Within the sport of rodeo, as with almost anywhere in society, there are phenomena that come and go. We’ve seen everything from Dean Oliver’s baby blue Wranglers to a wave of Brazilian bull ropes sweep through the field, along with a few other things that we either don’t admit to or simply don’t want to […]
The early nineties seem like yesterday sometimes. Other times they seem like a million years ago. It just depends on the day. In those years we were listening to Garth Brooks, George Strait, and the Gin Blossoms, laughing at Seinfeld on a weekly basis, gawking over “car phones” that were larger than our landline units […]
Coffee isn’t working at this point. My phone says it’s 4:45, but after the second cup kicks in, I remember that I’m in Eastern Oregon, in Pacific Time instead of my home zone an hour ahead. I’d complain, but I’m in a rodeo queen’s pickup, and we’re on the road already, pulling the trailer up next […]
It would be any other day at any given rodeo across the west, but this just happens to be a small town in Eastern Oregon where a group of small girls have lost track of the event for the moment. A cowgirl walks past them, leading a paint horse on a pink halter that matches […]
If there is any entity more iconic to the sport of rodeo than the bucking horse, I do not know what it might be. From the earliest days of the American West until now, the image of an unbroken horse trying to shed itself of a spurring rider has been inseparably linked to our ways. […]
The 2016 rodeo season in the state of Idaho was nothing less than as exciting as expected. From the time Spring thawed the Northwest soil until the leaves started dropping from the trees, the sound of hooves pounding across arena floors was the theme song of cowboys and cowgirls across the region. It was only […]
While the basics of rodeo events seem simple – a series of contests that last a few seconds each – the process of actually putting on a rodeo performance is nothing less than substantially complicated. It requires the involvement of a long list of people, each with a specific task or function related to the […]
There’s a good reason bull riding always gets saved for last at a rodeo. It’s without a doubt the most exciting thing to happen in western sporting events and caps off a performance with the highest drama and most compelling action every night. Part of the fun of the Professional Bull Riders is that you […]
Idaho’s Treasure Valley is spoiled with an abundance of major western sporting events. Scan a map across the “rodeo states” and try to put your finger on another region that has as many high-level opportunities as we have here within a few short miles of each other. This means that nobody around here really needs […]
“Did you see that big pink van on your way into the rodeo grounds tonight?” The voice of announcer Scott Allen boomed throughout the arena as the crowd took their seats. “If you need a mammogram, you walk up there, knock on the door, and get the help you need. You’ll get it free, and […]
