My Dad lives in Jasper, GA - about 45 minutes north of us. He invited us to the local rodeo. We had never taken the girls to a rodeo and Robby had actually never been to a rodeo. I have been to many rodeos and watched a lot on TV: I have always been fascinated by what the cowboys are willing to do. So, we went up to Jasper last night and had a great time at this small rodeo.
The girls were mesmerized and watched the entire thing. Robby used this opportunity to practice taking action shots with his camera.
In between the competitive events, they had trick riders, such as "Roman riding," which was amazing:
The man straddled a fire, with one horse on each side:
They had a clown "entertaining" the audience in between some of the competitive events too. The kids seemed to like the clown, but I was not impressed.
"Steer wrestling" was interesting. A cowboy on a horse ran alongside a calf. Then the cowboy jumped off his horse and, with his bare hands, wrestled the calf to the ground:
It was amazing that the calves' necks were not broken:
"Calf roping" also involved young cows. IN this event the cowboy lassoed the calf.
Once the lasso was around the calf's neck, the horse should stop and stand still. This causes the calf, who was running full blast, to stop in mid-air. Again, a pretty rough experience for the calf.
Then the cowboy, again with his bare hands, wrestles the calf to the ground.
And ties a rope around the calf's legs:
Sabrina asked if there were any girl cowboys. Surprisingly, the very next event was "Breakaway Roping," with cowgirls lassoing calves.
When the calf was roped, the rope broke away from the horse. The cowgirls do not have to wrestle the calves to the ground.
The cowgirls also participated in barrel racing:
Sabrina was a great spectator, doing a lot of cheering:
More trick riding, with a man jumping off and back on a galloping horse:
And the woman standing on one leg in a scale-type position on a galloping horse:
Team roping involved two cowboys trying to lasso a calf:
This calf got away:
In between the competitions, they played loud, dance music - mostly country. Sabrina often took this as a cue to stand in the bleachers and dance (they were wearing rodeo t-shirts they had been given):
Finally, the bull riding! This was the last event, and the craziest.
Even after the cowboy was bucked off, some of the bulls were still mad.
There is no way these men would qualify for disability insurance:
The two rodeo clowns are in there to distract the bull:
I love all the shots Robby got:
These cowboys have to get out of the way quickly:
I love the detail in this picture - the dirt being kicked up!
We had a great time and I am so glad we were able to expose the girls to this new activity!
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