Waiting to Ride
Wilsall, Montana
2011
On a drive down the Stillwater River valley last Saturday we came across some guys at the fairgrounds in Wilsall who were continually herding the same calves from one side of the rodeo arena to the other. It turns out they were training them to run a relatively straight line so they would be good performers in a small roping competition they were having the next day. (Who knew you had to have proper training to be a rodeo cow.)
This event is held every year as a memorial for a fellow who died about ten years ago, put on by his friends and family. While the entrants pay a fee so there is purse money for prizes, it isn’t advertised and isn’t meant to draw spectators. But seeing our interest, we were invited to come back on Sunday and watch the competition, which we did along with a handful of relatives of some of the performers. I’ll be posting a number of photos from the event over the next week or so.
There was no gate fee for spectators at the event, no concession stand, no over the top rodeo “phoo-fer-all;” in fact no phoo-fer-all at all. Just an announcer and some help recording times and bunch of guys hanging around in the arena on their horses waiting for their turn to ride and rope.