).

Mike and Brooke are very involved with Region VIII. Mike has been the High School Region VIII President for the last two years and Brooke is instrumental with coordinating fundraising events, going out and asking for donations and helping with coordinating all the year-end prizes that are given out. Mike is always there making sure that everything is ready to go for each rodeo, that the arena is ready and the ground is good. They are always helping out and supporting all the High School and Junior High kids in Region VIII.

The Solomons are proud to have been selected as the McCoy’s Farm and Ranch Family. Brooke said, "We have a McCoys in Kingsville which is about a 30 minute drive for us. We buy just about everything there. Our most recent purchases for the ranch have been fencing materials and gates.”

The entire Solomon Family is known for their dedication in all areas of their life, whether it is feeding cattle, in the arena or taking care of Region VIII. We are proud to recognize them as Region VIII’s McCoy’s Farm and Ranch Family.