Patricia Rodeo part 2. The wild horses.

Patricia rodeo is such an overload of exciting events (and I mean real, edge-of-your-seat, adrenaline pumping exciting) that I decided to split this three-day experience into more manageable chunks….just so that my poor little brain can process it all.

Even though this is our third year at this event, I continue to be awestruck by the skill and care taken handling all of the stock at this particular rodeo. As always, my absolute favourite part is watching the pick-up guys work with such incredible respect for the animals they are managing, as well as the magnificent horses they are riding. Granted my rodeo experience is limited but this place has taken something (rodeo) I never expected to be interested in and made me a diehard fan.

Here we go again….6 teams line up waiting for the steed they have drawn at random to be released from the chute.

….and out they come…..these beautiful ….big powerhouses of wild horses.

These teams of three, using only the short rope on the halter, then have to approach this beast….

….put a saddle on him…….

….get a rider on that saddle…..

….then ride that horse once around the track……

without falling off……….Yup…that simple…….!!!!!

….and that is just heat one of four over the weekend.

Rinse and repeat…….these brave souls tackle it again…

There is a fair bit of dragging around in the dirt….

…..some scary moments as some of the horses run straight at the fence to unseat their rider….

….and some amazing tenacity as those guys grip on and stay on….

….and sometimes they don’t……

Here is another shout out to those pick-up guys doing their thing with amazing calmness.

Extra pix