Rodeo gives fairgoers thrills

The Monroe County Fair received its share of excitement Wednesday night when the Rafter 4T Rodeo Company came to town. The crowd watched two action-filled hours of cowboys on bucking horses and bulls, ladies doing stunts and riding fast on horses and children riding sheep.\nWith the air smelling of hay, manure, cigarette smoke and fair food, the rodeo began after a prayer and the national anthem.\nBruce Brock Jr. won top prize in the bull riding competition, hanging on for eight seconds without getting bucked off. Brock said that “getting hung up” and not being able to wiggle free from the rowdy animal for a few seconds as it was trying to throw him off was the most rousing part of his ride. The Brown County resident said he has been riding for nine years.\n“Getting up, making you ride and getting off safe” are the objectives of bull riding, Brock said.\nOne rodeo participant was not able to safely make it off her mount. During the trick-riding event, in which the riders do stunts on their horses, the crowd was alarmed when a female rider hit her head on the arena fence after riding too close to it on her horse and was knocked unconscious for a several minutes. Paramedics rushed in and were ultimately able help the woman to her feet and walk her out of the Grandstand area.\nSteve Reed, a rodeo veteran and IU student, didn’t ride this year but instead sat in the Grandstand and watched the action. \nReed said he can relate to the physical pains that come with the sport.\n“If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t do it,” he said.\nHe knows from experience. Reed has had concussions, broken ribs and a broken his tailbone during his time participating in rodeos, he said.\nLater in the evening, “Mutton Busters” gave the crowd a less physically demanding and more light-hearted event. Young kids – 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds – rode bareback on sheep like their older counterparts did on bulls.\nThe kids came out of the gate riding the animals as in traditional rodeos, but instead of cowboy hats, they wore helmets. They held on until the sheep started taking off, when their parents, watching while standing nearby, would swoop them off the animal to avoid injury.\nCrowd member and IU junior Brittany McLean said it was her first time seeing such an event.\n“I thought it was really cute that the kids got to be involved in the grown-up festivities,” McLean said.\nMcLean also noticed the youngsters’ competitive spirit.\n“They had a death grip on the sheep,” she said.\nIn between events, rodeo clown Tim Pope entertained the Grandstand crowd with jokes about marriage, in-laws and the differences between men and women.\nDuring the women’s barrel racing competition, country music blared over the sound system as, one at a time, the ladies rode their horses as fast as possible around the barrels and back through the opening gate.\nSarah Hawkins, a Bloomington resident, had the fastest time. Her 13-year-old horse darted Hawkins to victory in 15.4 seconds. Her $40 entry fee paid off, as Hawkins won the cash prize. She said the best part of her ride was having it go as planned.\n“I didn’t hit a barrel,” she said.