LAKEPORT — “Well, it”s bulls and blood, it”s dust and mud, it”s the roar of the crowd, it”s the white in his knuckles, the gold in the buckle he”ll win in the next go ”round, it”s boots and chaps, it”s cowboy hats, it”s spurs and latigo, it”s the ropes and the reins and the joy and the pain, they call the thing the Rodeo!”
These Garth Brooks lyrics from the song “Rodeo” waft from a car stereo as a bona fide cowgirl from the Clearlake Junior Horsemen Drill Team saddled up her horse at the Lake County Fairgrounds Thursday in preparation for this weekend”s rodeo.
The verses describe perfectly the energy, effort, and skill it takes to put on and participate in the Lake County Rodeo.
Contestants and spectators of all ages crowd into the arena and bleachers to enjoy a spectacle that celebrates old cowboy and cowgirl culture that goes back over 200 years to the first Lake County settlers.
Keeping alive that tradition for the 78th year, the professional rodeo draws over 150 contestants from across the state and a few from out of state. It is also an opportunity for numerous locals to gain rodeo experience, celebrate years of hard work, and pass the fun down to future generations.
Some use the local rodeo as a steppingstone into the professional realm of roping, bronc riding, gymkhana, and barrel racing to name a few of the events.
There are a couple of ways to become a contestant, according to volunteer organizer Kevin Smith, a former rodeo participant. “You can enter as a local, or you can enter as a CCA (California Cowboys Association) rodeo member, those are the professionals that are coming to our show,” he said.
“If you”re a local barrel racer and you want to enter you pay your fees and sign up. We also do an invitational barrel race, which includes cowgirls who were gymkhana series winners, they”re invited to do an exhibition that is non-competition, then there”s mutton bustin” which is limited to 10 per night, and we have local team roping.” He added that “local” is considered anyone who resides in a county that borders Lake County. “So, there are quite a few folks who want to be in it,” said Smith.
“I rodeoed a long time ago and now I”m here to help out because that”s what I believe in. We”re all here to have a good time. We do a good job of putting the rodeo on for the folks who want to see it. This is what the West was built on, the nutshell of it is that there were wagon trains and cowboys 200 years ago and it really made us who we are, right or wrong it doesn”t matter-this is one of the few cultural sports around for what the West is, and this is what it takes to pull it together,” said Smith, gesturing to the dozens of volunteers ranging from an 8 year-old cowgirl cleaning the arena to people on tractors disking the field to get the ground ready for riding.
Lake County Rodeo Queen competition organizer and former 2005 Rodeo Queen Sierra Shores, 18, said what it takes to be a cowboy or girl is all about natural skill. “If you”ve got it you”ve got it, but if you don”t you don”t. There are people who try and try but never get as far as people who are naturally good at it. There”s an eight-year-old out there cleaning the arena right now, and she”s only been riding a year but she”s so natural at it she looks like she”s been doing it forever,” she said.
For most, Shores said, the rodeo is a part of a lifestyle that includes FFA, 4H, and competition against close friends who have ridden together for years. Shores is a 2006 graduate of Kelseyville High School, and participated in both FFA and 4H. She says that at some high schools around the county, there are large contingents of horseback riding enthusiasts.
“Middletown has a rodeo association in their school, Kelseyville”s really big in the FFA and 4H, and there”s a high school rodeo district around here (District Two) where the junior rodeo members get started,” she said.
Shores competed at the state level in barrel racing two years in a row (where horse and rider must navigate with precision at high speeds around a challenging course of barrels), but is not committed to the “rodeo lifestyle” many people lead. “They”re on the road and travel from rodeo to rodeo with their 50-foot horse trailer that has their whole house in it, they have their horses and whatever else they need and just keep at it,” she said, adding that she would get tired of it.
The best part about a rodeo other than the rush of winning a competition, said Shores, is that the event has something for everyone. “It”s really family oriented. You”ve got the guys who do the bull riding and the bronc riding, then there”s barrel racing and the break away racing for the girls, the kids have the mutton bustin”, there”s junior barrel racing, then there”s the drill team, and a dance at the end of it all. It really includes everybody.”
Cody Smith, age 11, a former mutton buster and current accomplice to this year”s rodeo clown, is looking forward to dressing up in clown costume and makeup to help entertain the crowd in between events. He recalls being “itty bitty” when he participated in mutton bustin” and said a lot of the kids get nervous and some chicken out.
“It was fun but it”s really complicated because when you”re that young it”s hard hugging the sheep”s neck ”cause they”re running around. Most kids start off on the sheep”s back but then end up sliding off till they”re underneath the sheep as it”s running,” said Smith. “Now I”m kinda a rodeo clown for the sheep. I have a lot of fun. The rodeo clown lights fireworks off my chest,” said Smith, grinning.
