Russian River Rodeo!

We spent our last day of Spring enjoying traditional rodeo events which showcased at the 59th annual Russian River Rodeo and hosted by the Russian River Rodeo Association (RRRA). This was our second foray into this exciting, local rodeoing. We'll be back.

It is the mission of the RRRA to promote and conduct horsemanship events and provide scholarship to students who desire to pursue a career in agriculture. Its major fundraising activity is the Russian River Rodeo at the practice facility that it maintains in Duncans Mills (a darling little village circa 1877).

Our posse consisted of our younger son and his family along with his in-laws. What a fantastic group with whom to spend a Saturday.

I love the PATRIOTISM expressed at this local rodeo.

While it felt 'small town' this rodeo offered 'big' fun. We witnessed exhilarating Bull & Bronc riding, Team & Breakaway roping, Steer wrestling, Barrel racing, and so much more. What a hoot.

This is a case in which the photos do it justice! Yee haw!

"Saddle bronc is the quintessential rodeo sport -

not the chaos of bull riding

or the thrashing of bareback riding.

It might be harder than both."

- John Branc

"Sometimes I think life is just a rodeo,

the trick is to ride

and make it to the bell."

-John Fogerty

We learned that the most lucrative event at a rodeo is Team roping, also known as heading and heeling. This is a fast-paced rodeo event where two mounted riders—the header and the heeler—work together to rope and immobilize a steer. The duo that ropes the steer in the fastest time wins. It's exhilarating to watch.

Turns out there are a lot of fast-paced rodeo events. Fun to watch is Barrel Racing where a horse and rider sprint into the arena to complete a cloverleaf pattern around three preset barrels. The goal is to post the fastest time by thousandths of a second without knocking any barrels (it's a 5 second penality if you do).