Friends of Rodeo - Latest News

Message to Rodeo Fans
by Linda Burdick, Executive Director, Friends of Rodeo Organization

The little cowboy pictured in the Friends of Rodeo advertisement is very special to me. That's my grandson, 2 1/2 year old Jared Slate.

A look at the excitement in his eyes and his ear-to-ear smile shows the thrill he is anticipating of putting that pint-sized saddle up on his horse and learning to ride and rope.

He is learning by imitating his mom, a horsewoman who not so many years ago, had that exact same look on her face as she imitated me in the saddle.

A tomboy if ever there was one, I learned by trying to be just like my dad, and he learned from his mother what it takes to be a cowboy and how to ride with the best of 'em.

Like many of the cowboys and cowgirls at the rodeo today, I feel lucky to be part of a family with a multi-generation Western heritage.

I'm more than a little concerned though how long the legacy of my grandmother will carry on. Not everyone seems to understand and appreciate what cowboys are about. In 1997 in California for example, a bill was introduced that would have required anyone riding or working around horses to wear a helmet. Would you agree that the grand entry just wouldn't be the same if the cowboys and cowgirls were wearing helmets?

Friends of Rodeo, along with other interested people, defeated the helmet bill, but it will come up again, or something just as crazy.

Friends of Rodeo is just what the name implies, people who love rodeo and want to take an extra step to try and make sure it doesn't get lost in the shuffle of a changing world.

Whenever we can be, we are at rodeos to filed questions and give out information. At one event recently, a rodeo patron came to our booth concerned about some of the "cows" she saw in one of the pens. She assumed they might have tooth aches because they were wearing a leather device that encircled their face. What she had seen was the protective head gear, or "horn wraps", that is put on roping steers to prevent their heads from being rubbed by the rope as the slack is pulled around their horns in the team roping event. I'm glad we were there - wouldn't that have been one heck of a rumor?

If you like what you see at the rodeo and think that rodeo would be a good thing for your grandkids' grandkids to see, we hope you will take a closer look at Friends of Rodeo. You might enjoy getting involved, and we would appreciate your support.

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