North Thompson Fall Fair & Rodeo
Posted on September 7th, 2010
The North Thompson Fall Fair & Rodeo started back in 1950 as a celebration of agriculture, livestock, western country living and community spirit. Still going strong, this was it’s 61st year and the focus remained the same. Guests and staff of Tod Mountain Ranch spent Saturday morning at the Fall Fair touring the various displays and exhibits including visits to the sheep, goat and dairy barns; visits to the heavy horse barn to see the teams of draft horses and then watched some show jumping in the light horse arena.
After lunch, we headed to the Rodeo Arena to watch the Cowboys and Cowgirls participate in some of the toughest sporting events.
Sometimes known as the world’s shortest workday, a day on the job for a rough stock cowboy is 8 seconds long. The rough stock events consist of bareback, saddle bronc, and bull riding. Cowboys pull their hat down low, grit their teeth and hang on for 8 seconds of bone jarring jumps, spins, and spills. Scoring is based 50% on the cowboy’s style and 50% on the performance of the animal. Judges are looking for control and spurring technique from the cowboy. A cowboy can be disqualified for getting bucked off before the 8 second whistle, or touching the animal, himself, or the equipment with his free hand during the ride.
In the timed events it’s a race against the clock to see who can finish fastest. The timed events consist of steer wresting, tie-down roping, breakaway roping and team roping. Steer wrestling and the roping events start from the chutes. The animal is given a head start; and if the horse and rider leave the chute too soon they’ll “break the barrier” and be given a time penalty.
In addition to these traditional Rodeo events, we also got the opportunity to watch some Chariot Racing and the Pony Chuckwagon race. This was edge of your seat thrills as the horses raced around the racetrack at breakneck speeds.
We had a blast! Roll on next year!
