I grew up going to the rodeo. My dad loved the rodeo and as a result he took his children whenever possible. Though I loved riding horses, I was never adventurous enough to try my hand at riding in the rodeo myself. My sister, Laurie, did dabble in barrel racing ever so briefly, but I have never had the drive for competition. I may have gone to a rodeo or two after my father died, but I never enjoyed it as much.
Flash-forward 30 years and it dawned on me that my children had never been to a rodeo. I was determined to change that. My boys were not going to go another year without see and experiencing the wonderful spectacle that is “The Rodeo”. We planned a long stop-over in Cody, Wyoming to right this wrong. In my exhaustive research, I learned that Cody, Wyoming is the rodeo capital of the world. They have a real live rodeo every night June through August. This is the real thing. The kids competing have to pay an entry fee and no doubt many have dreams of going to the National Finals Rodeo. Hot dang, my boys are going to the rodeo.
I was in heaven when we pulled into the parking lot. It was dusty, it was smelly and you could hear the bulls snorting and the cows mooing. We walked in and there stood a giant bull. For $10 you could sit on the beast. I thought about it. Figured the boys would love it, but didn’t want to spend $30 for the privilege. I’m cheap. We found great seats, a few rows up and dead center. The bull chutes were below us and we could see the animals as they were penned and prepped for riding. We could see the young men wrapping their hands and psyching themselves out to take on their formidable opponents.
The rodeo started like any good rodeo. Two golden haired girls wearing red sequenced western blouses rode into the ring holding the American flag high. They rode around in circles a couple times before coming to a stop in the center of the ring as we said the Pledge of Allegiance. They rode out and a raven haired beauty, slightly older, came riding into the ring holding a much larger flag and we sang the National Anthem. I always get chocked up at events like this. I love standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers, united in love of our great nation.
Time to rodeo. Our MC/clown came out to introduce the events and to tell a few jokes. He was really funny and the kids got a kick out of him. Then the bull riding started. The first kid was fantastic. He held on to the bucking bull for the required eight seconds before being tossed off like a rag doll. The bull came frighteningly close to stomping on the kid, but he was able to scramble out of the way, just in time. What a sight. As the event continued, most of the cowboys were thrown off well before the eight seconds were up, but they all went down in style.
After the bull riding there was calf roping, bronc riding, team roping and a few other events, but my all time favorite event is Barrel Racing. I love watching barrel racing. There is just something so very exciting about seeing those kids race around the barrels at break neck speeds. I have always loved barrel racing and I’m sure I always will. The barrel racing at the Cody rodeo did not disappoint. There were two categories, 12 and up, and under 12. Most of the 12 and up crowd were kids in their late teens, early 20’s and they were fast. You could tell they had been racing for a long time and they were comfortable in the saddle. There was one little girl, who just turned 12 who quickly became the crowd favorite. She flew around the barrels with her little braids flapping in the wind. She didn’t win in her category, but she came awfully close. The 12 and under competition was cut-throat. These little kids were amazing. Fast as lighting and not a single disqualification in the group. One little girl stood out. She was six. Long blond braids under her pink cowboy hat and the biggest horse I have ever seen. She was so tiny that her little legs just stuck straight out. The crowd was on their feet, cheering this tiny little wisp of a girl. She blazed through the barrels, her little legs flapping, her braids flying behind her, bobbing up and down on the saddle like it was nothing. Honestly, I don’t know if she won or not. I think she did, but I was so stunned by her talent and fearless attitude that I proclaimed her the winner in my mind. Fortunately for the other competitors, she was last on. I couldn’t imagine having to follow that act.
The highlight of the rodeo for the boys was when they were allowed to run into the ring with all the other children and attempt to pull a bandana off the tails of three calves. The MC/clown called the kids down got them all lined up in a straightish line and proceeded to explain the event. In the course of explaining the event he told the kids to reach down, pick up a handful of dirt and put it in their pocket. Most of the kids realized the clown was joking, but I saw Reid and Sean reach down and pick up the dirt. I’m yelling from up in the stands “NO! NO!”, but it was no use, they couldn’t hear me. They both put a handful of rodeo dirt into their pockets. There were about 75 kids in the ring, and Sean came very close to getting a bandana, but no, victory was not meant to be. He was disappointed, and I was afraid he wouldn’t snap out of it, but by the time the rodeo ramped back up the disappointment was forgotten.
The rodeo ended with a second round of bull riding. The second round was much more exciting than the first. One of the bulls kept trying to jump out of the chute and the rider was never able to get on him. Another rider got banged into the gate as soon as it was opened and granted another try. One of the bulls quickly dispensed with his rider and went after the clown in the barrel and the brightly dressed dummy in the middle of the field. Dummy parts went flying much to the delight of the boys.
Much too soon it was over. We got back in our car and drove back to the RV. Not quite ready to end the perfect night we sat outside for a few minutes and looked for constellations. The Wyoming sky is almost free from light pollution and the stars seem to sparkle a little brighter there. Sean was delighted to be able to find the North Star on his own and then it happened… a shooting star. The perfect ending to the perfect night.
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