World Famous Cody Rodeo

The town of Cody, Wyoming is most famous for its world class rodeos. Cody is a magnificent town full of history and culture surrounded by some exquisite mountains, the Heart Mountain to the north and the Carter Mountain to the south.  In the summer of 2012, with a group of friends I did a road trip to this town and got to witness an event every person on this planet should see at least once in their lifetime. The world famous Cody rodeo. Every night starting from June the first and ending on the night of August thirty first, people are able to watch the participants show their skills off in this acclaimed event. And on a beautiful night in August I was able to share in this.

To start off a point to consider though is that a rodeo is definitely not for the faint of heart or those deeply radical activist fighting for the rights of animals. But if for a night you are able to forget about these qualities to go and participant in and experience a deeply unique event I urge you to grab hold of it and go.

The rodeo started off with us being seated among many avid fans of this event dressed in their typical attire of cowboy hats and boots and shirts that had more tassels than a night sky had stars. I smiled at the sight of them, appreciating the quirkiness they each brought to this event. With the speakers blaring country music, I knew I had found my rightful place in this world.

The night started off with young, aspiring cowboys, and girls, trying to catch an unsuspecting calf let loose from a pen. These children raced around on their horses, swinging their ropes in wide circles with a skill I envied because I was barely able to swing a rope for a game of jump rope and here these children were many years my junior showing me how vastly inadequate I was in this area of my life. No matter as soon as I got home, I would be practicing my rope swinging skills. Many of the children had performed wonderfully, and displayed great horsemanship, wowing the crowd with their performances.

The most fun and anticipated time of the night was when the brave young cowboys climbed onto giant voracious bulls to see how long they were able to withstand the annoyance these beasts were feeling. I am sad to say that none of these cowboys were able to stay on for a significant amount of time, but the ooh’s and ouch’s from the crowd as they each landed with a thud on the ground surely spurred them on to try harder next time. With the night coming to an end all too quickly, we raced to get our pictures taken with the wildly hilarious clown presenters for the night. Their funny jokes and sense of humour kept us all entertained and informed all throughout the night.

The night was extremely successful, giving us a glimpse into the lives of people who live, breathe and eat everything country. We were able to walk away with a cultural experience that was so new and so interesting for each of us, and at the same time so much fun to learn about.

Safe travels!