webfoot
Well-known member
We went to the Pendleton Roundup yesterday. If you have never been there it is a huge arena. Five acres of grass with about a 40 foot wide dirt track around the outside. It gets and is western. There is a 18 (?) inch tall plastic rail on the inside of the track. That rail gets taken down and set up again several times during the rodeo depending on the event. The rodeo starts with a cannon shot, the queen rides out across the track, jumps the rail, and across the grass. This is done at a full run. She is followed by the princesses doing the same thing one at a time. This isn't a rodeo starting out like a western pleasure horse show. It had rained in the morning. The grass was slick. There was several of the bareback broncs slip and fall. Several calf ropers roped their calf, ran down the rope, and as the went to slow down to flank the calf their feet slipped and they slid under the calf. Steer wrestlers slid 30-40 feet trying to slow down the steer. You see some saddle bronc riders who do the flying dismount. Yesterday a lot more did that. No waiting for the pickup man in these conditions. Because of the size of this place there are 6 pickup men who trade off horses regularly. During the rough stock events lots of the cowboys go out and sit in the grass to watch. Every now and then a critter goes through the peanut gallery scattering cowboys. The barrel race is called the green mile. They set the barrels on the track on the outside and one at the far end. So the ladies are making their turns on the dirt but there is a lot of green in between. For the bull riding they set a PVC fence for a small area. Three bulls yesterday knocked down the fence and ran amuck in the peanut gallery. One of those times one of the bull fighters was trying to help stand the fence back up. The bull flipped him in the air. He landed on the back of the bull who gave a kick and sent him flying again. Another bull who got out was headed across the arena. The pickup men giving chase. One of the pickup horses slipped and fell. The horse popped right up but the guy laid there for just a second. Long enough for the bull to come back and hook him a bit. A good wreck in cowboy world is one that look spectacular but every one walks away. That is what we had yesterday. Nobody injured. I am sure there are a few bumps and bruises today but that is rodeo especially one that gets real western.
