Home Town Rodeo

This weekend was our hometown rodeo...it was rather bittersweet for me. I chose not to enter the last two rodeos on my list because Moon's wound has been exceedingly slow to heal. It's healing well-no worries there. Just slowly. But that's another post.

So I was regulated...AGAIN...this year to bleacher duty. So frustrating!

Here's a few obligatory rodeo photos;-)...

I can't complain too much though. If nothing else...I have the best posse there is to hang with at this rodeo...

On the far left, is a good friend and an excellent horseman, Butch. He's always in charge of bringing the beer. This year he forgot! Boy, did he catch a ration of hell for that. But as you can see, beer did get produced! Butch has raised horses, rodeoed and trained horses for the tracks all his life. The little bit of red to the left of him is his wife-a good horsewoman in her own right.

To Butch's right is my mom(blue plaid shirt).

Directly above my mom is none other than one of the best and most knowledgeable horseman I've ever had the pleasure to run across, Stanton. This is the horse trader we got Strawberry from. Stanton has always been tickled pink over the things Megan has accomplished with Strawberry. So much so, that he went a bought another strawberry roan with a bald face and 4 stocking legs as a gift for her. We have been unable to accept the horse because we are overloaded as it is. No hard feeling from Stanton though. He'll just hang onto him until we can. Wonder how old that horse is getting to be now?

The guy in the straw hat and the big grin is Stanton's brother in law, Jack, with his new girlfriend. Whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment. But I really enjoyed visiting with her. Jack is an absolute riot. Well, actually the whole pack it! Jack is usually who we go practice rope with and I caught hell for not getting over there even once this summer.

I guess if I had to be sidelined though, this is the rodeo to have that happen. The most amazing thing about this bunch of guys is that anyone and EVERYONE rodeoing knows them and likes them. They have lived their lives around horses, rodeos, shows, the tracks and sale barns all across this country. They don't just know people of their own generation, they know multiple generations...for nearly every competitor. Everyone stops by to shake their hands and visit a bit.

Saturday, June Holeman stopped by to visit and Sunday, Jill Moody's dad came to sit and watch the rodeo with us... Jill wasn't running here, but her sister was. I kinda feel like I got to meet a celebrity!

The theme for the parade this year was, "South Dakota Heroes". Well, this bunch is most definitely my heroes!