I know that rodeos take place all over the country; I even discovered that there is one in the Quad Cities. But I discovered that if you come out west, when the rodeo comes to town it is a big deal. Everyone goes! There are even some schools out this way that have rodeo as an option for a school sport. Needless to say, Mark and I were excited when we were given two free tickets to the rodeo a couple weeks ago. It was really fun - we were in the third row, and I even got hit with a big chunk of dirt that one of the broncos dug up as he was trying to throw off his rider. We had joked about it before we went, but it really happened! It felt like someone threw a baseball at my arm. Overall, it was a great night. Here are a few pictures...they didn't turn out that great because the rodeo is pretty fast-paced...so most of our pictures ended up blurry. But, you get the idea....
This guy was awesome! He is from Mexico and had a horse that sort of danced around while he did some cool tricks with is lasso. At one point he had the lasso twirling around both him and the horse. It was pretty crazy!
Bucking Bronco. I'm pretty amazed. The guys who ride these things look like rag dolls being thrown around. Not sure how their bodies take the beating. I think they only have to stay on for 8 seconds to qualify for a score. It's amazing how long 8 seconds feels when you're watching someone get whipped around like that!
Bull-riding. This was crazy, too. The bulls are mean and so once the rider is off, they kind of look like they would like to take out a lot of people around them. There are even two special "clowns" that come out for this event to get the bull back into his corral. Not sure I would sign up, but to each his own...
This was the main "rodeo clown." He was pretty funny...kind of like a stand-up comedian in between events. At one point he got on a motorcycle and jumped over a very large trailer attached a very large truck. Overall, the night was cool...I'd recommend it to anyone if you get a chance...at least once :).
3 comments:
Did you know my grandmother used to be a trick rider in Roy Rogers' rodeo before she got married? Kind of like the Mexican guy. She has all kinds of pictures! She bought the 120 acres she now lives on with her rodeo money. :)
No! Crazy! Maybe william will follow in his grandma's footsteps :)
wow!so this is what you guys have been up to?... :) What a great opportunity, looks like a lot of fun. The closest thing to a rodeo that I have been to is a mechanical bull in college. :) miss you guys.
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