The Council Bluffs PRCA rodeo was back in town March 20 and 21. And I had the opportunity to attend on the first night. And a surprise appearance was made by mayor Jill Shudak.
The first event they did was bareback riding–it’s not my favorite event but it was still really cool to watch. One of the broncos did not want to leave, they opened the gate and he stood there, not riled up at all. When he finally got him to leave, the cowboy stayed on for 8 seconds, and then tried to calm the horse down instead of getting off, which was quite the event to watch.
The next event we watched was steer wrestling, it was super fun to watch the cowboys try to pin the cows to the ground.
They showed great sportsmanship while trying to get them to the ground, one of them jumping right off their horse and pinning the cow faster than anyone.
One of my favorite events was the team roping. It was cool to see the calf let loose, and the cowboys chased after them. While this is usually a great event to watch, this year the cowboys seemed to struggle. A lot of them could only get one lasso hooked on the calf.
Tie-down roping is also a fun event to watch. One of the cowboys let the calf go because he saw something he didn’t like, which the announcer described as “good sportsmanship” on his part. A sad part was when one of the calves wasn’t struggling, or moving, or making an effort to get up until he was untied.
An event they have every year, featuring the same sisters, is trick riding. This is so cool to see; high school kids doing tricks on their horses. They do tricks like handstands, riding parallel, dragging their feet, etc. This is such a cool event, because it takes such skill, practice, and talent to do what they do.
My favorite event of the night was the clown. He performed a skit that I did not see last year. He found a briefcase that had the initials “MJ” on it. Through coaxing from the announcer, he opened the briefcase, and inside was a Michael Jackson costume. He put all of the clothes on and then started dancing like Michael Jackson. It was so fun to watch, and he really brought on the role, because his moves were like a smooth criminal.
Unfortunately, we had to leave before seeing the barrel racing and bull riding, but no doubt would it have been amazing to watch.
This year’s rodeo was such a fun experience. They performed with amazing sportsmanship, and it was spectacular to see such skill.
