I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I went to the
Molalla Buckeroo on the Fourth of July. In Oregon, they call the "Fourth," "
Cowboy Christmas." There are lots of rodeos that weekend and it leads into the Nationals.
For me, rodeos are a curiosity. I watched the girls tear around the ring at top speed on their horses, carrying the various sponsor flags. Every rider had a death-grip on the reins, holding so tight, but still spurring their mount to go faster. You can almost see the girls exhale as they come to a stop. The broncs were beautiful, big boned steeds from the Flying 5. Some could go completely vertical on all fours. When the fireworks went off later that evening, they circled in their corral a few times and then went back to figuring out their "pecking" order. The bulls were blowing snot everywhere, and their rage seemed so intense. At last, the cowboys...relics from another time, yet fresh faced 20 somethings. Gladiators grappling with calves and slapping their thighs before a bull ride.
Sherry Cervi was there to run barrels.
Darcy LaPier saddled up and did barrels as well. She is a local girl that married the Hawaiian Tropic founder (when he died, she got millions) and she later married and divorced Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was a fun place to be on the fourth, talking horses and sipping beer with my friend Nicole.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I went to the Molalla Buckeroo on the Fourth of July. In Oregon, they call the "Fourth," "Cowboy Christmas." There are lots of rodeos that weekend and it leads into the Nationals. 
For me, rodeos are a curiosity. I watched the girls tear around the ring at top speed on their horses, carrying the various sponsor flags. Every rider had a death-grip on the reins, holding so tight, but still spurring their mount to go faster. You can almost see the girls exhale as they come to a stop. The broncs were beautiful, big boned steeds from the Flying 5. Some could go completely vertical on all fours. When the fireworks went off later that evening, they circled in their corral a few times and then went back to figuring out their "pecking" order. The bulls were blowing snot everywhere, and their rage seemed so intense. At last, the cowboys...relics from another time, yet fresh faced 20 somethings. Gladiators grappling with calves and slapping their thighs before a bull ride. Sherry Cervi was there to run barrels. Darcy LaPier saddled up and did barrels as well. She is a local girl that married the Hawaiian Tropic founder (when he died, she got millions) and she later married and divorced Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was a fun place to be on the fourth, talking horses and sipping beer with my friend Nicole.
7 comments:
Wow. Never been to a rodeo before - will have to add it to my bucket list!
I've never seen such attendance at a rodeo. Personally, I don't get a kick out of watching the animals being abused...kicking, spurs, slamming down calves etc. not to mention your observations.
Can't help it, I'm an animal advocate.
By the way...Father Foozie it is! Thanks.
Lori--I can understand your feelings about the rodeo. I love animals too and as I sat there, I wondered if this is something to be a part of. For the cows, I imagine the "jerk" on the rope hurts, but I imagine roping cows like this takes place on most cattle ranches. As someone that hasn't touched beef in almost 10 years, I have never really understood how people can even slaughter cattle...but we do. The bulls...do they live longer because of the rodeo? I would think so. The broncs...make me sad. What is their life like? Do they buck until they can't buck anymore? Where do they go when they decide bucking isn't what they want to do? Lots of thoughts went through my head that night and the jury is still out.
I'm back. Oh my gosh, I checked on that photo of Father Foozie and it looks just like the sculpture! Great name! Perfect match.
Welcome to my world here in Texas. Rodeos. Not a huge rodeo fan--but have been to quite a few and go to see various friends do team penning and barrels--and some of the same thoughts run through my head. But as my friend who rides Western pointed out after I voiced some opinions about various Western sports which seemed to be cruel, are things like horse racing and extreme cross country (which is under major scrutiny) polo and the like any better? Does the horse always enjoy them? It comes down to moderation and humanity in all sports involving horses I believe. As for the broncs, I have heard (and don't quote me) that a lot of the time they use them as greenies and then train them to be useful horses. Does that work? I wonder. Is it true? I have a hard time believing it. If you consistently want a horse to buck for a given period of time CAN you ever make them rideable? Hmmmm. I'll do some investigative work from a cowboy friend. (the one pictured in my current post!!) The ropers I have no prob. with. Cowboys have been herding and roping for A LONG time and it actually has a purpose--if you eat meat that is!! My son the vegetarian is on your side Jules! :)
Nice post!
~Mindy
I used to love rodeos, but as an adult and after having owned horses, not as much. There is an event at the Jordan Valley, OR rodeo called "big loop" where they rope the back legs of a young horse, often tripping it. One young horse was so terrified that it jumped the gate at the other end of the arena and the cowboys were left without a horse to rope. I cheered the horse for getting away. I won't be going back to that rodeo....EVER!
Most rodeo stock is well taken care of at least, but I think we could come up with something better to entertain us!
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