Weekend update

Days ending in y are busy - LOL. This weekend was no exception. I had the house to myself - well, me and the cats - and two whole days to get a week's worth of house stuff done. Still, it was good to be home.

If you're pretty much anywhere in the Midwest/plains/continental US... you don't need telling how hot it's been. If you've somehow managed to avoid the heat - lucky you! Suffice it to say that the temp gauge on the car, in the shade, read 103' on Sunday afternoon.

The boys were dozy and sweaty, but had shade, access to what breeze there was, and plenty of cool water - they didn't seem too perturbed to be fly-sprayed and left alone. I didn't have the heart or the energy to make them work.

Sunday the farrier finally wedged me into her schedule - she was out until 2 a.m. Saturday getting show horses done before they departed for Arabian Nationals, and she said between emergencies and must-be-done-before-departure appointments, her whole month has been like that. With only Sunny and Thunder she was done and on her way in less than an hour, as both boys stood beautifully.

It's supposed to be cooler by this weekend, so hopefully I can take advantage of their shorter feet and actually get some work done!

Other activities? Well, it was Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo week, so Thursday thru Sunday was the rodeo, complete with the mixer Thursday evening, parade Saturday a.m., and of course cowboy church and chilli cook-off on Sunday. What did I attend? About half an hour of the parade. I stayed through most of the horse entries before deciding I'd had about enough sun. Terrible cop-out, I know - but somehow without T and the kids I just didn't feel like enduring the heat and the crowds. Too many people.

Weekend update 1: Rodeo & (no) new saddle...

This weekend was the 40th annual Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo, a 4-day long, major summertime event for Mitchell. Inevitably hot & sticky, the crowds don't care, and this year was no exception. The stands were packed all four nights, the streets were lined for the parade, and vats of chili disappeared in record time at the cook-off Sunday morning.

T was volunteered (not by me) to be a judge for the rodeo parade Saturday morning. He had a ball, of course. And also ended up helping out checking IDs at the contestant gates all four nights. Me? I went to watch!

Parade pics:

Of course there were queens...

and whatever the requisite amount of tractors is,
the quota was more than met.

There were clowns - and the Ethan Trail Riders,
a Stampede staple!
(they always park the cars and rake during the barrel runs),

if you enlarge the picture,
T's the one under the canopy
on the far left in the cowboy hat & shades

There were wagons...

...and mules.
The trainer who started
Sunny for me,
with his latest long-eared project.

The rodeo entertainment...

Yes, that is a real little girl
on a very small pony
on top of that trailer.

The "Texas Kid" standing next to her also rode in.
On a Brazilian Gir bull. (HUGE)

This little lady sat next to me
and enjoyed every minute of the spectacle.

Our kids declined to attend the parade - M was working the state trap shoot all weekend (that's him under the yellow umbrella scoring) although he did go to the actual performances on Saturday and Sunday night and enjoyed every minute of the action. H said it was too early and too hot.

Friday night rodeo lights

No, the tickets didn't surface, but a friend ended up with extras, so things worked out after all. The weather was perfect - mid-70's by evening's end, light breeze, not too many bugs. So many years it's been 90's or low 100's: just plain miserably hot and humid.

The drill team looked good - only 12 members this year, and they didn't get much chance to practice.

Corn Palace Stampede Drill Team 2008

I talked to a couple of the ladies before the show, and they said Thursday's performance was rough. Everything last night went pretty smoothly except for one extremely close pass through. The horses didn't quite collide, but they brushed pretty hard. The impact made one of the riders lose her grip on her flag, and when it fell it stuck in the flag boot - luckily her horse didn't completely freak, and she was able to drop the flag and finish out the routine successfully.

Post-Candy Scramble

Rail-side Munchkins

The kids were rapt - the number parked down along the edge of the concrete multiplied through the evening, as the excitement in the arena drew them down out of the stands.

Hard-working horses

The steer wrestling was a run of highs and lows. A lot of riders missed or overran. There were only a couple of really good runs. I like watching the horses work, though.

Overall impressions: this year's roughstock isn't the best I've seen them bring. A lot of the entered cowboys in those events canceled to go places with better draws, and they turned out a lot of rough stock loose. The crowd had fun, and the main entertainment, the Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls act (I know, I know, but I didn't pick the name!) was pretty thrilling to watch. There were a couple of really sweet barrel runs, but even a 15.90 second run wasn't enough to knock Thursday night's winner out of first place overall.

That's it for now, as we promised the kids we'd make it to the rodeo parade and we need to get them rousted. Looks like it will be a lovely morning for spectating, too!

Rodeo tonight!

Tonight is the first official night of the 4-day Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo. Well, they have a whole week of events, but only 4 days of actual rodeo. We have tickets enough for a couple of evenings! Hooray!!! Must remember to take my camera.