Daily Archives: July 17, 2009

Think of the barrel racing course as a baseball diamond that requires the zig-zagging and precise cutting of a wide receiver’s route instead of a rounded home-run trot.

Three barrels are placed on the course like the three bases on a baseball diamond, except their distances from each other vary. The California Rodeo Salinas course is crammed on a track, making for quirky dimensions.

“This one here, a lot of people have a tough time with it because the second barrel is only three strides away,” said Rachael Ross of Winchester, who had no problem last year on her way to winning in Salinas. “But some are as big as 90 feet away.” (read more)

Steamboat Springs — Faced with the same gloomy economic outlook that seems to have given the rest of city indigestion, the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series vowed last winter not to go on a diet.

It swore to stick to its traditional 10-week, 20-performance schedule, to pull all the stops when it came to attracting competitors, and to roll out the same glitzy lineup of clowns and nationally renowned rodeo acts fans had become accustomed to…(read more)