Patricia Rodeo – OsteoPraxis on the road

Patricia Rodeo 2026

After a terrific summer of travel….and a stop at home to chop down the triffid population in the yard……the time for Patricia Rodeo swung around again. One of the high points of our year….Labour Day weekend for the last five years has become all about this event.

This year we purchased extra equipment to deal with the herbivorous invasion that happens while we are away.

Once the place looks less apocalyptic…it’s time to load up Xolo again and off we go.

Our usual spot on the Patricia Rodeo grounds…..

we arrive early before the main rush of trailers gather……and this year Scott was able to pitch in to help tarp the bleachers…

The other reason for arriving early is to have the chance to enjoy dinner at the Patricia Hotel before it gets too crazy busy…..

And a lovely walk home after a couple of adult beverages….

The rodeo kicks of with the chucks and chariots on the Friday evening….

Mr Blogtographer tries to find a different angle each year…

…and sometimes gets himself into the ‘eat dirt’ position …lol

As the daylight fades we get a little action with some team roping under the lights…

Something new was this funny looking dog that someone brought long….

Saturday morning has all the heavy horse events…..these beautiful big beasts doing the tasks they were designed for…..and they are amazing….

One of my favourite things about this rodeo is their use of the horses to harrow the arena between events….

And then we get going with all the traditional events….

The cowboy sequences make the best dramatic slideshows……

……and then there is the craziness that is the Wild Horse race….

Where everything is happening all at once…..

It can be hard to focus on just one team……

As one team successfully wrangles their steed…..another one bites the dust…

The yellow shirt team had it all together…

….and get their guy up there…that’s when the real fun begins…..as the horse runs straight at the fence intent on scraping him off……

To his credit….he stayed on there….and made it all the way around the track….

This year had its share of drama…the real hazards of those cowboy games…as this guy came off in less than textbook style…

……..and CRUNCH….!!!

There was a spontaneous groan from the crowd…and the EMS team were there in seconds….

I am happy to report that no serious injuries resulted…we got the news a little later that he had been MRI-ed and given the medical all clear….

Of course …sometimes it goes EXACTLY according to the textbook….

With some terrific coordinated work from the pick up guys to boot…

We had some marvelous demonstrations of skill in calf roping…..

It’s great to see these things so well done……

………especially having had the opportunity to see it actually being used this spring at the branding….

We had another spectacular display of skill …this time from the rodeo clowns ….first one that went according to plan…..

…and then the one that didn’t,,,,

….as the kid comes off the steer…you can see his hand trapped under the rope…

Those rodeo clowns are sprinting at top speed….but you can see how calm their faces are…and then the one reaches in and releases the cowboys trapped hand….

Remarkable…..skillfully done……

Then…there was the escaping bull which ran straight at the gate….and punched a hole right through the plastic fencing covering it……then jumped the rail into the infield…..high drama…..

He was recaptured by a group of cowboys fairly quickly….but I’m not sure anyone had seen that happen before…..

Another round of the wild horse race…this time its the blue shirt guys…

It all seems to be working….and then….

I’m telling you those guys are tough…..!!!

The weather for the rodeo this year was a less than stellar forecast…..with torrential rain having been forecast for the Sunday, we made the hard decision to bail…and pull out for home on the Saturday evening. It was a tough choice cos all of our favourite events are in the Little Britches rodeo on the Sunday….but the prospect of becoming stranded axel deep in mud made it seem the more sensible option.

Even with missing the Sunday…..our love for this rodeo has not waned….see you guys next year……😁

Extra Pix

Patricia Rodeo 2025. Part 2.

Patricia Rodeo has never disappointed us, but I have to admit my favourite day is the ‘Little Britches’ on the Sunday.

I mean….what’s not to love about these little tiny people on huge horses…..handling them like pros.

The barrel racing is exciting with the full sized people……but nail bitingly riveting with the smaller ones.

….and here’s one that works as a slideshow……

As I put these together….it almost seems impossible to show just how much speed and movement is happening……especially when we get to the next heat of the Wild Horse race….

The kids don’t tackle the big animals…but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own battles…….here is calf wrestling…..teams of two have to get both the front end and the back end of the calf laying down….

Well…that’s what they are trying to do……

…but more often than not one gets a good hold…..and the other gets left….

…But boy oh boy they hang on…and keep trying….even when they get dragged around in the dirt…..

…..and hey get stomped on …(slideshow….click the right hand arrow)

Because you can’t succeed if you don’t try…..!!!!

Same kind of grit and determination in the Wild Pony Race. The kids don’t have to get a saddle on …they just have to get a person on the pony for one jump.

Those ponies aren’t big….but they are definitely pretty wild….!!!

Persistence pays off……..😆 (you just have to check out this slideshow…!!!)

A couple of years ago they were looking for a sponsor to add a purse for the junior pole bending…..so ….being big fans of this particular rodeo…we ponied up….LOL…!!!

Every day of the rodeo finishes with the chariots and the chuck wagons……the blogtographer looks for a different angle every year….this year he was eating dirt and fighting biting bugs at the top end of the track…..but I think it paid off…!!!

Another charming aspect of Patricia is the use of heavy horses to do the infield harrowing between events…..

…and back to the fury out on the track……

😁That’s it for 2025………….maybe……!!!

Extra Pix

Next one is a slideshow…these guys got totally spun around

…and this is another great slideshow…..

Patricia Rodeo 2025. Part 1.

For anyone who knows us, or has been following us…you know that one of our high points of the year is always the Patricia Rodeo. Not that I think we are ‘rodeo people’…whatever that may mean….but this small town Alberta event is something very special…..and that brings us joyfully back here every year.

It’s a combination of the warmth of this community that welcomes us back each time…and the event itself, which is a glorious combination of real stockmen cowboys demonstrating skills with an incredible, palpable respect for the animals they are working with, and the grit and determination of kids growing up not afraid to get dirty, fall over and take a few knocks…while the hands behind them make sure nobody gets badly hurt.

Not only are the competitors are impressive, but also the fantastic pick up men retrieving stock and protecting riders, the rodeo ‘clowns’ who are in there in a flash doing their thing distracting the massive bulls and steers, allowing the competitors to safely exit the arena …

..and the unseen stock handlers behind the chutes looking after these beasts and making sure no one or no animal comes to harm.

With the weekend admission fee of CAD$50 camping on the grounds is free…..and the trailers started arriving even before we did this year. We arrived on the Wednesday in plenty of time to claim our regular spot and greet all the familiar faces….but as the weekend approached more and more RV’s arrived and set up in circles of families and friends, gathering together for the highlight of the year. We get to know a few more faces each year.

The rodeo itself starts Friday evening with chuckwagons, chariots and also bulls and broncs….I think the blogtographer came and sat in the stands for that tho…!!!

The first big highlight of Saturday is the Wild Horse race……a bit different this year as Patricia is now an official stop in the Championship Wild Horse Racing. So 12 teams this year instead of the usual 6. Same bedlam tho…..

i have tried to put the sequence of the event in slideshows…..click or touch the arrow on the right hand side of the picture to see the next one.

Similar format…..the buzzer goes…the giant wild horses are released from the chutes wearing a halter and a short rope. Teams must wrangle their horse, get a saddle on him…then get a rider up there. The rider then presumably says a few extra prayers and hopes that the horse takes off around the track.

This next sequence is also a slideshow.

The winner makes it around and back through the north gate in the fastest time…..all under 6 minutes. It always seems like a lot longer than 6 minutes. (this link click is a video taken by one of the official photographers)

The barrel racing is a show of skill ….and some beautiful horses…..

We gained a whole new appreciation for the team roping after the Writing-on-Stone mini rodeo a couple of years ago.

The first roper goes….to rope the horns….

Then the second roper has to get both heels…..in one throw of his rope.

It amazes me every time they get it……and often very fast.

The next heat of the wild horse race……here’s a good sequence…another slideshow……(click/touch the arrow on the right.)

And while that’s happening …there are five other teams of guys trying to do the same. (and one girl….this year one of the teams had some girl power with a saddle.)

Always an event that gives us hope for the grit of future generations…..mutton busting……

So does the sequence work better as a gallery (above) or a slideshow (below)?

This next one was terrific….Darrel Robertson…the regular Patricia clown/entertainer had to run after this one to get him to let go….real tough cowboy in the making here….!!!

Darrel has been the head clown guy at this rodeo for many years….he is definitely one of the features that makes this event such a classic.

The last few years has seen the hard-working core of experienced volunteers who make this thing possible dwindle somewhat. To keep it alive, Rugged Rodeo was brought in to make it manageable…..this also brought new lighting to the arena which in turn made more evening events possible.

Bulls and broncs under the lights…..

Even a bit of team roping…….

…….and that’s only the first part of the story……

Extra Pix

I couldn’t resist putting this sequence in…..its just too cute…….same deal on the slideshow….look for the arrow on the right side of the picture and click/touch it to move through.

Eat Dirt……Patricia Rodeo 2024

The Patricia Rodeo has become one of our favourite events of the year to attend, with travel plans always worked around being available for Labour Day weekend. Fortunately it’s not far from where we live now.

This year we had also recruited another friend from Ontario to come camp with us ….. so we had our Russian Airstream friends, the youngest daughter and now one more camper in our circle. Should anyone else wish to join, this weekend does not disappoint.

This was the second year with the Rugged Rodeo crew involved….and with the new permanent lights in the arena (replacing the smaller portable ones running off generators) the order of events now extends into the evening on Saturday.

The flavour has changed slightly with less volunteers available as the experienced old guys age out of many essential positions and the shrinking numbers of young ones filling their spots.

Stock handling is not a job for those without experience or feint of heart, but an important skill set for the safety of the animals and the competitors. (would you take a rope off a bull or a bronco as it leaves the arena..!!!??)

There are so many great pictures Scott takes, often rolling around in grass and muck to get ‘the shot’, it’s difficult to select those to include….and worse (for me) which ones don’t make the cut.

Here we go with a bit of bull riding, bronc riding……….

…….wagons and chariots…..

…and, always a fan favourite….the mini’s…….

Those mini horses have no idea they are mini…….they run hard…..!!!!

This whole calf roping thing just blows my mind……how do you catch a running calf, with a rope…from the back of a running horse…….and without hurting the calf……The whole thing is impressive…!!!

Then we get to the Wild Horse race…….it begins in a very orderly fashion…….

….then quickly descends into chaos…….

The girls barrel racing….. those horses are amazing……and the teamwork between rider and horse…..wow…..

Of course there has to be a bit of mutton busting……

….and my oh my….those little itty bitty kids on those big horses……those are some tough kids….

The kids are fantastic with the roping as well…..

…and just in case the wild horse race wasn’t crazy enough….the kids have a go at the wild ponies. They don’t have to ride them around the track….just get a body on the back of the pony….but the tenacity of some of those kids hanging onto those ropes……..!!!!

There are four rounds of the wild horse race…there’s a 6 minute time limit to saddle the horse, attach a rider and round the track. Fastest one wins……it’s surprising how many of them make it. …….but there’s always a bit of trampling too….!!!