A Night At the Rodeo

Tis the season of the National Western Stock Show here in Denver. This is an annual tradition that has been a part of Denver’s and Colorado’s history since 1906.

Every year, roughly 700,000 visit people from all over come to town to watch the Rodeos and to buy and sell their livestock. The Stock Show offers a rare window into Western tradition and the incredible importance that agriculture and ranching industries have made to revolutionize our daily lives. For many other visitors, the National Western Stock Show is a pilgrimage, a gathering of the extended family that sustains and defines the West. Since the first Stock Show in 1906, it has been a place where generations of farmers and ranchers – people whose hard work feeds the rest of us – spend time reuniting with old friends, learning about new approaches and techniques in agriculture and ranching, and doing some business, year after year. The Stock Show goes on for two weeks, with different events all throughout, so unless we are going every night of those two weeks, there is only so much we can see in one evening.

Last night Larry and I paid homage to the Denver tradition and we went to the Pro Rodeo.

I had my camera as always, but this was most definitely an action packed event and I ended up taking mostly videos (which I normally don’t do. I much prefer photos to videos). The videos all came out great but because everything happened so fast, they did not translate well into photos. So I have to confess, most of the photos today are from the pros, and not me, though quite a few are mine.

These are the events we watched.

The Opening

The Bucking Broncos

Mutton Busting. Two of our nephews are farmers from Kansas (where Larry is from) and when they were little, they used to do this too.

Calf Roping

The Wagon Trails

The Cossacks

The Cossacks^[a] are a group of predominantly East Slavic Orthodox Christian people who became known as members of democratic, self-governing, semi-military communities originating in the steppes of Eastern Europe (in particular the Dnieper, in the Wild Fields. Originally they were highly trained horse soldiers. A lot of the moves they did at the rodeo are skills that were needed on the fields of battle in the military to aid soldiers during war. Fortunately today, they are mostly for show, and what a show the put on too. All of the stunts they did were done while the horses were moving at a very fast pace.

There was Women’s Barrel Racing. These horses were so fast and so precise.

And the final event for the evening was the Bull Riding. They move truly love what they do, for every time they do this, they are putting their lives on the line. These big bulls are over 1800+ lbs.

We had a great time at the Stock Show. All of these “cowboys and cowgirls” are incredibly strong and amazing athletes. Hats off to all these phenomenal athletes and cowpokes. Thanks for sharing the cowboy way of life with us. We’ll be back again. Stay safe and ride hard.