25, Lodi, Calif.
BFI Coordinator
Life after the BFI…
Tuesday, June 21st I woke up and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
For the first time in months I woke up with a clear mind and the satisfaction that the 34th Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping had been a huge success. When the final steer was run, it was team #1, Colby Siddoway and Caleb Twisselman, who bested the 100-team field. Once the champions were crowned, the average awards handed out, and the office packed up, my biggest concern was how we can make next year better!
After arriving back in California and taking care of some final 2011 BFI business, I packed my trailer with any clothes or miscellaneous items I had scattered through my parents’ house while in California for the previous three months. I pulled out of my parents’ driveway at 3:30 a.m. Pacific Time. After 20 hours, 36 deer, 50 elk, and four slow driving mini-vans, I pulled into the ranch in Chromo, Colorado. From July 1st through August 15th this breathtaking ranch will be home.
While in Chromo I spend my days moving cattle, fixing fence, and even chopping weeds. No matter the amount of work to be done, which seems to be endless, we always make time for an afternoon roping session.
The Pagosa Springs and Durango area has become a bustling rodeo area for the month of July. Besides weekly jackpots there are two weekly night rodeos a person can attend, Tuesday night the Lucky 7 Rodeo Company hosted a number 12 team roping, bull riding, barrels, and some youth events. Each Thursday night the Hogdson Rodeo Company is hosting a rodeo at the famous Red Ryder Roundup arena in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. These rodeos are affordable and the payout is awesome. The Pagosa Springs rodeos are also a series with some beautiful prizes at the end.
The best part about these rodeos is their affordability, For $40 in the barrel race you can easily season a barrel horse, not to mention they award an incentive so a person has a chance on an unseasoned horse. The team roping some nights reached 100 teams, $20 a man and enter up! All together I left the series with a decent chunk of change, a further seasoned barrel horse, and the discovery that my 16-hand tall head horse (Peanut) is indeed a decent breakaway horse.
For a girl like me who enjoys to rodeo and stay close to the house, southern Colorado is the ideal location. Colorado rodeos not only have your standard rodeo events, but also a mixed team roping. The rodeos in New Mexico have a #12 incentive in their Open team ropings. You can enter a total of three teams in New Mexico, split up between the Open and Incentive. Beyond the unique team roping set up at the amateur rodeos in New Mexico and Colorado, the barrel racers in New Mexico also have a special format. For those girls who run a seventh of a second off or just have a bad run, there is an incentive for them. The unique formats these states have adapted create more entries and give everyone a chance to compete. To increase young and old competitor involvement in amateur rodeos New Mexico has also adapted an incentive in calf roping and rough stock events for seniors and youth.
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