Stampeding

The big girls and I took advantage of the *free* tickets they earned through the library summer reading program and went to the Snake River Stampede on Tuesday night. Dad was on duty and the little guys spent the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Karolyn.

Here is the arena when we arrived

We started by sitting in the General Admission area, but what we thought were great "front row" seats turned out to be "watch through the railing" ones. After a while, we moved down to what probably weren't the freebie chairs, but there were a lot of them empty so we weren't taking them from anyone. This was the first time seeing the Stampede in the Idaho Center.

Next year we will know better!

There really wasn't an event we didn't enjoy. All-Americanness was thick in the room, and the event not only started with the National Anthem (that everyone joined in singing) but a prayer as well. In fact it wasn't just a prayer. The speaker invited anyone who had yet to accept Jesus as their Savior to do so that night. wow. hadn't heard THAT before in such a public setting. Probably pretty safe in a crowd like that, but I sure hope someone didn't take offense and causes trouble. Disappointing that my thoughts were anxious ones for that reason instead of being able to bask in the moment.

One of the first things after all the dignitaries were introduced was set to Elvis' "Viva Las Vegas". They called it the City of Lights and the girls were excited to see this again. They went last year with daddy and I heard a few of them say, "this is my favorite part!"

It was so well choreographed ~ had to be done carefully since it was so dark!

We watched the bareback and saddle bronc riding, and the barrel racing.

Wow those girls are fast!

Melissa asked what event was the easiest on the riders and the animals. I don't think there's a definitive answer to that: it's all hard and takes lots and lots of skill. We were reminded of that when someone was introduced as "one of the top 10 in the world" only to miss his calf or have his bronc toss him on the first buck. Even the best have a bad showing sometimes.

There were events stuck in between the competitive events that were sure fun. One of them was the "Calf Scramble". These kids get to scramble to catch a calf and if they catch one, they keep it and raise and then are able to sell it. They brought in last year's "catchers" with their now full-grown cows.

We were impressed with how beautiful and well taken care of these animals were.

Here are this year's scramblers:

You can see the kid in the middle of this picture. He isn't letting go! All he has to do is pin the calf and have a judge see him, and it's his. Good job, kiddo!

The calf roping was probably the only event that made us wince a little. Logic says the calves are fine, but they sure get jerked around and look so pitiful laying there all tied up like that.

Out of the gate:

It was amazing to see how fast these cowboys could work and how well their horses worked with them. You can see in this picture the pull the horse is giving, to help keep the calf still. As impressive as it was to watch the guys and girls work, it was equally impressive to watch their animals do their jobs.

And as the cowboy remounts his horse and some slack is given to the rope, the rescuers come out to untie the poor victim. You could see it was their pride that was a little pricked when they got up, shook themselves off and ran for the gate. They seemed to say "sheesh!" about their treatment. Poor little things!

There are two things I didn't get pictures of and wish I did. The first is a picture of PEOPLE. Those of us that were there that night....too bad. It was me (mom, Maryhelen), Elizabeth, Kathryn, Melissa and Kathryn's friend Morgan. who we love. We'd have named Melissa Morgan if our last name wasn't Freeman. You do the math.

The second thing I didn't get a picture of was the mutton busting. Holy cow, how cute is that! The little guys on those sheep running for their lives. So totally adorable.

The impressive part though was at the other end of the arena where the sheep dog was keeping his growing "herd" in line. I'm sure he went home and took a really long nap after all of his (or hers? I don't know) hard work. He sure kept the sheep together and really got after one when it decided to try to bolt. The entire time the little boys were doing their rides this dog kept the already ridden sheep together in a tight circle. He would run and then crowch down, eyeing the sheep and evaluating where he might need to work. So impressive to watch the animals do their jobs!

Another of the in-between events was the chuckwagon races. Wow do they go fast! These guys came out twice during the evening and on the second run, one of the wagons lost it's back axle. While the race was over at that point, the "jockey" stood and waved his hat at the crowd, indicating all was well. It was cute to see the guy come out to roll the axle out of the arena. Oops!

The traditional last event of the evening was the Bull Riding. We were impressed with the power of these animals and had to question the sanity of anyone who wanted to get on top of one of them. But the same is said of guys who run into burning buildings, so I guess it's all relative!

For the most part, the bulls seemed to know what their job was. They came out, did their best to throw their rider and then were ready to be done. One in fact headed right for the gate, only to find the clowns kept it closed so they could "play" for a minute. He turned two or three times, seemingly anxious to leave, only to be denied. They did finally let him go.

There were those though who were willing to play and engage with the clowns. Who, by the way, are amazing. They could anticipate the bull's and each other's moves, keep the rider safe and not get *too* close. Though I was amazed at how close they did get!

One of the bulls was stopped short with just the finger of the clown in his face. Pretty funny! The clown looked like a mom putting her finger up to silence her argumentative child. The bull really stopped on a dime. erk!

Here's one of the bulls who wanted to play a little. Yeow!

Finally after all the events were over for the evening, a group of horses were led into the arena. The announcer was sentimental as he reminded the audience that as impressive as all of the people were that evening, the night was really about the animals. This group was adults and babies ~ the animals that make rodeos great. Of course the tiny ones were sweet ~

Next year I have a desire to do the evening "right". To enjoy some concessions, to make sure the whole family can come, and take in the evening.

This year was great for us first-timers!