WEYBURN – Have you ever noticed how resilient and tough farm and ranch kids are?
If you’ve ever doubted that, you only had to take in one of the three days of the Weyburn High School Rodeo held over the weekend.
It began on Friday afternoon, in the rain, and went right through to Sunday afternoon at the Weyburn fair grounds.
The rodeo arena was basically a mud pit, and there was no need for the water truck to come in and water the dirt down.
This is good, because then dust is not a factor for the competitors, their animals or the spectators – but the mud was.
The wetness didn’t slow anyone down (although times for some events might’ve been affected), as horses and competitors alike ran in and out of the arena as before.
Where you could really see the effects of the mud was in events like girls goat-tying. The competitor had to ride in, get off their horse in the mud, run through the mud to where the goat was staked out, and plop the goat into the mud to tie its legs up. It was a similar situation for the boys in the tie-down event, where they had to chase a calf, and once roped, they had to jump off their horse, lay the calf down and tie its legs.
I’m not a real fan of mud as a city boy, so I took my photos from the perimeter of the fence. There was one young lady who was actually inside the arena doing photos, and she was right in the middle of the thick mud with her rubber boots. If I wore a hat, I’d take it off to salute her, as that was more than I would’ve been able to handle.
I think the boys and girls who took part in the rodeo, both those from the Weyburn area and from throughout the province, proved themselves tough competitors, as their main focus was on riding and roping to the best of their abilities, to get the fastest times or the best scores.
Part of the reason, I think, is because they live and work on farms and ranches. They’re not afraid of working hard, and whether it’s rainy or sunny makes no difference.
A cow needs milking seven days a week, livestock needs feeding, grain needs planting and harvesting, and it’s all to feed us, and the world.
The high school rodeo was just a great opportunity to show the skills they learn at home, and to have fun competing against each other.
