Rodeo For Kids!!!

 The only thing better than going to a rodeo is the food.  Just like at any fair, there's lots to choose from.  Surprisingly, there is a lot of Mexican food that looks delicious.  Every vendor makes up their dishes and displays them out front so you can see exactly what you are getting.  It's like walking the gauntlet ... which  8,000 calorie, artery clogging grease and heart attack on a plate do I want to inhale?  

These sausages really looked good,  but the kid cooking the onions didn't exactly look like he knew what he was doing.  I think these were about twelve inches long ... definitely a meal for two, which is why Patty and Dan went for this one.

Thinking smaller portions, I went with the basic cheese burger.  Last year it was delicious!!  This year, not so much.  There was hardly any lettuce, NO tomato and the burger barely browned.  Never mind the carmel corn ... just the burger and the lemonade came to a whopping $21.00.  NOT kidding!!

The food vendors have learned that if they do not post prices, you will order anything and pay any amount.  I'm pretty sure that Costco burger didn't come to anywhere near $21.00.  Next time I'll go for the artery clogging Mexican food.

It's hard to believe there was snow one day and beautiful sun the next.  Here's what was left of the mountaintop white stuff.  By the end of this day, most of that was gone also.

On with the rodeo .... right after the mutton busting was the steer riding for young bull riders in training.  This steer bucked pretty good and this kid stayed on like a champ!!  He was the only entrant on this day.  

Next up for the girls (and sometimes the boys too) was goat tying.  Race down the arena on your horse, jump off and run up to the goat on a string.  He's tied up to make it a little easier.  She flopped the goat on his side and tied up three legs.  She was a little distracted because her hat kept falling off.  

Here's a little tip ... hairspray!!  Yessiree ... any time I was in a rodeo or a horse show, I sprayed the inside hatband with hairspray, then put it on.  That thing was glued to my head for the rest of the day.  I'm just full of rodeo tips!!!

Barrel racing for the kids was up next.  I can tell you that your heart is pounding as you get to that first barrel.  As soon as you are almost around, you look for the next one.  Where your head  goes, your body goes, which actually signals the horse to go the same way.  See where she is looking?

Sort of anyway ... I know this little gal felt like she was screaming around the barrels at breakneck speed.  Actually, she was barely loping at a very slow pace.  See her head?  and the horses head?  She was a little wide on all of the turns, but raced to the end and didn't knock down a single barrel.  That's what counts ... and she has a pretty little appy horse.

Team roping ... what could go wrong here?  One of the pair is usually a parent.  In this case, Dad was the header and his daughter was the heeler.  See that huge loop?  You do want kinda big ... but maybe not quite THAT big.  It SHOULD fly around in front of the calfs hind legs.  When pulled forward by Dad, the calf steps into the loop and the heeler pulls back hard and fast.

Well ... the loop was SO big and didn't quite go UNDER the calf, though she did catch one leg ... along with one front leg of her horse.  That didn't work out so well and they got no time.  Luckily her horse didn't freak out.

This was the best one of the night.  I think this kid was 8 years old and he was the header.  He caught that steer right out of the gate just like a pro ... but sadly, Dad missed the heels and they also got a no time.  This kid is going to be a star someday.

And that ended the Junior Rodeo!  All the winners got lots of screams from the crowd and will come back for the finals.  I have to say one thing, Tucson loves to yell for their kids whether they do good or not.

And we haven't even gotten to the REAL rodeo yet!!  It's coming up with a visit from Rocker Steiner, one of the best bareback riders in the world.  He's 19 years old, has hair down to his shoulders, is a heart breaker and comes from a many generation cowboy family.  Too bad I'm not 19 again!!!