Rodeo Fans Saddle Up for Thrills and Spills

Leaning back in a grandstand seat in a straw hat and chomping on salted peanuts from the shell, Simi Valley resident Will Henderson slowly proclaimed the reason to do rodeo: Bull riding.

“It’s the roughest of the rough stock and the best thing to watch,” Henderson said, crushing cracked shells on the cement ground with his black boot.

For Henderson’s wife, who said she is a bigger rodeo fan than her husband, coming to the dusty arena at the Ventura County Fair on Saturday was all about timed events that test a rider’s accuracy and speed.

“I like to see the big guys rope the calves,” she said between nibbles of nachos from the food court.

The event began in patriotic fashion, under hazy skies and in 70-degree weather.

At one end of the fenced dirt oval, professional rodeo competitor Donna Gross of Ojai belted out a rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” while a team of riders holding tall flags were poised in the arena’s center. Fans stood and hummed, holding their hands over their hearts.

The stands were packed with families toting bundled babies, grandparents and a few young lovers who had wandered over to the arena from the giant Ferris wheel. And, of course, there were hundreds of folks in Stetsons sipping beer and howling during every event.

Flags and banners lining the ring displayed the names of businesses that support professional rodeo. There were ads for whiskey, tobacco, jeans and American-made trucks.

Outside the fairgrounds, half a dozen animal rights activists carried signs proclaiming rodeo events are cruel to animals. The peaceful demonstration didn’t stop the crowds from coming.

“The fair is wonderful and the rodeo is very competitive,” said a mounted Ralph Kelley, a Simi Valley resident who has competed in team roping for as long as he can remember.

Kelley’s partner, smiling Scott Perez from Odessa, Texas, came out for the event after getting a last-minute call from Kelley.

“I just decided to do it,” Perez said, waiting his turn at the ring behind a giant blue shoot. “Everybody’s got a chance to win.”

The day didn’t go so well, though, for Kelley and Perez. Kelley was able to rope the calf’s neck, but Perez couldn’t lasso the calf’s hind leg, a requirement in team roping.

The clowns were what amused Levi Holladay, a giggling 11-year-old redhead from Fillmore, who was attending his first rodeo with his family.

For Chris Christman, who made the trek to the fairgrounds from his home in the San Fernando Valley, the rodeo was his girlfriend’s idea.

“My baby dragged me here, and if I know what’s good for me, I go,” Christman said, as he hollered in support of a rider wrestling a steer.

Ojai resident and amateur Western rider Colette Jolicoeur said she was hoping to see the cutting and team pinning events. Her friend, Roger Morse of Santa Ynez, came for the calf roping.

“It’s a gift to be able to rope a calf like that and work a horse,” Morse said of the competitors.

Other events included barrel racing and saddle bronc riding and an intermission show during which a clown with a fishing rod pretended to catch a small dog dressed as a bass.

The day’s only low note occurred about 3 p.m., when performer Keith Bali of Canada, who was portraying Pontius Pilate, crashed his chariot into the ring.

He was removed from the arena on a stretcher and taken to a hospital, where he was being treated for back and neck injuries, rodeo officials said.

The three-day rodeo wraps up today, the closing day of the fair, with afternoon and evening shows.