Sadie and I were able to attend the opening night of the Northern Rodeo Association (NRA) Finals at the Butte Civic Center on October 6th. It was my first rodeo! (It was also two for one admission night which is always a plus.) There were cowboy hats, cowboy boots, a rodeo clown and even a proposal in the crowd (she said yes). The lighting wasn’t working for my camera. My pictures are quite dark so I am only going to add a few of them. Click for a link to a YouTube video of a bull ride (not taken by me but we were only a few rows up from this vantage point).

Cowgirl making a turn while participating in barrel racing.

There were men’s and women’s divisions. A few events even had a junior division. Events included bareback riding, steer wrestling, breakaway roping, tie down roping, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, roping and the main event: bull riding! I liked the steer wrestling. A steer would be let loose and a little later the cowboy would chase on his horse, jump off while grabbing the cow and wrestle it down. I looked it up and the animals are around 500 lbs.

A contestant returns to his horse after completing a tie down roping rodeo challenge.

Bull riding was my other favorite event. Nobody was seriously hurt on the night I was there but there were a few close calls. I think this will be a sport I will watch and not ever try. Some of the contestants were college students from around Montana.

The prize for the best bull rider

I also wanted to share some of the bronco and bull names because they are a lot of fun. Some of my favorite bronco names are Joe Dirt, Triple Respect (there was also a Double Respect), Fun Hater, Lights Out, Slim Shady, Deal or No Deal and Beaver Milk. My favorite bull names were Fender Bender, Olaf and Nut Cracker.

A cowboy hanging on to the bull at the Northern Rodeo Association finals.

I would definitely go to another rodeo. I would like to see one outside in the summer. That sounds like a nice evening out.