So, after a few late nights at work that left me in no mood to blog, I finally got around to editing pictures and my second rodeo post. I'm still amazed at the athleticism/crazy the cowboys (and girls, as you'll see) have. Mostly the crazy is what gets me. I guess it's fun.
I left you with the bronc riders in my last post, so I'll pick up with the trick riders. There were two girls, and they must have amazing core strength. These girls were amazing. And sparkly.
I don't understand how anyone would learn how to do this without killing themselves.
Um? Those horses were moving really fast. And she's upside-down. Crazy.
After the trick riders did their crazy show, the tie-down ropers did their thing. They ride out after a calf, try to rope the calf around its head, and they have to tie its front two legs to one of its back legs or something. I couldn't really tell, and they move too fast. Like under 7 seconds fast.
So, they chase the calf (with their piggin' string - not kidding - in their mouths) and try to rope it. This cowboy missed, so the rest are a different guy.
The horse pulls the rope taught so the calf doesn't move when the cowboy flips it over. Yep, the horses are smart. They even know to let it loose when the cowboy walks back to his horse.
Cowboy flips calf on its side...
And ties its legs together.
The horse lets the rope slack when the cowboy stands up. Yes, they do that. The calf has to stay tied for 6 seconds or something like that. Again, I wasn't really paying attention to the rules and this was a couple weeks ago.
After the tie-down ropin' were the bull riders. I think only 3 guys stayed on the full 8 seconds, and I only got semi-decent pictures of one cowboy who got thrown in 3 seconds.
He's preparing for the crazy that's about to go down.
Getting situated on a bull is a precise skill that takes a lot of help from your fellow cowboys.
That bull was mean.
He looks like he's gonna stay on through that spin...
No dice.
Cowboy was limping when he climbed out of the arena.
The rodeo was a lot of fun (so was the honky tonk afterparty), and I will definitely go to another. Probably just to drool over cowboys wearing chaps. Not gonna lie. Now that rodeo season is over in Montana, though, I'll have to settle for football and hockey.
Go Pack, Go!
-Erika
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