Riders in the Sky : Broncs Kick Up Their Heels at Rancho Santa Margarita Rodeo

Modern-day cowboy Joe Bob Nunez said he wasn’t sure if all the “city people” in the stands watching the first Rancho Santa Margarita Fiesta Rodeo on Saturday would be able to fully appreciate the nuances of the event.

“When you go places where there aren’t very many rodeos, people aren’t familiar with them, so the response is quite different than, say, in New Mexico or Texas,” said Nunez, 34. “They might really like something that really isn’t impressive from a judging standpoint.”

While rodeos may not be a frequent occurrence in Orange County, the approximately 3,500 people who braved the day’s windy weather didn’t seem too concerned with whether they were clapping in the right places. Most appeared to be having too much fun watching the cowboys compete against each other in bareback and saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, calf roping and bull riding.

The two-day event, which concludes today, was organized to celebrate the south Orange County unincorporated community’s fifth anniversary and drew a capacity crowd, many of them watching a rodeo for the first time.

Spectators munched on barbecued beef sandwiches, nachos, hot dogs and cotton candy as they watched the cowboys test their skill against the bucking stock in events that were either timed or judged. In one event, they wrestled a 1,200-pound steer to the ground. In another, rodeo clowns dodged between the bareback broncs and the cowboys who had been bucked into the dirt.

“I came here specifically to see the bull riding,” said first-timer Steve Fedler, 27. “I just wanted to see what it’s all about. It’s nice to see this kind of event because you don’t usually see many rodeos around here.”

It was also Debbie Wilson’s first rodeo, and she brought along her sons Jason, 7, and Brian, 4, to enjoy the horses, bulls, cowboys and clowns.

“This is definitely something we’re not used to,” Wilson said. “The boys are learning to ride horses, so I thought this would be fun for them.”

Gil and Jacqueline Parent, who moved to Orange County from Belgium seven years ago, sat riveted to their seats as the bareback bronc-riding competition began. The couple appeared stunned as they watched the action.

“We like the horses,” Gil Parent said. “We go to the race track many times and we see the horses, but it is nothing like this.”

The event was sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Assn., and it drew 240 participants from several states who competed for $15,000 in prize money.

“This is a smaller rodeo, but I think it’s going to be a good rodeo for this town,” said Ontario resident Jerry McComas, who competes in about 60 rodeos each year. “If they continue with this rodeo, I’m sure it will get better and better each year.”

If there is a rodeo in town next year, it could only turn out better for participant Tessa Nickerson, 20, who was the only woman participating in the day’s bareback bronc-riding event. The Newport Beach resident was thrown from her horse in less than five seconds.

“I just like the excitement of it all,” Nickerson said shortly before the competition began. “I get teased a lot for being the only woman competing against the men, but this is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life. I’m living my dream right now.”

Although Nickerson got the wind knocked out of her after hitting the ground, she still managed a smile and waved to the crowd.

Afterwards, she was upbeat and vowed to try again soon.

“The only reason I’m not riding bulls is because of my boys,” said Nickerson, the mother of 2-year-old twin sons.

During Saturday’s opening ceremonies, organizers trotted out a $50,000, 17-foot-high, red-white-and-blue cowboy boot with an elevator inside that hoisted a cowboy on horseback to the top. There was also a brief salute to the men and women who served in the Gulf War.

In addition to the rodeo competition, there was a performance by the Coto Cowboys’ Western Stunt Club and a concert by the California Blue Grass Band.

Truckloads of livestock were provided for the event by Cotton Rosser, a former rodeo rider who said he is known as the “P.T. Barnum of the rodeo world.”

“This is the best kind of family entertainment that you’re going to find anywhere,” Rosser said. “It’s something that is new for this particular area, and it’s really fitting because this is the heritage of the ranch where this town is located.”

The rodeo is sponsored by the Rancho Santa Margarita’s Community Activities and Service Assn. and promoted by the Santa Margarita Co.

Rancho Santa Margarita is east of Interstate 5, between Mission Viejo and Coto de Caza. The rodeo is at the corner of Avenida Empressa and Comercio, near Santa Margarita Parkway and O’Neill Regional Park.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, with the rodeo competition beginning at 2 p.m.