Pioneer Days rodeo a rip-roaring good time

A fire-orange sky glowed behind the announcers stand as the rodeo started.

A storm had just blown through, dropping the temperature into the 80s, and as night settled in lightning punctuated the sky.

Kids went wild for the boot race and a handful of lucky children went home with chickens they’d plucked from the wild chicken scramble.

A length of carpet was substituted for the cow hide race, and brave souls of all ages took their turns clinging to a less-than glamorous magic carpet ride around a barrel and back to the finish in the timed event.

While some of the young pigs selected to be drizzled in cooking oil and released to throngs of eager chasers accepted their plight, a little black and white one was a real screamer before his hooves even hit the dirt.

The smell of carne asada tacos assembled by the 4-H club hung in the air and madness ensured with cowboy musical chairs, a few dismounts getting a little cowboy.

In the ribbon roping, plucky kids raced after calves that had been headed, trying to dodge hooves as they peeled a ribbon from their calf’s back and headed to the finish line afoot.

Special to the region was the closing event: Mormon roping, where ropers on foot lined up across from a header on horseback and tried to heel a running steer.

As quickly as it had come together, horses were loaded, riders grabbed tacos and shaved ice, and spectators packed out collapsible chairs under bright arena lights.

Contact Laura Jean Schneider at LauraJean@eacourier.com