Hi, my name is Carol Garnier Dutra; on Sunday June 27 my husband Dick and I traveled down the road to Bolado Park where the San Benito County Rodeo 2010 was being held that day. You have to travel down Airline Hwy going towards and through the tiny town of Tres Pinos to get to Bolado Park. Just keep going down this country road, and the entrance to the park will be on your right after you go through Tres Pinos. Because Airline Hwy is a ‘country’ road the speed is posted at 55 miles but the truth is that many of the people who live out here exceed this speed limit. Don’t allow yourself to be pushed to go too fast down this road after you go through Tres Pinos, otherwise you will miss the park’s entrance.
We passed through the Bolado Park gate at 12:30 pm, and proceeded to park our car in the bumpy, grassy meadow that is adjacent to the stadium. While walking towards the county rodeo/county fair stadium, we could hear over the loudspeaker, the voice of J. Parson, a Willie Nelson sound alike. If you want to catch the sound of this talented man you can turn into the RFD TV network show “Cowboy Flavor” where he performs weekly. Give this guy a listen if you enjoy Country Western style music; he was blessed with the perfect singing voice to sing Country Western.
We walked over to the ‘will call’ window and picked up our tickets. We still had fifteen minutes to fill before the stadium opened so we strolled through the crowd observing the booths of the “Western Art and Tack Show” that were lined up on the left side, outside of the stadium.
A bit further down the path we came to the picnic grounds where many families were seated at picnic tables enjoying their lunch before they would enter the stadium.
We strolled back towards the stadium and entered the “Saddle Horse Association Museum” and I signed the visitor book. I noted that the young woman who signed before I did was Jennifer Dassel, whose picture was posted on the wall in front of me. Jennifer was the 1997 Miss San Benito County Rodeo queen. Later, outside of the museum, I asked Jennifer if I could take her picture for my web page and she consented to allow me to do this. Jennifer is quite beautiful, and the picture I took of her doesn’t do her justice because she is looking away from the camera. I should have taken several pictures of Jennifer on Sunday, but I didn’t, and now I am a bit upset with myself that I took only one picture of this lovely young woman.
In the “Saddle Horse Association Museum” I saw and took a picture of a rancher/cowboy named Gerald Garner who in 1946 won the “Wild Cow Milking Event”, and he still holds the record in this rodeo event to this day. I have a personal interest in Mr. Garner because of his name. My mother used to tell me that because our family name was difficult to pronounce, some family members shortened the family name to Garner when they immigrated to the United States.
Twelve fifteen came around, and we entered the stadium. My husband and I sat down in front at the north end of the covered stadium. I realized later on when I started taking pictures of the 'action' in the rodeo ring that where we were seated wasn't the best spot to sit for taking pictures. Next year we will pick to sit at the south end of the stadium; perhaps it will be a better place to sit for taking pictures?
My main complaint with sitting down in the front of the north end of the stadium was the ‘spotter’ cowboy, who sat on his horse in front of the rail fence separating the action in the center ring from the spectators. This gentleman on the horse was often in my line of view when I snapped pictures of the bull roping and other events in the center ring. So I ended the day with several dozen pictures of the ‘spotter’ cowboy on his horse, and few pictures of the roping events in the center ring.
The beginning of the rodeo was spectacular with horses and riders carrying flags. I included only a few pictures of the many riders who paraded in front of us in the stadium that day. There were a total of 398 Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo contestants, which included both participating adults and younger people. Events ranged from the “Pony Express Race Event” to best in show in different categories. Within the opening parade I saw Taylor Rae Wood the reining San Benito County Rodeo Queen for 2010. I included in this web page the only decent picture I got of Taylor on Sunday. Here again I wish I took more pictures. The parade moved along so quickly that you had to be on your toes to be sure to take all of the pictures you wanted to take in rapid succession.
The Daredevil Sweethearts were the featured rodeo guests of the day. This group of trick riders is composed of the leader, Bobbie Stone, who is also the mother of Josey Lynn Kelley, another of the daredevils. Josey is the young woman who did her ‘signature’ “Hippodrome Stand” on horseback while holding a large American Flag. The third member of this exciting group is Lynessa Springer who is a Registered Dental Assistant, mom and wife when she is not performing with the Daredevil Sweethearts. Last and not least is the fourth member of the group who is the most recent young lady to join this group, Kimberly Cameron. Kimberly is an accountant by day, and in her ‘off time’ she is a spectacular, rodeo trick rider.
All of the events were well thought out so they were interesting to watch. Some events were comical like the Wild Cow Milking Event, and the Mutton Busting Event. There were 9 youngsters participating in the Mutton Busting Event, a mix of both boys and girls and it appeared to me that they were all under the age of 6. The sheep didn’t wear saddles or have halters or reigns to hold onto. All the youngsters had to grab on to ride the sheep were the sheep’s wooly coats, and hold on they did. One youngster, it looked like a young fella, did hold on, and clear the group of cowboys in the circular group that enclosed the sheep ring. This lucky rider fell off his sheep at least 15 feet away from the assembled group at the sheep pen. The audience loved this event because the participants were all so young.
Teamwork was the ‘key’ word to describe this rodeo and probably is the ‘key’ word to describe all successful rodeos, like this one. I read a story about the San Benito County Saddle Horse Association, who founded it, and how it was founded back in the beginning, which was the summer of 1929.
Cattle ranchers in the county who were particularly fond of horses got together that summer to put together a rodeo that would be held at the same general time as the county fair. The California Rodeo at Salinas was the ‘model’ used to put together the San Benito County Rodeo. The stadium where the horse show and rodeo is held each summer, was built on an old river bottom so that accounts for the stadium we were seated in, being situated in ‘low land’ with the mountains surrounding the stadium much like the stadium is inside a ‘soup bowl’. The land where the stadium is, contains trees mainly of the willow and cottonwood varieties.
Back in the summer of 1929 building the horse show and rodeo stadium was accomplished with 'teamwork' on the part of all of the ranchers in San Benito County. There was much work to be done, and back in 1929 people did for themselves instead of asking the state government to do for them. Men from ranches throughout the county put in volunteer time erecting corrals and putting up arena fencing. A chute was designed and built from which the steers for roping and the bucking bulls would emerge. Stables were found for the animals at whichever ranch would volunteer the space. Volunteers dug wells in the river bottom to provide water for the facility. In 1930 the outer circular horseracing track was built. More corrals and a second chute were added for the steers in the roping events and the wild horses to emerge from.
All of the work to build the stadium back in 1929, and all of the work done today, was done on a volunteer basis, and all of the work was accomplished then and now with teamwork.
I hope you enjoy my web page based on our day at the San Benito County Rodeo Sunday June 27, 2010.
Carol Garnier Dutra
Copyright © 2010 by Carol Garnier Dutra
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