Labor Day Weekend, 2009 - Our Stevensville, Montana friends, Bob and
Donna Lea, wanted us to get a taste of the real western cowboy
experience, so they took us to the Helmville Rodeo. This is an annual
three-day event over Labor Day weekend that attracts rodeo stars and
ranch hands from all over the west. Spectators and entrants alike find a
spot in the pasture to park their campers and horse trailers, and everyone
sets up for a fun-filled weekend.
We soon found
ourselves surrounded
by kids and their
parents exercising
their horses. The
thick grasses and
expansive lands that spread out against the rolling brown Montana hills
seemed perfect for taking your horse out for a spin.
One little girl in
particular caught our
eye. Nine-year-old
Szeplyn had a
magical way with her
horse. She pranced
past us repeatedly,
hair flying in the wind,
as free and happy as
any girl her age could be. At other
times she would wander by in a more
contemplative mood, scanning the
distant horizon. She seemed to drift
by us on silent feet, at one with her
horse, the breeze and her world.
She stopped by our campsite to pay us
a visit and introduced herself. She was
going to be in the barrel race the next
day. There was a special category for
kids 10-and-under from the local area.
She was excited and we watched her
practicing with her dad.
During our visit she showed us how
she could make her horse smile.
Funny thing, he didn't seem to mind
much as she pulled his lips into a big
toothy grin. There was a real affection
in this relationship that went both ways.
Next morning, down at the rodeo fairgrounds, the round-robin team
roping event was already underway when we got there. In this
event a steer would be released to run across the field. Two ropers
would the follow in hot pursuit.
One roper, the "header," would attempt to rope the steer's
horns. Only one in five ropers managed to snare those horns.
Most steer got across the field in record time, untouched.
If the steer's horns were caught, the other roper, the "heeler," would
attempt to rope the steer's feet. The was very tricky, as the feet are
running darned quickly and the rope has to slip under them mid-stride. Of
the steer whose heads were caught only a few got their feet caught too.
Once the steer was strung out between the two ropers, a
huge cheer would go up. Then, as fast as you could
click the shutter on your camera, the steer would be
released.
Of the forty or so round-robin ropers waiting their turn, every header
in the bunch would pair up with every heeler, giving every possible
pairing of ropers a chance.
There was a large herd of cattle that participated, and once they each
had run across the field in a scrambling effort to evade getting caught,
they would all be herded back to the starting line so they could run
another time.
The holding
pen of steer
waiting to run
across the field
was very tight. We learned later that these cattle are rented to rodeos for
performance purposes, so they have a pretty good handle on what's
ahead of them. I'm sure some of all that mooing in the pen was a lively
discussion about how to outwit the ropers. There might have even been
a bit of story telling among them about their escapades in the rodeo.
The rodeo was a family
event, and we saw kids
of all ages enjoying the
fun. No youngster was too
small to be a part.
After the round-robin
event was over, the
professional show started,
kicked off by a circling of
the Montana flag, then the
US flag, and finally
everyone stood for the
national anthem.
The bucking broncos were a real
eye opener. These horses get
their privates cinched up in a
way that makes men cringe.
The gate is flung open and
the horse leaps into the air
while the cowboy hangs on
for dear life.
Some horses really let their
riders have it. But some
riders manage to stay on for
a miraculously long time too.
One horse came out clawing
the air. His rider somehow
stayed on his back, even though the
horse reared a second time before
giving him a rip-roaring ride.
The facial expressions of the riders were
priceless. The event is timed in seconds,
and rarely lasted more than a few, but
time must have been standing still for
those dare-devil men as they got flung
about like rag dolls.
The rodeo was a place where testosterone was in very good supply. Getting
a burger, we stood behind a fellow whose thoughts about gun ownership were
proudly emblazoned on the back of his shirt.
There was a raffle for a gun Mark thought was especially cool, and he did his best
Annie Oakley after he bought a ticket. I don't know what his plans were for the
gun if he'd won it, but his ticket didn't turn out to be a winner in the end.
Neither of us has spent much time around horses or farm animals, so we loved
every minute of this action packed weekend. In the evening we retreated to our
campsite, watching the kids trotting around on their horses. We fell asleep to the
sounds of horses whinnying and snorting all around us as they stood outside tied
to their trailers. Next morning we were up bright and early to catch more of the