The Rodeo

Exactly a week ago today my mom and I went to our yearly rodeo, held by the Flying U Rodeo Company. Being the only rodeo within many miles of this area of SoCal (Southern California), people come from all over. It’s really pretty popular, even with people whom you would not expect to be at a rodeo! :) Anyways, this was our second year of going. I mentioned it slightly last year, but I did not post any pictures of last year’s...for the simple reason that I had been using a cheap disposable camera and had not gotten any good shots. This year, however, we had our little Canon PowerShot SD1000 – still not quite the camera that I intend to have someday, but good for now. My photography skills have improved immensely since the camera was given to us by my sister and brother-in-law. Also, the RMV Rodeo doesn’t do Barrel Racing. Can you believe it??? We’re always a little bummed about that, but oh well. Also, some of my spacing got messed up, but I'm done with it, it's fine the way it is. All that said, let me warn you – LOTS OF PHOTOS COMING!!! REPEAT, LOTS OF PHOTOS COMING!!! OK, now that you are properly warned, here goes.

This was the announcer, on his lovely dapple gray. Most of the time we really couldn’t hear what he was saying, what with the music, people around us, etc. And I think the volume on his microphone was too loud or something – his voice just seemed like a loud hum to us. Anyway, here he is.

Here’s another rodeo guy, on his gorgeous paint. What a lovely horse. I wonder if the guy is marrried? No, he looks a little old for me. Sigh.

And the rodeo clown. Same problem with him as with the announcer – we just couldn’t hear his words.

These little boys were absolutely adorable!! They were there on the roping and tying events to chase the calves and steers back to the pens.

But there was one steer that was determined not to go. Both boys tried to rope him and failed. He continued to run and twist around. Even Grandfather Cotton couldn’t get him. Finally he made up his mind and trotted nicely into the pens.

There was a drill team, who performed very nicely. I couldn’t get a very good picture of them, however, because I had the camera on some wrong settings and hadn’t figured it out yet. That camera caused problems all through the bareback bronc and the steer wrestling, until I finally figured it out. From then on it was great.

See this huge boot? Now, if you’ve ever been to one of the rodeos done by the Flying U, you know how famous Cotton Rosser is for spectacular beginnings. This one wasn’t the most fantastical he’s ever done (i.e., pyrotechnics, jumping/bursting through things, etc.), but it was definitely the most touching and the sweetest I have ever seen. Now, I’ve heard of this boot containing things like a bull, a horse and rider, etc., before, but never something like this. Notice that there appears to be something coming out of the boot?

There is. It’s the Rancho Mission Viejo flag. Held by a Marine.

And the USMC flag, another Marine.


And the CA flag, another Marine.


And the US flag, another Marine.


All four together. They stood this way, rotating inside the boot, as the National Anthem played. It was perfect. It was absolutely perfect. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention: all four men had done at least one, if not three, tours to Ir@q... And the one holding the US flag is headed back in a few days. There wasn’t a heart that wasn’t touched, an eye that wasn’t misty.


OK, now for some action. Like I said earlier, the camera was acting up, so there are only 2 really good shots of the bareback broncs. But don’t worry, I made up for it later with the saddle broncs! ;)

And here’s two of the steer wrestling. It was right about then that I figured out what I needed to do with the camera to set it right. From then it was only my problems that kept me from getting good pics, not the camera’s fault. :)


Now here come all the bareback pics. Be ready, there are a lot of them!

Isn’t that a nice baseball cap??? Well, actually, you’re supposed to be looking at the air between the ground and that pony’s hooves. It was a nice ride.

Here are a bunch more. Any body parts or hair or anything else are only incidental, and couldn’t be edited out.

See this lovely bucking mare?


After the ride, they let her baby out and the two trotted around the arena a bit. Aren’t they ADORABLE???


Now for the calf tying.

Now is when we get some bull action. Now, I love and can understand all other aspects of rodeo, and I enjoy watching it all – even the bullriding – but I happen to think that these guys are nuts. I would love to get involved in all the other events, but bullriding always seems a bit insane to me. Anyway, here are the pics. Don’t make the mistake, though, of thinking that just because these pictures don’t seem to show major bucking action, that these bulls were tame. Not at all. It’s just that the camera happened to freeze them in a very tame-looking position. Every ride on these boys was like saddling a whirlwind. They may look like innocent, sweet little cows...but these boys can really buck, as anybody who’s ever forked one knows! ;)

He’s comin’ for ya!


This black-and-white big guy had it in for the poor soul...and the clowns, and the pickup guys, and everybody else!

As for this speckled beauty, he finished his ride, then decided not to move. But unlike the steer I mentioned earlier, this big guy simply planted his hooves and refused to go anywhere. They roped him to no avail. The horses simply couldn’t pull him into the pen, although they had two horses working on it. One cowboy ran a rope behind the bull’s hind legs and tried to pull him in that way – the bull simply would.not.move for anything. One clown even daringly walked up behind him and slapped him on his rump with his hat (that is, slapped the bull on the bull’s rump with the clown’s hat – just thought I’d clarify the hims). Finally, when nearly everyone had given up, he changed his mind and galloped in. Just goes to show ya – never underestimate a bull.

See this lovely brown fella?

Better watch out, he’s comin’ for you now! ;)

Well, that was our rodeo. Now, to those privileged few of you who get to see a rodeo every week or so, this is no big deal. But to us, who only get to see a rodeo once a year, and dream about it the rest of the time, well, this is quite a big deal. Everyone comes from many miles around to see it. No matter how long the drive, at least it’s a rodeo – something there is really not very much at all of around here. So it’s a big event. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the pics! :)