RODEO...Alaska Style

I love a good ol' rodeo. The bulls, the broncs, the cowboys and the cute little muttonbusters. Scott and I decided to have a night out and go the the rodeo. I must admit that it wasn't anything like the Caldwell Night Rodeo or the Idaho Stampede but it was still a good time. It was like a small town rodeo in the middle of Anchorage. We did happen to know one of the bull riders who actually goes to our ward for church. His name is Bobby D and he is amazing. He's been riding for a long time and he has a couple of unique tweaks. Bobby D is legally deaf and blind! He can hear a little with hearing aids and he can see shapes but thats about it. It was a lot of fun watching him take on a bull and ride it the whole 8 seconds!
They don't bring stock up because it's expensive and try getting a live animal through Canada! That means its local stock, which was kind of small and some of the steers looked like wooly mammoths! They were really shaggy! (I couldn't get a good picture to show the long hair)
Another thing that was different was some of the events they had and didn't have. Instead of Calf Roping and Steer Wresting, they had Double Mugging in which they used steers and one guy roped the steer, another on the ground wrestled it to the ground, and the roper jumped off and tied the 3 legs. They also had Ribbon Roping. One guy ropes the steer, another on the ground grabs a ribbon off the tail of the steer and runs back to the gate.

 

 As you can see, there's nothing special about the arena but it was fun to be back around the rodeo/country feel...even if most of them are wannabes