Rodeo Season: Bring on the Beasts

Bring on the rodeo! Here are a few shots that I took of some pretty serious gatherings of cowboy and beast. The top ones are from a small town in North Western Colorado called Meeker. This is the type of place where the entire town shows up for the pancake breakfast, stays for the main street parade, goes home to sip some afternoon lemonade, then heads on over to the arena for some good ol’ fashioned ro-de-o. The shots below Meeker were taken at the ‘Daddy of em’ all’ – the Cheyenne, WY Frontier Days Rodeo. In Cheyenne, they really do it right. Mixing events and constantly keeping the crowd in awe – if you are ever out this way at the end of July, it is absolutely mandatory that you come and see this.

It will change your life.

It did for me. I finally bought an authentic 10 gallon cowboy hat! And you know what? I am not afraid to use it – except with shorts, as that’s on the verge of an insult to cowboyhood. And you don’t want to insult these people. They have guns, and they drink Coors Light.

In the final whisps of Summer that we have left, go appreciate a cow in a pasture, arena, or hamburger – whatever you fancy.

(Above) The first few times I saw this I had no idea what the hell was going on. It was confusing seeing a cowboy hold up a small jar of milk to a roaring crowd of enthusiasts. This is one of the more interesting events – not sure exactly what it is called, but basically the cowboy ropes one of the legs of the cow, then his partner has to run up behind it as it kicks frantically, and milk it a few ounces worth!