Amador County – Professional Rodeo rides into Bennie Brown arena Saturday of this year’s Amador County Fair, and tickets may be purchased in advance.
Fair marketer Karen Spencer said “rodeo is the sport of cowboys, weekend warriors and kids conquering Mutton Busting. Six rodeo events pit riders and ropers against cattle, bulls, and wild horses.” Those are bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, team roping, tie down roping, and steer wrestling.
Women’s barrel racing features the fastest women on horseback in a clover-leafed race for time around barrels that are “ready to tip over when touched.”
Bull riding is the most notorious of professional rodeo events and Four Star Rodeo Company is known among bull riders to have top-of-the-line stock, including 2007 National Finals Rodeo Champion Bull, Shakedown.
Spencer said “why would anyone climb on the back of a bucking bull for a small chance at a little bit of prize money and a silver buckle? Most would consider it a foolhardy act. The risks are obvious. Serious injury is always a possibility for those fearless or foolish enough to sit astride an animal that weighs nearly a ton and is usually equipped with dangerous horns. But cowboys do it, fans love it, and bull riding may rank as rodeo’s most popular sport.”
Professional rodeo features skills developed by cowboys on ranches and trail rides at the turn of the century, including roping, riding bucking animals, and racing the fastest short-distance horses in the world. Risk-takers are willing to climb on the back of a wild, bucking bronc or notorious bull for a share of the purse or a silver buckle and the ride of a lifetime. It can take just eight seconds, if they can last that long.
The Amador Fair organizers last week announced the extension of the fair entry deadline to 5 p.m. Tuesday July 19, for filing entry forms for still exhibits, for adult categories such as baked goods, preserves, art, photography, gems and minerals, flowers and garden produce.
The Exhibitor Handbook is available on-line and limited printed copies are at the Fair office, libraries and feed stores.
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