A trip to the southwest seems more complete and authentic now that we’ve spent some time at the rodeo.  A necessary repair appointment in Las Vegas delayed our departure and return trip to the Phoenix area and forced us to find a new location to spend a few nights before our week in Casa Grande.  The requirements for the new location were that it was on the way from Las Vegas, Nevada to Casa Grande, Arizona, within a couple hours from a dermatologist’s office where I had an appointment during the week, and, finally, after spending a lot of money for service on our rig, that it wouldn’t cost a lot of money to stay. 

We could have boondocked (dry-camped) for a few days, but we needed to do laundry and arrive in Casa Grande with an empty holding tank.  Wickenburg, Arizona seemed to meet the criteria.  We had driven through the town on our way from Phoenix to Lake Mead.  It appeared to be a nice, albeit small town with a rodeo on the day we drove through.  When we saw it, we discovered a mutual desire to attend the rodeo.

Further investigation for camping had us making a reservation at Rancho Rio, the sight of the rodeo we’d seen.  With a promise for us to see team roping on Tuesday and barrel racing on Thursday (they do this almost every week in the season), we might get our rodeo fix without much effort.  

We pulled our big motorhome into the campground and found our space between a fifth wheel and a Lakota living quarters horse trailer.  Yes, that’s right, we weren’t just at the rodeo, we were living amongst the rodeo.  It’s strange and yet fun to come home to horses living in the space next to you.  The horses aren’t allowed to be tied out overnight, but our neighbors had their horses there for grooming and feeding every day.

Wickenburg claims to be the team roping capital of the world.  And we did get to see a group practicing team roping.  If you don’t know what it is, imagine two people on horseback. One must lasso the horns of a steer running for the other side and the other must lasso the hind legs.  All of this happens in a span generally between about 5-15 seconds.  It was fascinating to watch, although it sometimes takes longer to get the steer ready than it took these cowboys to rope it.

We also got to watch the barrel races one afternoon.  Most of the 91 or 92 competitors in this event were women, ranging in age from about 10 to 70.  Most of their timed-races were under 20 seconds for the rider to race around three barrels (without tipping them over) and get back to the starting line.  It was impressive to see the control with which they rode, the confidence they had with their horse, and the speed at which many of them finished the race. 

It was while we were in Wickenburg that we received the schedule for the Xscapers’ convergence at Casa Grande which included going to the Central Arizona College (CAC) Rodeo Team’s events.  We enjoyed our time so much in Wickenburg that we decided to attend this event as well.  It’s unbelievable to me to watch people riding bucking broncos not to mention the other riders that lasso and return that bronco to the pen.

It’s invigorating to watch a rider on horseback rope a cow, jump off their horse, and tie its legs together in under ten seconds.

I don’t specifically remember going to the rodeo as a child, but the rodeo clown at the CAC rodeo has me thinking that my dad took us once or twice.  The clown was funny and had a great rapport with the announcer who was also on horseback.

There were many other events that we saw, like the drill team, that we found entertaining. And I’ve since heard of other events that weren’t part of the rodeos that we attended, like Mutton Bustin’ where little kids ride sheep.

Now that I’ve had a taste of the rodeo, I have a feeling that there will be other rodeos in our future as well.