Ready for Summer
By Kyle Partain
There’s a lot of money to be won during the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s winter run. The association’s two best paying regular-season events are in Houston and San Antonio, Texas, in the winter. The success of a cowboy’s season often depends on how he does during the snowy months in places such as Denver, Colorado; Fort Worth, Texas; and Rapid City, South Dakota. If you don’t believe me, see what the cowboys say about in Cold Sweat from our January 2010 issue.
I understand the importance of the winter run for cowboys, but I’d just as soon skip ahead to late June. Because of my position at Western Horseman, I don’t often spend money to attend rodeos. In fact, I get paid to travel to some of the biggest and best events all over North America. But if I had to spend my own money, I’d wait until the summer run to start heading to the rodeos.
From a spectator’s perspective, there isn’t a big difference between the indoor rodeos. Sure they’ve got a canaverous stadium in Houston that makes it different from the basketball arenas in Denver, Fort Worth, Rapid City and San Antonio. But still, you’re inside a building—where things just aren’t going to look all that different. Give me an outdoor arena anyday.
Sitting in the stands at the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, I have a mountain backdrop for the rodeo action. I can see the clouds roll over Pikes Peak and know that the contestants are in for a long afternoon—as is often the case at the rodeo. Cowboys have battled everything from rain to hail to snow at the rodeo which is usually held in either July or August.
Give me the trees in the arena in St. Paul, Oregon, and the little PVC-pipe fence around the infield at Pendleton, Oregon. So many of the PRCA’s great outdoor venues have these types of quirks—which often lead to unexpected events for spectators.
Give me the hot sun, the cool rain and the howling wind any day. Ranch cowboys work in these elements every day. Rodeo cowboys should be able to do the same.
Maybe I just like the fact that during the summer I can find a rodeo on just about any given day. Cody, Wyoming, offers one every night during the summer tourist season, in fact. Whatever the reason, there’s nothing like kicking off your summer with a trip to Reno, Nevada, and ending it at Pendleton. There are thousands of other rodeos—some PRCA-sanctioned and some not—in between. And I can’t wait to make my way to a few of them this season.