Tucson Rodeo

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We were still in Tucson for the beginning of the rodeo. Originally we thought we would just do the $5 pre-event day since we know nothing about rodeos, but ended up finding decent tickets for the opening day. The whole thing starts out with a parade covering about a 1.5 mile path around the rodeo grounds. With all the closed roads and the volume of traffic, we were forced to just park where we could legally and view the parade from a nearby curbside seat. All the schools were closed for the rodeo, so there were many families lining the streets but we managed to get a prime spot even if we hadn't brought along any chairs.

Let the Parade Begin!

The Air Force Shows Up with Horses

Steakhouse Float

Tiny Horse with Big Guy

It is touted as the largest non-motorized parade in the country and by being near the end of the route meant it took quite some time for it to even make it to our spot. The other downside of being near the end was that there were often large gaps between the participants. Sometimes the wait was 5 minutes and everybody was questioning if maybe the last thing to go by had actually been the last entry and we just didn't know it yet.

The Casino Could Afford 4 Horses

Even Ronald McDonald Showed Up

Rope Tricks on Horseback

It turned out that there were well over 300 entries. The University of Arizona marching band and maybe half a dozen local high school bands. Lots of wagons and carriages with a horse or two or four pulling them. Many were just local businesses that hung signs off the side. There were a few floats. Definitely not Rose Bowl Parade quality but decent nonetheless. Many of the entries were just people riding horses. Some dressed up in very fancy ceremonial garb and others just looking like cowboys and cowgirls.

U of A Cheerleaders

Marching Band

Fancy Costume

There were also many miniature horses with young children riding them and a few were pulling tiny wagons with grown men sitting there looking quite odd. It is hard to say just how many horses were in the parade but if I believe the press report there were 650 of them. My estimate would have been higher so I guess I'll believe it. Surprising with that many horses passing by us, not a one of them did their business right in front of us. Unlike other parades I've seen back home where there is a clown with a little red wagon and a shovel following each entry with a horse, there wouldn't have been enough clowns in the region to tackle that job. We knew the parade was over when the last entry was a bevy of street sweepers cleaning the full width of the major road. From the looks of things, they were really just spreading a thin layer of horse manure over the whole road rather than picking any of it up!

Fancy Carriage

Curly Horse

What were the highlights of the parade? There were some very beautiful horses. A few of the entries had horses that practically looked like they were dancing as they passed by. One of the miniature horses had its mane dyed the color of a rainbow, and one horse was covered in glitter probably to its dismay. One float near the end of the parade was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson and had the banner "Think Priesthood". Just behind this float was a large group from a pro-cannabis movement.

Decorative Costumes

Pequeno Vaquero - Little Cowboy

Think Priesthood!

After the parade, we headed over to the rodeo grounds. Our seats were only a few rows back from the edge of the arena and opposite the stalls where the bull and bronc riders start their ride. Since we got there before the main event was to begin, there were some children's events taking place that were entertaining to watch. One of them was the goat tying competition. Just in front of us near the middle of the arena, a woman is holding a goat with a collar that is tied to a stake by about a 10 foot rope. Next the child rides out on their horse, jumps off and runs over to the goat while the woman lets it go. With any luck the child catches the goat quickly, wrestles it to the ground and ties three of its legs together. There was one contestant that was only slightly bigger than the goat and it took quite a bit to accomplish the task. At one point, they carried the goat off and brought in a backup goat. It wasn't clear whether that goat was hurt or they simply try to rotate in fresh goats to minimize the trauma they suffer. There was also team calf roping where either father/daughter or father/son or mother/daughter would ride horses on either side of a running calf and the adult would lasso the head of the calf, and the child would then try to lasso a rear leg.

Hard Fall Off Horse During Goat Roping

Father/Son Team Roping

Mother Did Her End, Now Daughter Moves In

Having never been to a rodeo and only ever catching glimpses of them on TV over the years, we weren't really sure what to expect. After the children were done with their events there was a half hour intermission during which time two big New Holland tractors with rear grading equipment came out to smooth out the whole arena. I think of them as the Zambonis of the rodeo world. Then there was a little bit of pageantry with flags from all branches of the armed services being carried around the arena by women on horseback traveling at breakneck speeds. And finally the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and a brief prayer.

Honoring Armed Services

The first event was bronc riding. There were quite a few contestants and some did okay while others didn't last long. It wasn't clear to us whether the luck of the draw on which horse you rode or how skillful of a rider you are was more important. It's probably a combination of the two.

On His Way Down

Hanging On for Dear Life

Yee Haw!!!

Next was the steer wrestling. The riders comes up alongside a running steer, leaps from his horse onto the steer and attempts to wrestle the thing to the ground as quickly as possible.

Leap of Faith

The team steer roping looked very tricky. Two riders are on either side of a running steer and the first guy lassos the head then the other one lassos a rear leg and if successful, the horses will back up, facing each other while tensioning the ropes. There were that many teams unable to complete the task successfully. And when the one team failed to even lasso the head of the steer, it sure looked like the steer was smirking as it ran to the far end of the arena.The calf roping was entertaining although possible not for the calf. 

Horse Skids to Stop in Calf Roping

This is Gonna Hurt Me More Than You

One event that was quite exiting was the women's barrel racing. Three barrels are setup about 100 feet apart in a triangle. The rider needs to ride around all three barrels in a cloverleaf patter in the fastest time without knocking over barrels to avoid penalties. The speed, agility and grace these animals possess is truly amazing.

Intense Turns

Off to the Finish Line

In between events, there was a "clown" in the arena that interacted with both the crowd and the public address announcer to entertain us while we waited. The final and undoubtedly most dangerous event was the bull riding. These riders are definitely just a little bit crazy. Most of them were at least wearing what appeared to be flack jackets and helmets but I'm not sure that would do much if things went bad. To help make sure the riders stayed safe, there were three men on foot, two on horseback and the clown in a big padded barrel near the center of the ring. Their job was to stay out of the way until the rider either fell off or stayed onboard for 8 seconds at which point they were to try to get the rider away from the bull. Possibly the bravest of all the safety crew were the two horses. They need to ride up right beside the bucking bull so the rider can slip off the bull onto the back of the horse. Nobody seemed to get injured although one of the cowboys on foot did take what appeared to be a pretty good shot from the head of a bull. There was one bull that was completely unwilling to head back into the holding pen after its run. It took the whole crew nearly 5 minutes to finally lead him out.

He's On at 1.2 Seconds

He's Off at 5.0 Seconds

Not Looking Good

Bracing For Impact

Flying Over the Head of the Bull!

Did we have fun? Yes. It was a beautiful afternoon to sit and enjoy something different. We even met a woman sitting next to us that had lived in her motorhome for 16 years and had only recently come off the road to settle down in Tucson. Maybe that will be us someday?

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