Joy is…
a great rodeo
Captain Cavedweller and I spent the weekend at the Pendleton Round-Up. It’s something we look forward to attending all year. I have a lot of fun just snapping photos during the rodeo, so I’m sharing some of my favorites with you today.
BAREBACK
Swan Lake starts to play in my head when I look at this photo.
Liked the colors in this one… of his shirt, boots and the horse.
Eye-catching colors…
And the dust softening the image.
INDIAN RELAY RACE
The Indian Relay Race hearkens back to the early days of the Round-Up and is still an action-packed event. Teams race around the big track to win the title of this event. Each rider switches horses three times. And some of these horses act is though they’ve barely ever seen humans let alone been ridden before. Oh, and did I mention they ride bareback? At Saturday’s championship race, one of the horses got away and started racing in the opposite direction around the track. Made for some exciting moments for the spectators as well as the racers.
CALF ROPING
This is my favorite of all the calf roping photos I took. I love the look on his face and the way the rope is floating above the calf.
SADDLE BRONC
Saddle Bronc is probably my favorite event.
Why, you ask?
There’s the fact The Christmas Cowboy hero is a saddle bronc rider and it’s what started me out on the Rodeo Romance series of my books.
Also, these guys ride with a certain grace and panache…
And we love cheering for this guy – Cort Scheer. I met his sweet mama and sister years ago in Las Vegas and enjoy staying in touch with them.
This is one of my favorite photos from the rodeo this year. The rider made his eight second ride (which took him into the crowd of cowboys watching on the grass). He dismounted and landed on his feet right there to receive a bunch of hearty slaps on the back from his peers while the horse caused a bunch of last-minute scrambling. (Note the one cowboy who’s got a death grip on the back of a photographer’s vest in the lower left corner). Oh, and Cort is the one laughing and cheering right by the horse. So fun!
I don’t think these guys get enough credit for what they do, but the Pickup men are awesome.
BULLDOGGING
I didn’t get a lot of fabulous Bulldogging photos, but I liked this one because you see so much action in it.
BULLRIDING
This bull has a rather devilish look to him. I don’t think the tongue out and flying snot is helping any.
Kickin’ up dust…
It’s challenging for me to get good bull riding shots because the bulls stay so close to the chutes.
The bull fighters did a fantastic job at the rodeo. Dusty Tuckness is a crowd favorite and Tim O’Connor was fabulous, too.
If any of you read Barreling Through Christmas, above is a barrel and the rodeo clown just happens to be inside it at this particular moment.
Enjoy the photos today? If so, I’ll share some of the parade and a few “blooper” photos tomorrow!
