Oh my rodeo!

Last Sunday, I went to the Sedro Woolley Junior Rodeo. Why, you may ask?? Well, a couple of my cousin's kids were in it, so I couldn't miss their rodeo debut! (Actually, I don't think it was their debut because these girls were serious cowgirls!) I'd throw out some rodeo jargon about some of the events that I watched, but let's be honest, I really don't have any idea of what I'd be talking about. So instead, I'll talk about the funniest event: Goat tying.

So goat tying goes as such: Cowgirl (as the announcer always referred to them as) rides horse really, really fast toward this poor, innocent goat who is tied to a rope that is staked into the ground. Cowgirl jumps off (while horse is moving quite swiftly) and chases the goat until she stops him. Then, she pulls the goats' legs from underneath him and ties 2-3 of the legs together with a rope as fast as she can and throws her hands up in the air. The judge throws a flag in the air and then everyone watches in suspense... the goat cannot come untied in a certain timeframe. If it doesn't, SUCCESS! The goat is then untied and the next cowgirl takes her turn. Umm, isn't that a little crazy? I have to turn off the Seattle animal activist inside of me and remember my roots in the Skagit Valley. But in the end, I think it's super funny and quite entertaining. This one girl did it in 10.2 seconds! Whoa.

My cousin's daughters are 5 and 7 years old, so they took part in a modified goat tying exercise. The 7-year old had to tie a rope on the goat's tail and the 5-year old had to take a tie off the tail. I'm telling you, the 5-year old in particular, is quite a ball of fire on a horse. She rode that horse so fast, I feared for her safety! (My aunts took some great pictures and if I can get my hands on the pics, I'll be sure to post.) I overheard someone saying, "Why couldn't they have just gotten into tennis?? I would feel a lot better about their safety..." I would too, especially for the 3-year olds that were sliding down the side of a horse to go pull the rope off the goat. Seriously, tiny 3-year olds riding and jumping off horses. They were probably born with spurs on...

For a visual on goat tying: