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Show Y. ,t -r- , y , I gW"A . ' f , I ; " J I v -' '' ' ',' -' . -.. ... - ..4 -"' 1 ,RnJ Th N f Da"aS' Texas' rides a wild bull The Dinosaur S!iSuttsdf for Ju,y 3' 4 and 5 in Vernal K 3fh rasiuaS rodeo slewed July 3f4f 5 The 30th Annual Dinosaur, Roundup Rodeo will occur in Vernal at the Uintah County Fairgrounds July 3, 4, and 5 at 8 p.m. The rodeo is Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association approved. A parade will be held each night at 6 p.m. The family night will be on July 3. Jackpot team roping will be held on July 5. A dance will be held after the rodeo on July 4 and 5. D.A. Swanny Kirby will provide the stock and the announcer will be Tommy "TV" Jones. D-Bar-T Western Store will be the rodeo headquarters and the president of the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo committee is Mike McKee. The queen contest will be held at the Uintah County Fairgrounds, Saturday. Three cowboys who have performed mtt Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in past years have turned in some outstanding performances in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's tour. Mickey Young, who is from Ferron, Utah, has won $19,797 in prize money on the circuit in bareback bronc riding as of April 21. J.C. Trujillo of Steamboat Springs, Colo., another Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo cowboy, is in second place. Young, who earned full membership in the PCRA in 1973, has won over $100,000 while competing and has been a regular performer in the National Finals Rodeo in recent years. Another one of Utah's best known professional cowboys is former Clearfield and Union High School football coach, Jack Hannum. Hannum has competed in many Dinosaur Roundup Rodeos. He has earned over $100,000 during a fine career after earning full membership in the PRCA in 1966. Hannum has taken part in a number of National Finals Rodeos. Rodeo is the original American sport and is gaining popularity each year. Last season the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, headquartered in Denver, Colo., sanctioned 618 rodeos in 39 states and four Canadian provinces. An estimated 14 million spectators paid to see the colorful events. The sport of rodeo was born out of the great cattle drives of 100 years ago, when bronco riding or roping contests provided the only entertainment for cowboys riding the trails months at a 'ime. Rodeo remained an unorganized western pastime for 40 years after the cattle drives had died out, until one day in October 1936. Cowboys were at the old Boston Garden rodeo in an eastern state, Massachusetts, and figured out that top winners would receive only enough money to pay expenses back home. For the first and last time in the sport's story, the cowboys struck for higher Prize money. They were successful and formed an organization called the Cowboys' Turtle Association, so-named, so-named, according to one hand, "because we were slow as turtles doin' somethin' like this." The CTA was revamped and renamed the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1945 and then changed in !975 to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, mainly in an effort to use '"itials and avoid any misunderstanding misun-derstanding with the Radio Corporation of America. Last year, the PRCA rodeos paid cowboys a record $6.9 mi'Hon in prize money. Every PRCA-sanctioned rodeo has Jve standard events: three bucking or 'rough-stock" contests and two timed ents. The bareback bronc riding litest is usually the first event at a rodeo. Cowboys with strong arms and a een sense of balance enter the bareback bronc riding contest. They nde with one hand holding onto a "rigging", which is a thick leather surcingle fitting over the horses' withers, and with a leather "handhold" "hand-hold" attached. The horses are free to jump and kick, sometimes even spin and the cowboys try to lean back and maintain a spurring rhythm along the animals' neck and shoulders, raking the legs up and down with dull spurs. Bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding are eight second con- tests. Two professional judges score the bucking events. They are positioned on each side of the arena and they watch the cowboy to see how well he rides and how well the animal bucks. A good ride on an animal that doesn't buck well usually won't win money; the same goes for a "sorry" ride on a ((,ough, . . good-bucking horse or bull. The judges score the animal between one and 25 points, and the rider between one and 25 for a total of 50 points per judge. The combined scores are added together. Anything in the 70's and 80's is considered con-sidered a good score. Saddle bronc riding requires the use of a special saddle, which must conform con-form to PRCA specifications. Saddle bronc riding is the cornerstone of rodeo, the sport's classic event. Staying in the saddle requires more balance and timing than brute strength. The riders hold onto a soft woven rein attached to the horses' 1 halters and try to maintain a smooth spurring stroke throughout the ride. Bull riding is usually the last event at rodeos. Many consider it the most dangerous and most exciting of all sports events. A cowboy usually weighing about 150 pounds is mounted on one bull weighing somewhere close to a ton. The cowboy tries to ride the animal with one hand firmly attached to a rope encircling the bull behind the shoulders, if the cowboy hangs on for eight seconds the job is done. However, many bulls are extremely fast and agile for their size and some will jump, kick and spin at the same time. The two timed events are calf roping and steer wrestling. The fastest time wins the first place money. In calf roping the cowboys ride fast, well-trained well-trained quarter horses. Man and horse work as a team and the goal is to rope the running calf, which is given a predetermined pre-determined head start from the chute, then dismount, run down the calf and throw him to his side, and tie three legs with a short piece of rope called a "piggin' string", which the contestant carries in his mouth. The whole feat can be accomplished sometimes in less than 10 seconds. The horses in the steer wrestling event are taught to run up next to the steer, so that the cowboy can make his jump. The horse then passes the steer and veers off to the left, enabling the contestants' feet to drop in front of the steer, slightly angled. The cowboy must "bring the steer around", twisting on the horns, and get the animal slightly off balance where he can force him to fall flat on his side, legs extended in the same direction. That's when the time stops. Team roping is an extra event seen at many rodes. It's a time contest, where two cowbovs mounted on horses attempt at-tempt to throw a loop around a steer's horns and another loop around his heels. Another event at some rodeos is barrel racing. |