by John Dowd
“Like any kid who has heroes, my way of appreciating rodeo was to get into it myself,” said Rod Freeman, Chairman of the Rockin’ RC Rodeo Committee and longtime rodeo participant and enthusiast. For the third year in a row, he and others are organizing what they call “Bulls, Broncs and Barrels.” It is a series of five similar events that bring the heart of the rodeo to the community. Two of these events will take place at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds, two in Darby and one in Deer Lodge. Freeman encourages everyone with even a little bit of cowboy in them to attend. “When it’s in your blood, it’s part of your life,” said Freeman when asked why he loves rodeo so much.
To him, rodeo is a fantastic sport that is seeing a decline in players. “For any sport to survive, you have to have participants,” added Freeman. Rodeos trace their lineage back to Mexico, where open range cattle ranching already had a deep history. Rodeos, then called
charreadas, were the primary method used to select animals from herds with spirit. The process was also meant to get the animals used to human presence and to break wild ones.
In 1888, Prescott, Arizona saw a large group of merchants and businessmen hold what they called a “cowboy tournament.” This is widely considered the birthplace of professional American rodeo in the states.
Today, rodeo is a multi-million dollar sport, practiced across the country. However, according to Freeman, the sport is waning. He explained that rough stock riders are fewer in number, and that number drops every year. To combat that, three years ago he and others, in cooperation with the Darby Rodeo Association and Red Eye Rodeo, began their “Bulls, Broncs and Barrels” series.
The goal of the events was to promote the sport of rodeo, and “Western cowboy culture.” They want to see that young people who show interest in the sport are able to find it, and learn it. The events bring what Freeman explained are the crowd favorite parts of the rodeo, “the heart of the rodeo.” These events Freeman referred to include bare-back bronc riding, bull riding, barrel racing and more.
The first upcoming event will take place at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds on May 27, starting at 7 p.m. The next one at the fairgrounds will happen July 15. Tickets are available at Murdoch’s in both Hamilton and Missoula. They are also available at Darby Liquor and Wine and the Ravalli County Fairgrounds office, as well as at the gates the night of, which will open for the event at 5 p.m. Online tickets can be found by accessing the QR codes on the posters around town, or through the event Facebook, Western Montana Big Sky Bulls, Broncs and Barrels. Adult tickets are $20 and children 10 and under get in free. “That’s our goal, to get youth into it,” said Freeman.
He explained that it is becoming more difficult to find people interested in rodeo, and though people enjoy horses across the world, Freeman warned that horsemanship does not necessarily translate into rodeo. “It’s something I grew up with and around, that lifestyle.” He hopes these kinds of events will help spread rodeo popularity to new generations and continue the lineage of the sport he loves.