Jun. 6—Rawhide Portable Corrals held its 20th anniversary open house in Abilene Saturday.

John McDonald, an Abilene native who moved back to his hometown to start a business here in 2002, had the idea to make a portable corral after seeing a need for the product on the rodeo circuit.

"I was in the rodeo business my entire life as a contestant and as a producer and promoter type person," John McDonald said. "I worked for the televised bull ridings when they were first started in the 1990s and I was the guy in charge of setting up the portable equipment in sport arenas around the United States. And one night when I was watching the bulls we had penned in the corral system that I had set up in this coliseum in Long Beach, California, two bulls got in a fight and we needed to let one of them out of the corral, but there was no gate close to where the animal was. And the guy that owned the animals was panicking. And I said, 'just a minute, I can unpin the panel and get it open and let that bull out.' Well, when I unpinned it and opened it, the panel opened up further than I thought it would."

The way the standard panels on everyday farm corrals are structured made it fold "like a gate, back out of the way," John McDonald said.

The incident gave him an idea as to how he could make his set ups at rodeos faster and easier, he said.

John McDonald wanted to make something that would make it easier to catch cattle without needing to carry panels around.

John McDonald tinkered with the idea.

He started working with now-Lumber House owner Matt Engle to create the invention he and his family have sold for 20 years now.

"He let me come down there and use his tools and his shop and do my first prototype," John McDonald said. "He helped me with that, so he was a part of it initially and helped me quite a bit."

His business has grown since 2002 as he advertised and attended trade shows with his product.

"It worked the way I wanted it to," McDonald said. "It evolved into something that was real useful for everyone involved that bought corrals and for those particular situations — everybody does their cattle operations different — but folks find ways that it works best for them and they're happy."

John McDonald said he was proud of the testimonials he received in honor of the 20th anniversary celebration and of the thousands of corrals he had sold since the idea first appeared in his head.

"It wasn't about the money," he said.

But he now sells millions of dollars worth of corrals every year.

"I'm glad I did it in my hometown," John McDonald said.

He said he hoped Saturday would allow he and his employees to talk with past, present and potential future customers and show the community his business.

He had a commemorative belt buckle made to honor the 20th anniversary and presented one to everyone involved in making the 20th anniversary happen.

Mary McDonald said she hoped people would brave the weather to attend the open house.

"We've got past customers, we've got potential customers here," she said. "We know they're looking at corrals, so that's great."

Mary McDonald said she was "grateful" to be there.

"I'm very grateful that my husband designed such a great product that it's so helpful to everybody around the country and the world, really," she said. "We do have some foreign customers. So it's just amazing that he had an idea that helps everybody with their cattle and we're in a perfect location being in Abilene, Kansas. We're centrally located, we're on the interstate. Our customers come here, stay in the hotels, buy the gas, eat at the restaurants and then take their corrals home. So Abilene's a good fit for us, definitely."

Daughter Cassy Wilson works for the company and took part in the open house.

"In 2002, my parents uprooted our family — not that far away, only like 45 minutes away — but moved to Abilene, decided Abilene was a good place to start a business," she said. "My dad had the idea to start the business and decided to move back to his hometown. So we're just wanting to celebrate it, meet customers, see potential customers ... We're hoping lots of people show up."