Rodeo - Yr 1, Day 265

Arcadia, FL

Actually, we went to the rodeo on Friday, March 13th, day 263.  It was the very first rodeo I ever attended.  It was very interesting and I learned a lot.   My only real complaint is that it was very difficult to sit on the hard bleachers for 4 hours.  My back was killing me!  I didn't need a cushion to sit on -- what I needed was some kind of back support.

We also met up there with DawnRaye, who had attended many rodeos in her life and was able to give us some good information about what everyone's roles were.

So, for those of you who also never attended a rodeo, here's a walk through, complete with photos and a few videos (taken from the not so great camera).

A rodeo is a competition which involves horses, bulls and calves and an assortment of feats, all of which are timed events.  I'll explain as we go...

Here are a few photos of the arena itself:

Not sure if this was for real or just for the rodeo...

Standing around waiting their turn, I guess

Not actually part of the rodeo, it started with a staged theatrical production called "The Shootout."  Props and costumes were used to recreate the Old West, complete with storyline of a wedding to take place but the groom was involved in an all night poker game, accused of cheating and the resultant shootout.  Characters include the saloon folks (barkeep, waitresses, hussies), wedding party, tough guys, sheriff and deputy, banker.

Poker players at the far end of the field

Wedding party entering

Saloon maid in the middle

Saloon gals entertaining the crowd:

Removing the props

Next, another entertainer, loaded with jokes, showed off some horse tricks (personally, I think our grandpuppy, Ellie, does better and more tricks!)

And now the rodeo began, which started with a parade of all the horses, cowboys & cowgirls entering the arena, followed by a patriotically decked out horse & rider carrying the flag and a singer for the National Anthem. The announcer asked everyone to remember and honor our veterans, of whom 95% of the audience was made up of.

And finally the competitions began.  It started out with bucking bronc bareback - who could stay on their bucking bronco the longest (later there was a saddle bronc).

Next was steer wrestling, where they had to capture a runaway steer and wrestle it to the ground:

This was followed by steer roping (I couldn't get a good video), which is pretty much the same thing but instead of wrestling it, they had to capture it, rope it's hind legs and have it stay put for 6 seconds.  A horse was also trained to hold the rope taut.

Next was another production called a Quadrille - square dancing on horses!  This is only one of many dances.  NOTE: this is NOT the music that was played during the dance.  My tech guru substituted something else because the sound quality was so awful.

The last event was riding the bull.  Not too many people made it through this one (understandably).

All in all, a very interesting experience for this Northerner!