Garth Brooks sings about it. Cowboys and cowgirls dream of winning at it.
Garth Brooks sings about it. Cowboys and cowgirls dream of winning at it.
And for many fairgoers, the popular grand finale rodeo show capped off another Great Geauga County Fair on Labor Day.
“Is Geauga County ready to go on a Monday?” Jacob Wallace, rodeo announcer, asked the main grandstand’s sea of people.
Broken Horn Rodeo, of Ripley, Ohio, kept an American tradition alive with a buckle series final competition of the year at the Geauga County Fairgrounds in Burton.
Competitors vied for the total prize money of $8,000 to $10,000.
Broken Horn is over 35 years old and puts on about 30 rodeos a year.
“These men and women get to follow their dreams,” said Wallace, of the participating cowboys and cowgirls hailing from Ohio, across the country, Canada and Australia.
Rodeo events included bareback riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, tie down roping, team roping, cowgirl barrel racing and bull riding.
“The caliber of cowboys and cowgirls are world class,” Wallace said, adding they included 10 former world champions and at least five out of 10 bulls that have been to the World Finals in Las Vegas.
“This is a tradition that has been going on since the early days and educates younger generations to the way of life back in those days,” said Broken Horn Rodeo owner Sandra McElroy.
The American flag waved proudly as it made its way around the arena by horseback with additional flags dotting rodeo grounds.
Broken Horn Rodeo owner Jim McElroy is a Vietnam War veteran and always enjoys keeping the spirit of patriotism alive.
Sara Lorenz, a barrel racer from Minerva, Ohio, soaked in the afternoon sunshine while readying herself.
“I love this rodeo,” Lorenz said. “I think the crowd interacts well and has fun, and it’s nice to see people enjoying watching the different rodeo events. This is also the only rodeo I’ve been to that does the parachuting with the flag. I always enjoy seeing that.”
Lorenz said she enjoys the excitement of barrel racing.
“Your teammate is a 1,000-pound-plus animal with a mind of its own running Mach 8 down an alley to run a tight pattern,” Lorenz said. “It’s an adrenaline rush for you and the horse and there’s nothing in the world quite like it.”
The barrels were set in a cloverleaf pattern for the start of Lorenz’s event.
“It’s about to get fast,” Wallace said. “We have a lot of talent and some of the very best barrel racers in the world.”
Lorenz and her teammate finished well and ran a clean pattern.
Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country” blasted from the announcer side speakers as spectators continued to cheer on event after event, and as rodeo champion, Australia’s Ty Parkinson, competed in three events.
He clinched a win in team roping, but was bucked off his bull in bull riding.
Before the start of the events, Parkinson said he would be competing with a fractured eye socket and broken nose, and would be seeing a plastic surgeon in the coming days.
“I’d never give up riding though,” he said.
Pickup men took their places as the “rough man” sport began with the loud rattling near the bull competitor’s chutes.
“It’s a very dangerous sport,” Parkinson said. “There are a lot of things that can go wrong and a lot of things that can go right.”
Local bull rider Andrew Erickson, 21, of Kirtland, a welder for the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 18, was hoping for all to go right for his inaugural hometown bull ride.
“I used to travel for work and went to my first rodeo last year in Pecos, Texas, and have been going to them as much as I can ever since,” Erickson said. “A coworker of mine used to rodeo and he told me about ‘Buckin’ Ohio,’ in Burbank, which has a bull riding school once a year. I signed up for that and had a lot of fun doing it. I’ve been wanting to get on more and the Great Geauga County fair was a good opportunity to do so.”
Erickson said he really couldn’t complain about his first rodeo as his supporters gathered around to take photos.
“I had a good bull and they said I started good out of the chute. He bucked me off about three seconds in, but I figure you can’t get bucked off a bull if you don’t ride them in the first place,” Erickson said. “It’s hard to explain. For me, there’s just something about getting on a 2,000-pound animal not knowing what he’s going to do or where he’s going to go, trying to hold on while he’s bucking up in the air, and the challenge to ride for eight.”
He added, “I never really thought I’d be in one. I really just wanted to have fun. My family and some guys from work were there to watch and that meant a lot to me.”
