You say Ro-dee-o I say Ro-day-o
I took the kids and the wife to one of the Republican bastions of California, the rodeo. Cowboys from all over California were there. They did manly things in manly ways. They rode horses and chased cattle and sold rodeo stuff. But, I was surprised to see that there were young adults and kids competing in some events. And, there were women competing against men in some of the riding events.
The rodeo is a three-day festival, and we only went for Saturday, the middle day of the three. Some events were only one-day events, and some, like Bull Riding, are three-day events. Some of the events are much like the county fair, they show off their horse, or the saddle. Other events are pure speed events, like a horse race. I will describe some of the more interesting and unfamiliar events.
Most people know about Bronco and Bull riding; they seem to be the stereotypical representation of the Rodeo. The mainstays of the rodeo are: people falling off bulls and getting trampled or crushed, people breaking their arms because they were twisted in the ropes and people getting thrown. However, have you heard of these events?
Cattle Sorting – This is an event where two people on horses need to sort cattle in the order requested by the judges. Ten bovines are numbered with signs from 0-9. The judge will give the team three numbers and the two cowboys (or cowgirls) need to sort them. This is much more difficult than it sounds. Suppose the three bovine required are 1, 2, 3. The cattle tend to stick together. So, one cowboy tries to find the first one and separate it from the pack. However, once you separate one from the herd the rest want to follow. Ideally the three you want run together to the place you want them to go. This was so hard that out of the ten teams we watched only two actually were able to do it. The stands cheered when those two teams succeeded.
Wild Cow Milking – This was my favorite. A wild cow was set out into the arena. One cowboy ropes the cow. The second cowboy grabs the rope and tries to control the cow. The roper jumps off the horse and takes a bottle to the udder of the cow and tries to get some milk into the bottle. Once he has achieved the milk in the bottle he runs to the finish line where the judge determines if there was enough milk in the bottle. Assuming all the requirements are met the fastest cowboy wins.
Cow Hide Racing – This is a simple race where a horse pulls a cowhide with someone riding on it. All I can tell you is that the rider's knuckles must be bleeding when they finish.
The Wild Horse Race – This is just as the name describes. Several teams of three each attempt to take a wild mustang, saddle it, mount it and ride it around a barrel.
Going to the rodeo is one way that I am reaching out to the conservatives who were the majority of the rodeo participants.
