It’s that time of year again, Cowboy Christmas. If you rodeo, the next couple of weeks are huge money makers in rodeo. The cowboy channel will have coverage of all the top rodeos around the United States and Canada. This year, I want to highlight a few of my favorite amateur Fourth of July rodeos.
When I was in high school and college I always attended the Wright City, Oklahoma rodeo. I’ve never won a dime there and it’s a favorite of mine. They have a small fair with rides and good food. It has kind of a festive vibe to it and I’ve always liked it.
Another favorite rodeo during cowboy Christmas is Perkins, Oklahoma. It’s just south of Stillwater where Oklahoma State University is located. I won it the first time I entered and I’ve placed several other times. My wife and I have several college friends we always see when we go.
Hartshorne, Oklahoma has a good open rodeo every Fourth of July. I remember placing one year when I had a calf roped with a front foot in the loop. They had double mugging for years and I seen a six hundred pound calf roped, mugged and tied in fourteen seconds at Hartshorne. I’ve never seen another double mugging run come close.
There’s more rodeos the first two weeks of July than I can name. At my house we’ve been roping two times a day for over a week to get ready for the July fourth rodeos. We’ve rode a couple of horses three times a day, trying to get the horse fine tuned before the rodeos.
My wife asked about taking young horses where there’s fire works. I told her they’ve got to see it sometime, might as well be now. They shoot firecrackers each night at the rodeo, and there’s always a horse that runs off or bucks.
It’s an exciting time for the cowboys and the horses they compete on for sure.
My hats off to the rodeo committees that put these rodeos on when it’s a hundred degrees outside. I’ve been on both sides of the business. There’s hours and hours of preparation to putting on a good rodeo. Too all the committee people I salute you and say thanks. I have a bunch of wonderful memories because you volunteered your time. Thanks so much- let er buck!!!
James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.
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