This Ain't My First Rodeo

This is Tracy, my really good friend with whom I've had more fun than I have the time to write about, beginning back when I was at A&M. Love her! She recently got me into the ranch rodeo business and I'm hooked!

Part I
Tracy and her sister, Stacy, have asked me to compete in ranch rodeos with them for the last couple of years. Now that I'm finally not pregnant, I jumped at (okay, more like cautiously accepted while literally shaking in my boots) the offer and looked forward to getting back into the swing of the ranch hand fun I'd lived for back in college.

We competed in the Bastrop rodeo (Watterson Ranch Rodeo) at the end of February and then the Lufkin rodeo (Bradley Due Memorial Rodeo) last weekend.

Arriving in Bastrop, I drove into the park pulling my little side-by-side horse trailer with Brian's 4 door Z71. My 'rig' was among the simplest there, as most people drive F350s and pull multi-thousand dollar trailers complete with living quarters. (Honesty Check: I wouldn't trade the Holiday Inn Express for the nicest of trailer living quarters anyway.)

When we met up with Tracy I expressed my concern about all of these 'professional' cowgirls and their high-dollar rigs. Tracy, in typical Tracy manner, responded, "Let me tell you something, girl, It's not what you pull, it's how you ride."

Well, as it turned out, if my 'rig' had matched my skill level then I should've rolled in on our riding lawn mower, pulling a sheep in the little plastic lawn mower trailer and entered Mutton Bustin instead. Oh, well.

It was a BLAST!!! I hadn't ridden in a year so my confidence on horseback was lacking (and that's putting it mildly), but I survived the first rodeo and was much more confident by the Lufkin rodeo.

At both rodeos I GOT TO RIDE the steer!!! I LOVE this kind of event and have several steer rides under my belt thanks to all my years out at the Peters'.

The pics are from the Lufkin rodeo since I don't really have any good ones from Bastrop. Unfortunately, Stacy was out getting a new knee (Good as new, soon, right Stacy?!), so we didn't sweep it for first. We'll all be glad to have Stacy and her new knee back for the next round.

Jack helped me warm up in Lufkin...then threw a major fit when he found out this was a girls only rodeo and he wouldn't be participating.
Getting on the steer

Beginning my quick dismount
Taking inventory and trying to give my mom the thumbs up


Part II
Brian was so sweet to replace the floor in my trailer a few weeks before the first rodeo. He's so handy and can do just about anything. The floor looked great. Thanks, Hots!


After Jack had finished helping with the trailer floor, he had fun exploring the area around the trailer. The steer herd was most curious about the tiny, Carhart-clad creature and soon gathered around to check him out. Jack thought they were just as intriguing, thus the game of chase and be chased began.


When we finished the trailer we headed over to the barn. This steer followed Jack all the way and only approached him when all of us regular sized people were far enough away.


Then he spotted the tractor. This boy LOVES to drive tractors.