Rodeo Updates

Eskridge, Kansas has a rodeo that I have never been to before so I thought I would enter.  I had been Blessed to be winning a lot lately so I figured I would try my hand at the rodeo put on by C-R Mckellips out of Missouri.  I showed up a little late and couldn’t find the arena. I found it right smack dab in the middle of town, but getting to it was a chore.  Apparently the police don’t take kindly to people driving down the wrong way of a one way street to try and get to the arena gate.  I was instructed to drive clear around town to get to the arena gate (which was literally 100 feet in front of me at this point).  After I did this and I got parked in the contestant parking (which was in some fellas back yard) I made my way to the arena just before the Grand Entry went in.  I paid my fees and found my horse.  It was a horse I had seen once, a red roan that has a real big rear out and he is just good to get on. Everyone said it was a good match for me and I should win the rodeo. I was hoping they were right.

I saddled Roanie with no problems and climbed in. I got my stirrups and got ready to nod.  I was prepared for a big entrance into the arena after my nod and I was not disappointed.  I marked the horse out and made sure to keep my feet planted firmly in his neck as to not miss my mark out during the rear out.  I was sitting good and was ready for the rest of the ride.  Roanie made a big jump and kicked high, I pulled my feet back to reset them in his neck. When I set my feet in his neck I realized that my left stirrup was not on my foot.  This is a disqualification. I decided to continue to make the ride (just in case the judge didn’t see it come off, although it was pretty obvious that it did, but ya never know). The horse was bucking pretty good, I was spurring really good with my right foot, and was doing ok with my left, considering I didn’t have a stirrup on it.  When the 8 second buzzer sounded I decided to just bail off the horse. Riding and spurring a bronc with only one stirrup is a lot of work and I had enough of it.  I walked back hoping to hear a score and not see a yellow flag on the ground but the judge saw my stirrup come off and I got a zero.  Everybody behind the chutes didn’t see the stirrup come off and congratulated me on a good spur ride and asked why I got a zero. I told them why, and some of the younger guys couldn’t believe I rode that good with only one stirrup, I just laughed and said I didn’t want to hit the ground at my age.  I was disappointed that I didn’t win anything but I know that everything happens for a reason and it is all part of God’s Plan. Until next time God Bless and be safe On The Rodeo Road.

So after Downing, I entered Kirksville, MO put on by Heartland Rodeo Company.  I hadn’t been to the Kirksville rodeo in probably 6 or 7 years so I decided to give it a whirl again this year.  I was also anxious to try my new spurs I had made for me.  I had drawn a paint horse that I was not familiar with. I asked around and found out that it was a horse they bought awhile ago from a bronc rider who used it as a practice horse.  The bronc rider they bought it from happened to be entered at this rodeo and was out the same night I was.  I asked him about it, he said that it should take a little run then break and just jump kick down the pen. This was a fairly big rodeo with a pretty decent amount of money added and quite a few contestants, I was really wanting a rank horse so that I had a chance of winning it.  I wasn’t sure this old practice horse was going to be enough to win it on but I stayed positive and was just blessed to be out rodeoing.

They loaded the broncs and I saddled the paint.  Everything was going well in the chute.  It was my turn and I climbed on the paint horse, I put my stirrups on an was about ready to nod, when the horse reared up and tried to jump out of the front of the chute, knocking some guys off the back of the walkway. I stayed on and rode out the storm.  Things settled down and I was making sure everything was good to go when it happened again.  Most of the time I will stay on a horse that it acting up in the chute, I did exactly that both times, but the second time the paint reared he bucked and almost went completely over backwards.  This sent me over the cantle of my saddle and down the horses back towards the bottom of the chute. I caught myself on the bars before I got to the dirt. I climbed my way out, while the horse was still flipping out. This kind of stuff doesn’t bother me too much (even though it was almost a bad situation) I was kind of laughing.  I got the horse to calm down and got everything situated again, this time I had a buddy tie the horse in.  I nodded and we came out pretty high and fast. The rear out felt good and I held my feet great, my new spurs felt awesome through the rear out.  After that the ride went downhill fast. The horse took the long run like the guy said he would, but he never broke and just kept running and running and running.

The judges offered a reride and I gladly excepted.  I found out what horse the reride was but I had no clue what it was.  I asked around and found out that the horse was a horse that at one time was broke to ride. I wasn’t to sure about this but I know that some saddles go bad and make good buckers but some don’t.  Since the horse was halter broke, I put my rein on the throat latch of the halter to keep the pressure off him.  I climbed in and nodded. The gray horse came out and started throwing his head around and throwing a bit of a wild horse fit, almost falling down twice.  This was pretty hard to ride him through but I did and then he started to set up and jump and kick pretty high and ended up being pretty bucky.  I rode him really well and put my new spurs to good use, setting my feet high in his neck. I was happy with the ride and excited to put together a great ride.  I was 81 points and won the rodeo and I give the Glory to God.  The coolest thing about the ride was after they announced me being 81 and winning the rodeo, I walked out in the middle of the arena (where the pickup man had the horse dallied off) and unsaddled the bronc and carried my saddle back. Not very often can you win a rodeo and then walk up to the bronc in the arena and unsaddle it. The announcer and the crowd went wild, they didnt know it was an old saddle horse (and I wasn’t about to tell them and ruin the moment). These are just some of the good times On The Rodeo Road. Until next time, God Bless and be safe.

The week after Allendale, MO and getting rained on and barely missing the big storm, I went to Downing, MO for a rodeo put on by Heartland Rodeo Company.  The day of the show I was south of Kansas City. I left in plenty of time to get to Downing, but when I got north of KC it became a little hairy driving. When I got in KC I noticed it was very dark up ahead and I had heard from Brandy that there were some pretty nasty storms in MO. I just kept on trucking, when the rain hit, boy did it hit!  It was terrible and there were tornados in the area, I saw several cars off in the ditch and a couple semi-trucks blown off the road. I couldn’t drive very fast cause of the wind and rain but I was determined to get to the rodeo. I drove in this kind of weather for a few hours (it probably was not very smart but I did it anyways). The rain started clearing of when I got about an hour from the rodeo, but I noticed that there were several trees down and telephone poles were blown over and the road was covered in branches like a tornado or straight winds had just came through there. I tried to make some phone calls to see if the rodeo was still going to happen but couldn’t reach anyone, so I just continued on to Downing. When I pulled into town it was still raining and the arena looked like a soupy nasty mud pit, water was standing everywhere.  I found the contractor and asked what the plans were. His comment was “it may be raining hard but the wind ain’t blown anymore so were going to rodeo”. This suited me fine. Mud never bothered me much (except when it comes time to clean my gear). I found the horse I was to get on, she was a little bay mare that was supposed to be good. I had heard about her even before I got there. I wasn’t sure how she would buck in the messy, underwater arena.

Unlike a lot of the cowboys, I kept my saddle and gear in my car until it was show time.  It was raining pretty hard and I decided to wait to get ready. Matter of fact I didn’t even really get ready, I didn’t see the need in changing my clothes or getting my saddle out in the rain until it was time to put it on my horse. I waited until the horses were in the chutes before I got my stuff out. I didn’t even unwrap my saddle from the week before. I carried everything over to chutes and put it straight on the horse. She was a little thing and didn’t give me much trouble in the chute. I was told she took a lot of rein, but had my own plans on a rein measurement. It was raining hard and very muddy, so I decided to not give her as much rein as they said too. Some horses don’t put their heads as low as they normally do when it is that muddy. They buck different because they are unsure of their footing.  I climbed in the chute and nodded. She came out pretty hard and started kicking over her head pretty good. My assumption on the rein was wrong, she took some rein from me and bucked with her head in the mud. I didn’t mind her taking rein from me cause I can handle it pretty well. I would almost always take a horse with shorter rein and let them take some from me, rather than giving them too much and trying to ride with it way to long (because getting it back in the middle of the ride is near impossible, at least legally anyways).  She was pretty strong for the first few then got weaker as the ride went. I rode her OK and was spurrin her pretty good, but was having a hard time setting my feet like I can. When the buzzer sounded I was satisfied with my ride, considering it was a nasty mess and it was raining pretty good.  I was 77 which was acceptable considering the conditions, it was good enough for me to lead the round but I got bumped to second by a cowboy the next night. I give thanks the Lord for the success and protection cause not a single horse, bull, calf or steer went down in the watery mud and no one was injured that I know of. Which is awesome considering the conditions.

I give some credit to the Downing rodeo committee for carrying on with the show, and they have some die hard rodeo fans. The stands weren’t packed but they were still pretty full even though they had to sit through a monsoon. Thanks for supporting the rodeo!

Until next time God Bless and be careful On The Rodeo Road!

Allendale, Missouri puts on a rodeo that I have been to several times over the years. This year I decided to go back.  Brandy’s daughter, Jillian, went with me which was fun. The rodeo is usually a pretty good one and gets lots of contestants. It kind of out in the middle of nowhere in North Missouri, and there isn’t a lot to do around there so the crowd is usually big.  Grand River Rodeo Company out of Grand River, Iowa brings the stock.

I was little weary about the weather on the way up there, it was pretty dark and looked like it could storm. As we pulled in the lightning was getting pretty bad. I went and found the day sheets and saw that I had a horse drawn that they called Slingblade. I had been on him before a few years prior and won a rodeo. He is pretty hard to get by. He has a couple different trips, one is pretty wild and western and the other is a little better when he goes down the pen but he has a lot of swoops and moves.

The rain started in before the rodeo began which wasn’t to bad, it was the lighting that was bad.  They decided to post pone the show for awhile.  I wasn’t too thrilled about getting on that horse in the mud and rain, I was kind of hoping they would cancel the rodeo due to lightning.  They decided to continue with the show in the rain, the first part of the show it was raining, then it let up and there were actually two rainbows over the arena. This reminded me of how lucky I was to be able to do what I love to do, no matter what the weather or what horse I had drawn, but to be out there riding bucking horses and being blessed. I totally changed my attitude about getting on Slingblade. It came time for bronc riding and I was ready to have some fun, rain or shine, dirt or mud.  He is kind of nervous in the chute so I made sure I got in and nodded as quickly as I could. He always leaves the chute hard and fast so I was going to make sure I had a good solid mark out. He left fast and I was pleased with my mark out, he then jumped down the pen with the ducks and dives and swoops. I was riding him OK I thought. I was having trouble setting my feet and beating him to the ground, I was a bit behind. When the buzzer sounded I got off on the pickup man, fairly pleased with how it all went. I wanted to ride him better but was satisfied. My score of 74 was good enough for a 3rd place money.  The rain picked up and made it hard for us to get home, we actually had to pull over for awhile. It was a good night in all, it was a definitely a reminder of how blessed we are, and how I should make the best out of any situation.

Until next time, God Bless, and be safe On The Rodeo Road

Thursday I went to a little rodeo in Corder, MO that C-R McKellips Rodeo Company from Raymore, MO put on.  It was a one day rodeo that I went to watch last year when I was injured, so I thought I would enter it this year since I had nothing much to do on Thursday night.  I got there with plenty of time to spare this time, unlike last.  I drew a bay horse that none of the 16 bronc riders there that night knew. The contractor said he was glad that I had drawn that horse, he said that the horse was good for 6 seconds then need a little help from the rider to keep bucking good, and he said I should be able to keep him “picked up” and should win the rodeo.

There were a lot of riders there considering it was a little one day show, so it was good catching up with some friends I haven’t seen in a while.  They ran a few broncs with the bareback riders. I was in the second section of broncs so I helped a few buddies and got to watch some bronc riding.  When it was time for the second section of bronc riding, I got ready and found my horse. For the most part he stood well in the chute. When I nodded he had a big rear out and I marked him out well. He did buck decent for the first half of the ride, just like a bucking machine, didn’t have a bobble in him. I was riding him pretty good I thought. The second half of the ride was when I had to work a little harder to keep him bucking. He wanted to weaken and run off but I kept him going long enough for the buzzer to sound. I felt confident of the ride and the Lord blessed me with a 1st place. Two wins in a row felt good and I have to give all the Glory to God for everything! 

Until next time be safe On The Rodeo Road and God Bless!

I decided to stay close to the house and enter a rodeo in Warsaw, MO which was put on by C-R Mckellips Rodeo Company. I had the day off work so I was relaxing and doing stuff around home and wasn’t too worried about time because Warsaw is less than an hour from the house. Well I kind of lost track of time (and to be honest I overslept my nap). I hurried down there and got there about 15 minutes before they bucked broncs. I had got a phone call from a buddy on my way down there and he had told me what horse I had drawn. It was branded 502.  I made a phone call to another buddy and found out that the horse was a pretty common horse but fun to ride. So I knew what to expect and didn’t have to ask guys after I got there.

Like I said I pulled in 15 minutes or so before they bucked broncs. I paid my entry fees and got ready. I found my horse and saddled him. He was a little black horse who stood really well in the chute. It came my turn and I crawled down on him. He became a little nervous when I sat on him and moved from side to side. I put my feet in the stirrups and got ready to nod. This is when I pulled a rookie mistake. I was getting ready to nod and I was putting my rein hand out in front of me and I kind of pulled on the rein which caused the horse to rear up and try to jump out of the front of the chute. I stayed on him while he did this and thrashed around some more. When he calmed down I nodded and he came out of the chute pretty hard.  He was pretty quick and kicking hard. He angled across the arena. I felt really good on him and pretty aggressive. He came to the fence and made a tight circle to the left and the buzzer went off. I felt really good about the ride. The rein measurement was good, my saddle felt good and I was happy with the ride. I rode good enough and the horse bucked well enough for me to win the rodeo, which was a Blessing from the Lord!

Until Next time God Bless and be careful on the rodeo road!