Wild, Wild West Action of the Kaamulan Rodeo 2012

Despite a very hectic schedule, I was able to catch some action of the Kaamulan Rodeo last Saturday afternoon, March 3, 2012 at the Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. It was the elimination round of the competition participated by various teams from and outside Bukidnon. As expected, the action was fast-paced, thrilling and exciting.

At first, I positioned myself near the arena's steel fence beside the grandstand. In that area, I had a hard time taking photos  because of people competing for space to get a clear glimpse of the action. Fortunately, my officemate and fellow blogger Bon of ConTour Blog texted me that he is in the main stage with our visitor from Makati, multi-awarded blogger/photographer Estan Cabigas of Langyaw.com. So I went to the main stage and enjoyed the unobstructed view of  some wild, wild west action. 

Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today it is a sporting event that consists of events that involve horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the human cowboy and cowgirl athletes who participate. Professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: Tie-down roping, Team Roping, Steer wrestling, Saddle bronc riding, Bareback Bronc-Riding, Bull riding and Barrel racing. (from wikipedia.org)

I actually have some personal experience participating in a rodeo competition. Way back in college, our basic Animal Science class required us to participate in the Manresa Days Rodeo in Xavier Universty-Cagayan de Oro. I joined the Team Roping event with four other classmates. However, it was an epic fail as one of my teammate fell down and was bullied by the cattle. Fortunately, he escaped with only some minor bruises. I could not anymore recall if we did pin down that bull. But needless to say, my first and only attempt to be a cowboy was, well....forgettable. : )