Mark and I took the kids to the rodeo yesterday. I love these small, hometown setups where there's none of the glitz and glamor of the fancy outfits on the girls with all the sparkles as a testament to how much money they have. That's not what rodeo is about. And this one had it right. They spent a lot of time promoting the next generation. There were quite a few mutton busting runs, and afterwards, they did a group photo, gave all the kids a prize of some sort, and it didn't seem -- like with most rodeos -- that they couldn't wait to get done with this part and get on to the "real" thing. All of the guys helped the kids and encouraged them and made them feel really good about the job they did. As well they should! I love watching this! There's tons of photos. Here they come.
In the beginning part of the rodeo, the Mountain Home Air Show was still going on, so there were quite a few fly-overs, which were very cool.
These two were waiting to watch "sissy" on her mutton.
Look at the determination!
... and the spills that would make any cowboy proud!
There were kids that weren't quite big enough yet, but they still able to participate for a few steps ... and they loved it!
Even cowboys in the making were helping out ... and enjoying the show.
Some rides were a little scarier than others.
This kid is gonna be on bulls some day. Tough little guy.
And watch this kid!
What great form!
This one, too!
Stylish spills! (I really need to learn how to take these very quick action shots. I'm glad at least a few of them came out to where you can at least tell what you're looking at.)
(This might have been "sissy" ...)
They had to re-set the sheep, so in the meantime, it was one of the organizer's birthday ... so someone walked out with these lovely flowers and stuff ...
... and they somehow ended up in a spill all their own. (I love the guys laughing ...)
Back to the action. Here are the first few sheep out ...
This one is making a sharp right turn. Why is that?
Well, because ... of course the first couple of sheep didn't want to cooperate with the cowboy and go to the other side of the arena, so they went to the last place they knew to go -- which is where they were just reloaded. So we had this problem for a while. The organizers are trying to stop the sheep from hanging around the reloading chute, the cowboy can't bring his horse in there to get the right pressure that the sheep weren't respecting anyway, and the cowboys on foot were pretty ineffective. Too bad they didn't have a dog.
Soon, a few other cowboys hopped in and got it all under control, and they took the few out to the center of the area, and got the draw back in a straight line.
By the seat of his pants!
I don't know if they picked one winner, but I'll tell you, it took guts for all these kids to do this and they did a great job!
Here's the Grand Marshall. She's got kids and grandkids and great-grandkids all involved in the rodeo, and she's been in the Bruneau area since dirt was created, and was the postmaster in town, etc. She said she wanted to come to the rodeo on a "mule" and that's exactly what she did.
I didn't take photos of all of the events. I did get some bronc riding and bull riding. These are not the best photos on the planet. I definitely need practice with these action shots -- even in great lighting.
And here's the bull riding...
One of the events was something called the "Hide Race." I couldn't imagine what that was going to be. What it is ... is a team event. One person takes a cowhide that has a rope attached to it, and stands at one end of the arena, the other person is on horseback. When the whistle blows, the rider runs up, and "picks up" the hide rope, and drags it ... with the person on it ... to the other end of the arena. The fastest time wins.
As I was watching this, I heard the name "Andrea Scott." Sure enough! One of the people being dragged behind the horse on a hide was none other than Greenleaf's own Buckaroo Project leader, Andrea Scott! (Sorry, I didn't get the action shots. I was too engulfed in watching the hiders hide from all of the dirt they were being drug through!)
Nice to see you, Andrea! Looks like you had a great time! We sure enjoyed it!
Jodi
SUCH great pictures!! I laughed aloud at the mutton busters, they're so serious :)
ReplyDeleteThe bronc riders were great too, although those big spurs... I just think they're designed to get me hanging upside down. I never wear em and don't get why these guys do.
The guy hung up behind the bull, too. BAD place to be!! Yikes!