Bucking Madness

Well, we've had our first taste of rodeo . . . good grief !!! 'Little Britches' was on last weekend. We had the parade first - Hannah on the school float in Western gear. Typical British Bank Holiday stuff . . . two weeks of fab weather ended, rain and cold set in. By 1.30 in the afternoon . . . rodeo time . . . we had arctic gales, sleet and sub zero temp. We set off regardless, trekking through a mud-bath and into the 3 thousand seater stadium with the half-dozen other fools - British descent, no doubt - displaying the Dunkirk spirit. It got off to an interesting start . . . 3 year olds chasing a flock of sheep round a muddy pen, losing wellies left, right and centre, trying to grab a label off a woolly back. Then we had calf roping . . . under 16's lassooing the poor little babies, jumping off horses and flinging them down in the mud - all in under 4 seconds ! The calves stood more of a sporting chance with the under 12's . . . lots of rope twirling and galloping around, no actual ropes around necks, smug little calves trotting off after the 30 second limit - much nicer. The real jaw-dropper was the 6 to 9 year old 'Junior Calf Riding' . . . not 2 week old tiddler calves either, big beasts with attitude (and a rope around the nether regions just to make sure they were really mad) . . . out of the 'shoot', small child clinging on for dear life - for 2 seconds - before being hurled into the mud, narrowly avoiding a broken neck and a hoof shaped dent in the head !!!

At 6 ! Incredible what passes for entertainment in these parts. Anyway, had to leave before 'Mutton Busting' (3 to 8's clinging on to sheep for a gallop round a muddy field) as we were on the verge of hyperthermia. So my enthusiasm for the Calgary Stampede is waning . . . if that was the kiddy version . . . !!!

You'll be pleased to hear the sun re-appeared the moment the Bank Holiday ended . . . not just a British phenomena, after all. Audrey arrived safely and has already had a close encounter with the local wildlife . . . an eagle on a fence post right by us, tucking into a gopher. Lovely.

Well, off to hit the mall. Are we missing much on the home-front ?

Love and hugs and kisses to all, Nicki and tribe xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Short clip of the Junior Calf Riding winner at link below (it's a bit naff due to wind and zoom, but you'll get the picture): http://media.putfile.com/Bucking-Madness