I had to put up these rodeo pix I took last weekend. The rodeo is down the road from us in the little town of Galisteo. It’s down home rodeo at its finest. No frills, whatsoever. All local ranchers.
The little kids (4-5-6 yrs old) have their own event called “mutton bustin’” except that it’s the kids who end up getting busted most of the time. As soon as it’s out of the gate, the sheep runs like hell across the arena, and if the kid manages to stay on, he and the sheep both get slammed into the fence. If the kid is lucky, he hits the wire part of the fence; otherwise, it can be a face plant into a fence post.
The two guys running behind the kid can’t keep up with the sheep, so their job ends up being to pick up the pieces at the end of each kid’s ride. A rancher friend of mine assures me not to worry too much. These kids are used to getting hurt from time to time around the livestock.