OCR Text |
Show - - - . , - ti ' ? . ' N - i ' : . .. . -.: - . 5 ' . . ... 4-- .V .... . S V . ....... t , f & it A COWBOY GETS HUNG up in his rope and a bullfighter comes to his rescue. Butch Lehmkuhler and Rich Reinert of North Platte, Nebraska, will be the clowns and bullfighters at the 30th Annual Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo, July 3, 4 and 5. lhs irosb 05 WD"ftlh) oft ft ftlhe IbajjDIffDgjIhfteirs Rich Reinert and Butch Lehmkuhler of North Platte, Neb., will be the clowns in the 30th annual Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in Vernal at the Uintah County Fairgrounds, July 3, 4 and 5. The rodeo is Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association approved and will begin each night at 8 p.m. Reinert and Lehmkuhler have been rodeo clowning and bullfighting for eleven and five years respectively. Reinert is also a math instructor and gymnastics coach at North Platte High School and Lehmukuhler teaches industrial in-dustrial arts and coaches swimming at the same school. Reinert, who grew up on a ranch between Ainsworth and Valentine, Neb., learned his skills from a now retired professional bullfighter. Reinert started fightina bulls and clowning as a senior in high school. Lehmkuhler started clowning to earn money to pay his rodeo entry fees in the saddle bronc riding event. "Then I found I liked clowning and bullfighting better than the riding," remarked Lehmkuhler. Leh-mkuhler. Bullfighting and clowning helped Lehmkuhler and Reinert meet tuition expenses at Chadron State College. The two bull fighters and clowns teamed up at Chadron State College. Both were in gymnastics and were divers on the swimming team. "It just made a likely team," Lehmkuhler said, adding that the agility, flexibility, and "fallability" required in gymnastics served as perfect training for bullfighting. The two of them have been bullfighting and clowning together for the past five years. They started by working amateur, high school, college and Little Britches rodeos and graduated to the PRCA ranks two years ago. Reinert and Lehmkuhler argue about who is the "clown" of the pair, but also offer an explanation of how to determine deter-mine the difference between a clown and a bullfighter. "If you go to a rodeo and all the clown (he's called a clown because of his make up and baggy pants) does is fight bulls, then he's a bullfighter," Lehmkuhler explained. "If you go to a rodeo and the clown also provides a solo show between the events for the entertainment of the audience, then he's a clown," Reinert said. "If you can do both, you are both," Lehmkuhler said, as Reinert followed closely with "We're either or - both." Some of the acts that fans at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo may look forward to seeing include a Houdini-like Houdini-like magical exchange, a levitation act, an act with an outhouse and speciality antics on a mini-trampoline and also on a large round trampoline. The team has worked several rodeos for major rodeo producers such as Mick Cervi, Harry Void and Erv Korkow. They also worked at the "World's Largest Fourth of July Rodeo" at Cody, Wyoming. D.A. Swanny Kirby will provide the stock for the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo. The announcers will be Tommy "TV" Jones. A parade will be held each night at 6:30 p.m. and a dance will take place after the rodeo on July 4 and 5. Saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, and barrel racing will be the events at the rodeo. There will also be jackpot team roping on July 5. Family night will be on July 3 and rodeo headquarters is the D-Bar-T Western Store in Vernal. Mike McKee is the president of the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Committee. There are basically two types of clowns the bullfighter and the barrelman. They both have serious jobs to do with a little flair of comedy thrown in. The bullfighting clowns are the track stars. They are out in the arena to distract the unpredictable bull from a downf alien cowboy. Pickup men on horseback can't be used around the ill-tempered animals. Sometimes, the bull riders get hung up as their hand becomes caught in the rope, they are dragged helplessly and virtually become'a prisoner of the bull. The clown moves in to free the cowboy's hand and focus the attention of the bull on himself. The clown will get down on his knees, pawing the ground like an angry toro, while staring the immodest beast in the face. He will grab the bull by the tail, the horns or even jump over him. The clown will play a game of ring-toss using an oversized innertube as his ring and the horns and head as the target. The other type of rodeo clown is the barrelman. He uses himself and his barrel as a diversionary obstacle. He hauls a heavy, battered, reinforced metal barrel around and folds himself up inside like an accordian. Once inside the barrel, he awaits the blows of the irrate bull and sometimes receives an unwelcomed horn or hoof inside with him. l v";:-. V - . - :A' f . u , ' . ' . :: ' '' ' '''' ' ' " S. i' " ' ' THE CLOWN Rives the bull a friendly tap. Rich Reinert and Butch Lehmkuhler will be the clowns |