Cowboys and Idiots

Cowboys and Idiots
Richmond, New Zealand

Richmond, New Zealand

I have always wanted to go to a Rodeo, I am not sure why but it is something that has always fascinated me, we missed them in Oz and had not had much luck being in the right place at the right time in NZ until now. I am in two minds over rodeos as an animal lover it would break my heart to see any animals hurt but the horsemanship of the cowboys and sheer bravery of the bull and bronco riders is just something else.

Thankfully I was so happy to say that not a single animal was hurt or injured during the course of the rodeo, although I cannot say the same for the cowboys/girls, bull and bronco riders. They were battered.

It was a red hot day in Richmond we parked Blondini up at our campsite and headed over to the show grounds. As soon as we arrived we learned a very useful lesson that would have been great 30 minutes earlier. Take your own camp chair, as there is nowhere to sit down. We hung out at the back of the rows of sensible people who were comfy in their camp chairs and at least figured we would be the first to get out of the way of any of the bulls or horses miraculously came through the fence. I would still have rather had a chair.

It was all a bit confusing for us what was going on, but we soon got into the swing of things and the main events were going on. The bucking horses were the first event we saw all the way through and it was unreal. Even the locals were all a gasp as they had never seen the horses buck so much or so high. I swear that they must have been jumping 6 feet off the ground on all feet. The way that it works is that the rodeo horses are not wild horses they are just ordinary horses and they have a strap tied under their belly which essentially tickles them and makes them kick. As soon as the rider falls off a cowboy heads over pulls the tie holding the strap in place and the horse is back to normal.

We watched the cowgirls do the barrel run which is a race around 4 barrels to test the speed and turning skills of the horse and rider, the steer wrestling where a cowboy leaps from a galloping horse and tries to land on a cow which he then has to tie up and finally the event we were waiting for, the bull riding.

The bulls were massive and terrifying and angry. They were actually head down stamping their front leg on the ground just like you would expect of a cartoon bull. The guys that ride these animals are either the bravest or dumbest people around. Just watching them hang on for dear life as they bull uses every twist turn and jump in the opposite direction that you would expect was a sight to behold. Thankfully everyone seemed to be getting through the bull rides safely until one guy came out of the gate and the bull just crushed him against the fence. The clowns came in and got the bull away from him and he limped to safety but it didn’t look at all good. There were cheers from the crowd when it was announced that his gate hadn’t opened properly so he was still in contention and could ride again. So a few rounds later he emerged again and unsurprisingly given that it looked like his leg was help together with a few plasters and bandages he came off and as he tried to stand up to get away from the bull his leg just collapsed from under him so he dragged himself with his arms out of harms way and the clowns carried him the rest of the way. I am pretty sure that this guy goes into the stupid category for getting on a second time.

Rodeo, ticked off the list.

Next stop the most awaited stop in NZ for me, the home to more seals, dolphins and whales than anywhere else in NZ, Kaikoura.