By Eliza Dunn

It’s a Saturday night in Norwood. The late summer sun is setting over the mountains, but in the San Miguel County Fairgrounds, excitement is rising.

Over the loudspeaker, the announcer’s voice booms, “well, good evening rodeo fans, and welcome to night number two of the San Miguel Basin CPRA Rodeo.”

The first event of the night is bareback riding. The gates open and a wild bucking horse charges out into the ring, kicking up dust and tossing the cowboy around like a ragdoll. The goal is to stay on the animal for eight seconds.

Next up are the roping events. Down by the grandstand, a few cowboys tie up their horses after their ride.

Bryce Grant just finished the tie-down roping, a fast-paced event that requires both speed and precision from the cowboy.

“It’s a single-cowboy event, where it’s just you and your horse and you’re tied on,” Grant explains. “So you have a calf and they get a head start. You go down rope, and then you get off and flank him and tie three legs.”

As he rides into the ring, Grant says, he tries to block out everything around him: “I try to just focus on myself. I try to get myself really angry and really aggressive, because that’s something that I’ve really struggled with lately. So I just really focus on what I'm going to do right then and there. Get out good and just go do my job.”

Next up, the cowgirls take the ring. Breakaway roping is an all-female event that moves at lightning speed. In a matter of mere seconds, competitors attempt to chase down and rope a calf.

After her ride, Ashlin Spitzer explains that she does breakaway roping because “not only does it take horsepower, which is instrumental, but also the intelligence of the roper itself, and making sure that you make the right call at the right time. And you’re almost in sync with your horse. But it’s also just so beautiful to watch and to actually see someone rope sharp or the proper form. I think it’s one of the most beautiful things.”

Spitzer grew up riding horses, but didn’t start riding rodeo until recently. “I got into rodeo because it was…. COVID happened and it was time for change and to try something different and I had always been fascinated with rodeo and horses,” Spitzer remembers. “And so I decided to go to college and work for it and it’s paid off and it’s better than I could’ve ever dreamed.”

Patting down her horse, Gopher, Spitzer says tonight wasn’t her best ride, but she’s okay with that. “Nonetheless, this is my hometown rodeo, and I absolutely love it here and I’m happy when my friends get to come out and see,” she says. “And if I miss, if I don’t, there’s always something I can take away from it. Of course winning’s great, but you can always learn something.”

As the sun disappears behind the mesa, the competition rides on. One after another, riders take the ring, going up against bucking bulls and wild steers. It’s a dangerous sport, and sometimes competitors are only a few inches away from a stray hoof or horn. Still, Grant says, when he rides out of the box, he’s not afraid.

“No, I enjoy it too much to be scared,” he says. “And then when you’re riding good animals who are your best friend, it makes it so much more worth it.”

That connection with your horse, Spitzer agrees, is key: “You know, your horse can feel every single feeling you feel. So they can feel when a little fly flies onto their back, they’re going to feel all the tension you hold. To me, as a rider, I think it’s important to be as calm and collected as possible so he can go out and do his job and I can do mine.”

As the last events draw to a close, the ring empties out and the animals get loaded up for the night. A band starts up and competitors and spectators alike gather under the stars, to celebrate another summer of rodeo in Norwood.

By Gavin McGough

San Miguel Basin Rodeo (Photo by Peter B Lundeen Photography)

Building on a long tradition of horse handling and ranching, the San Miguel Rodeo came through Norwood this weekend for its 117th year. While crowds traveled from across the county, rodeo competitors and workers came from all over the west. KOTO’s Gavin McGough brings an audio postcard from the event.

Down beside the grandstands at the San Miguel Basin Rodeo, competitors in Saturday evening’s barrel race are awaiting their turn to sprint around the ring. In a test of horse handling and athletic power, the steed and rider race in a cloverleaf pattern around four barrels set up in the arena. Coming out of her turn in the ring, Harley Zehnder, a barrel racer from Norwood, is unphased by what she says was a lackluster result.

“It wasn’t my best year, but sometimes that happens. It’s my favorite event of the year, everyone shows up and has a great time. They love watching the rodeo and it’s fun getting to see your family and friends. It’s a super fun event,” Zehnder says.

I ask another competitor, Taylor Hildreth, the secret to a good barrel race.

“Oh, I wish we all knew the answer to that! I train barrel horses for a living and I’m still trying to figure that out. I think the biggest thing is having one that has a lot of try and heart and wants to be a team player,” says Hildreth.

Harley Zehnder agrees that much of the magic comes from the spirit of the horse. She’s riding a speckled gray mare.

“My horse’s name is Penny, and she’s super gritty and tough and she loves to work,” Zehnder says.

Back in the grandstand, below a huge western sunset above the Norwood mesa, the final event of the weekend kicks off. One of rodeo’s iconic competitions, it's bull-riding. The animals, weighing it a ton apiece, rip out of the gates as cowboys hold on for life. The event is nail-biting, eight seconds of danger and suspense.

In the ring right beside the bull and the cowboy, rodeo workers are face to face with the action. Once the cowboy loses their grip and falls from the animal, their job is to corral the bull and separate the kicking beast from the fallen rider. After the event, the cowboy protection team Edward Huffman and Devin Cisneros say that an empty mind is key to working face-to-face with such danger.

“Breathing helps big time. And adrenaline! Adrenaline is huge. It’s just such an adrenaline rush. To keep your cool while it’s happening and you’re in a situation is to pretty much turn your brain off. Don’t let it tell you you can’t,” Cisneros reports.

“Yeah, you just react,” agrees Huffman.

A far cry from the driven and well-groomed mares of barrel racing, the bulls have a personality of their own.

“When I stopped riding bulls — that was like the eighth grade — I just picked up fighting bulls right there,” Huffman says. He says he grew up comfortable around animals, but can only sometimes tell what’s going on in their head.

“They have a different mind; they show one thing and are thinking another,” Cisneros agrees.

“Their smart animals, that's for sure,” adds Huffman.

After Saturday night, the fairgrounds fall silent for another year. The rodeo company, however, bulls and all, move on to their next competition of the season. Cisneros says he’s already excited for the next one.

“It’s phenomenal. This is my first time fighting [bulls] with Ed, and I can’t wait for the next one,” Cisneros says.

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The San Miguel Rodeo Rides Again