Tag Archives: rodeo

When It All Goes Wrong on (or off) the Bull

AE7I3897.jpgThe first few of the bull riders at Rowell Ranch Rodeo seemed to do pretty well and make it for the full duration.  It turns out that this was an aberration and the remainder of the riders seemed to have a lot of problems.  Some still went the distance but a lot of them were thrown off.  Getting thrown from a bull is a risky proposition.

AE7I3839.jpgLet’s put aside the problem with falling at speed from an animal.  Instead, contemplate being on the ground and a little disoriented when you need to get out of the way of a seriously pissed off bull that weighs a lot!  This is where the other people come in to play.  Their role is to distract the attention of the bull away from the rider while someone helps him get to his feet.  It is something that looks perilous and, I imagine, it is.

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Riding the Bulls

AE7I3832.jpgMy visit to the Rowell Ranch Rodeo was the night of the bull riding.  I had never seen this in person before and was curious to see how things went.  It was an evening show and the clouds had rolled in so it was pretty dark, even early in the evening.  They had floodlights but they were not doing too much for me so I was really testing the high ISO capabilities of the camera for the first time.  I was often shooting at 51,200.  I have to say that, while the shots are not super clean, they are not too bad at all.

AE7I3860.jpgThe most dramatic moments seemed to be shortly after they came out of the chute.  The bulls leap into the air and the rider hangs on like crazy.  It seemed that, if they made it through the initial period, they often went the full time.  If they were unsettled initially, they were struggling from then on.  More to come of that…

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Our Local Rodeo

AE7I3736.jpgOnce a year, a rodeo is held a short distance from our house.  I have never been to a rodeo before.  Anyone who knows me would not think of me as a western kind of guy.  Despite all of that, I was quite interested to see what it was like.  I had missed the previous two events so thought I should make the effort this time.  It was on over a Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday.  I went on the Friday because it was less disruptive to the weekend and it included bull riding which I thought would be dramatic to see.

B11I2654.jpgI got there a little early to have a look around.  It turns out that I left more time than needed to check everything out so I found a seat in the bleachers to wait for things to start.  I got a visit from the management since I obviously looked a little out of place.  They guy asked me a few questions but I think he was struggling with my accent and gradually got bored.  I thought it was rather empty but, just as the riding started, tons of people showed up and it was pretty full.

AE7I3744.jpgMore posts will follow with some of the action shots.

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