Teague, Texas, is a small town, with a little less than four thousand people. It has a main street lined with old buildings, like almost every town in the U.S. had fifty years ago. Some of those buildings are still being used, others are abandoned and dilapidated. There's a Dairy Queen, and a train that lumbers through town every now and then.
It's your typical rural town, and for more than eighty years, Teague has hosted a rodeo. It's held in a park in the middle of town, a dusty little complex with barely any parking and little shade. The bathrooms are scary little closets with barely running water. The food at the concession stand is what you'd expect, microwaved cheese on stale chips, pickles, and can sodas.
None of that matters, though, because you came to see a rodeo, and the rodeo DELIVERS.
If you're from Texas, you're definitely familiar with rodeo. If you're not, I'm sorry. Here's a quick run down. Men and women compete in events that involve skills that were once necessary to ranch various types of cattle and horses.
There's barrel racing, in which riders compete for the fastest time while riding a horse around three barrels. There's bronc busting, where riders try to stay on a bucking and jumping horse. In calf roping, competitors on horseback attempt to lasso a calf running full speed through the arena.
There's wild cow milking. This one's interesting. A rider on horseback lassos a very angry cow, then a partner on the ground runs over and puts the cow in a headlock. The rider then dismounts, milks the cow to get a few drops of milk into a jar, and then runs to hand it to a judge. Whoever has the fastest time wins.
As you can see, it gets a little crazy at times. It's one of my favorite events.
And then there's the bull riding.
Bull riding is the main reason to go the rodeo. It's awesome, and a little terrifying. The guys who do it are crazy, courageous, and tough. The bulls are mean, way more agile than you'd think, and looking for a fight. It's the perfect combination of guts and glory and I never get tired of watching it.
The Teague Fourth of July Rodeo is tough to get to and there's not much else around, but if you're in the neighborhood around Independence Day weekend, try to stop by.
Comments
Post a Comment