Sept 1 to 6 Return to Patricia….yes it’s our first rodeo…!!

Ever since our first trip to Patricia when they told us about the rodeo we were pretty keen to come back for this….they promised it would be fun…they did not lie…..

When you forget to fill the truck before hooking up . We take up a lot of real estate in the gas station. (guilty…editor)

Super excited, we were told we could arrive at the campground anytime after the 1st of September……so you better believe we were there with bells on……on the 1st…..!!!

We found a spot at the bottom of the grounds next to where the ag weigh scale is……essentially we scored a level pull through spot. We were not the first trailer there…and talking to a few folks gave us what we needed…..ie stay away from the back fence… where the young’uns camp….and where the all night party (noise..!!) happens.

This meant getting a couple of meals at the legendary Patricia hotel before it got too busy.

All day we watched more and more trailers pull in…groups that pulled their trailers around in circles so 4, 5, 6 big trailers in a circle with the party spot and camp fire in the centre. At the other end of the grounds, huge tractor trailers carrying mostly horses were pulling in and setting up little electric fence pens for their fancy race horses…

What an amazing atmosphere in this place….

Thursday night at the hotel (for supper again…!!!) we met up with the guys from one of the chuckwagon/chariot racing teams…Jim O’Connor…the Fighting Irish..!!…and his team Greg and Wayne. They kindly invited us to come over, see the horses and the set up and get some pictures….really nice folks….

Friday night kick off with these shenanigans……classic start with the chariots and chuck wagons……essentially the chariots run with two horses and the chuck wagons with four…….its crazy fast……..

Then they have the mini chucks…….chuck wagons with mini horses…..it sounds like an exhibition event….but these little guys are giving it just as much as their full sized compatriots…..the girl in the green shirt in the first picture is 8 years old…..!!!

Bull riding under the lights.….interestingly….its a lot more skillful than if you have ever seen it on tv……and the real stars of the show are the pick up guys. They are the cowboy guys on horseback whose job is to safely calm down the horse/bull once the rider is bucked, and to return them to the gate without any more fuss….These guys were absolutely amazing. We were too far away in the stands to get any decent pictures with just phone cameras, but one of the official photographers ( Scott was chatting to her for a while..!!) posted a selection of hers on her facebook site. http://lindapierson.photography/ ……I have used some of her pictures in the next section.

Bull Riding

Pick up guys

Girls arrive Saturday…woo hoo…another visit from Bronagh…….this time we got her from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon….

In between a lot of the events, the field has to be evened out again (harrowed….) they have a guy in a big tractor doing a lot of the work….but they also had teams of heavy horses doing it the old fashioned way.

Saturday morning was a lot of the skill stuff….barrel races, roping and such like things.

Saturday afternoon kicked off with the wild horse race…wow this is a thing….apparently Patricia is one of the very few rodeos that still does this…..and once you have watched this train wreck unfold …..its easy to see why….

Teams of three (there were 6 teams) a wild horse is (haltered) released from the chute……with all three guys hanging on to the rope…….once the horse crosses the line…they have to reel it in, put a saddle on it….get a guy in the saddle and he then has to ride around the track and make it back to the arena….its sheer unadulterated crazieness…….

Bronco Riding….as if the wild horse race crazieness was not enough…!!!

Saturday night dancing. The live band was the Patricia Chicks….they were reeeeeaaalllly good.( https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2914783991870593 ) . Tracy Millar is the main artist that sings in a trio every year for the Patricia Rodeo. We actually got to dance a bit…….Great thing about rural Alberta is……everyone can two step it would seem….great fun on the dance floor with lots of peeps up dancing.

Mutton busting ….now this was a whole new thing we had never heard of before……little kids…4 to 7 come out of the chute on the back of a sheep……they pretty much just have to stay on…..most of them don’t. Bronagh was highly entertained….fully understanding that if she had grown up in Alberta….she (and her siblings..!!) would have totally done this. Kids are pretty hardy round here…it was fantastic to watch these tough tough kids.. (boys and girls) play hard, fall down and get up……get filthy, get kicked, stomped and dragged through the dirt….and get back up and get on with it…..

Sunday morning was the heavy horse log races…….(not really a race….but an extreme skill challenge driving the heavies around cones pulling a log…..quite the demonstration of skill…..as expected…the old guys totally had it down….but there were also quite a few kids competing….)

Sunday afternoon is the Little Britches rodeo……so most of the kids events happen on Sunday. …OMG these kids……little kids on huge horses. just giving it. These kids are amazing…..

This next kid managed to rope his calf, but did not have the rope to tie it…….so his horse held it while he sprinted across the arena to get it from his trainer…then back to the calf, dump it over and tie its feet…to win….cos he was the only one to actually complete……..just shows….never give up….!!!

Cow pie bingo…hilarious……there was a 50/50 that we missed out on on the Friday night…but we managed to get a spot in the cow pie bingo……essentially the arena is measured out in a grid…..you buy a square for $5……….and in the intermission on Sunday afternoon, a cow is released in to the arena…….if she poops on your square…you win $1000……..at $5 a ticket……love this…..total redneck coolness….!!!

Little britches wild pony race…some of the teams were girls….and they were no slouches…..unlike the wild horse race, the kids just have to get a hold of the pony and get one of them onto its back. Some of the kids were just too little to get up there….but it did not stop them trying…amazing…..

All good things must end tho….

This trip was 6 days of boondocking…..the longest we have done so far with no services…….it worked out tho…and a few things learned. Next time we will do a bit more food prep and be sure to have an extra case of bottled water.

Monday….pull out to Lost Lemon…..a campground in Blairmore at the beginning of the Crowsnest Pass……

Lastly I’m going to add a gallery of some more of the pictures Scott snagged during the chuck and chariot races…..