The Beginning of Butts & Boots Season

 We are RVing in The Black Hills for some R & R, geocaching, visiting, a little baseball, and some RODEO. Rodeo = Butts & Boots season. The first was the Wild West Wednesday Rodeo at Hart Ranch. 

Hart Ranch brought rodeo back to HR the summer of 2013. (See blog post Yee Haw! Ride 'Em Cowboy!) The rodeo was successful enough it has continued to grow and expand each year since. 

picturesque setting for a summer rodeo

she brought her own horses to the rodeo

we got there so early, we beat the contestants

some rigs are small

just one area of rig parking

some rigs are much larger

that AC unit is for the humans, not the horses

these boots sparkled in the sunlight

the sisters were very proud of their boots, according to mom

dad and the kids in their boots

I can not get close to the cowboy staging area like I can and do at the Deadwood Days of '76 Rodeo. Booty shots are from across the area.

these boots look brand new on the visitors from Cleveland

the son's boots

look at the eyes of this horse (click to enlarge photo)

strange, aren't they?

there were some good rides

About half or more were young men, high school to college age, trying to get some experience, make a name for themselves, and win some money. One of the bull riders was just 16 years old. There were no 8 second bull rides. 

this was the crowd in lawn chairs

there were 3 sets of bleachers which were also full

Kids age 12 and under were invited into the arena and told to remove their shoes before heading to the far end for a race. They ran back to the pile of shoes, put them on, and ran back to the far end and high-fived the rodeo clown to win a bag of Tootsie Rolls. There must have been 100 kids!

the rodeo clown

Scot's mother is Hubby's second cousin, once removed. So what does that make Scot??? We saw his act with the grandkids on our visit in August 2017.

look at the braids in this horse's mane!

These horses did not participate tonight. Since the only event using a rider's personal horse was the barrel racing event, I am thinking these were barrel racing horses getting the night off.

Most of the boots in the photos were on the feet of kids. The boots on the adults who wore boots, were usually well-worn, work boots...not new and shiny like those of the folks from Ohio.

the setting sun

MORE RODEO THIS WEEKEND