Hot Rod Cowgirl

The Pendleton Round Up starts today…Let ‘Er Buck! Round Up Fever is in the air…it is rodeo time…come on get your boots and hats on! The rodeo begins today at 1:15…running every day through Saturday the 17th.

In the late summer of 1910, a group of area ranchers and farmers gathered in Pendleton to celebrate the end of harvest. This was the beginning of the World Famous Pendleton Round-Up. Last year we celebrated a 100 years of  Round Up and today the 101st Pendleton Round-Up is gearing up for another year of the cowboy. Hang on to your hats…be prepared to see incredible cowboy and cowgirl events…life in the real west…the excitement…the heritage…the history…the tradition…a rodeo like no other…welcome to Pendleton…Let ‘er Buck!

I grew up with the Round Up as my Dad was very involved his entire life with the rodeo. He was the Grand Marshal for the Westward Ho parade in 1986…on my mare Shez Alotta Leo….”Lottie.”

I love Round Up for the heritage and the history…part of that history is your life as it involves your family. The worst part of the rodeo is the traffic as Pendleton is a small town of 15,000 population all year long except for the week of Round Up…it then swells to over 50,000 population…so if you are in a hurry to reach the other side of town…forget it.

This is my cowgirl outfit…if you go to Pendleton this week my trailer is not that long compared to some of the trailers you will see….horsetrailers so dang long you wonder if the end of the trailer is in CA. There are huge trailers and semi trucks all over town as well as cool pick ups and motorhomes and campers and cars and people…did I say people…Round Up for locals like me is like Portland coming to visit us for a week…sort of fun but by the last day we are ready to go back to a sleepy cow town…quiet…boring…the Pendleton we know.

I love looking at all the horses and trailers that do come to the Round Up….you see some amazing horses that the cowboys own and compete on. Our trailer is a four-horse trailer with living quarters and tack room…I will show you in another blog….did you note the bug shield with ghost flames….and the inserts on the pick up have flames too.

Lets head back in history a bit to the 1963-1964 Pendleton Round Up

The Round Up President and his family on the cattle ranch…and me in my dorky glasses…and short hair…with horses Snip and Gypsy.

My Dad moving cows on the summer ranch on Bucky with his dog Blue.

And in the Round Up arena on Gypsy the week before Round Up.

Ok now let’s go back in history to the 1940’s for some rodeo trivia.

While Dad was involved in the Round Up and Happy Canyon he also was involved out here in the 1940’s with a rodeo right here….yeah…where we live now…it was called the Juniper Joust. I blogged about this before on our Holton Secret Lab Blog…sorry to bore those of you who saw it a few months ago but…I need to mention this on this post.

This picture was taken right across from my house…when they had the rodeo they fed the spectators and contestants with a bq beef that was cooked in the ground for several hours over night…Mom made up gallons of potato salad…I am sure that Jean also made up gallons of macaroni salad too.

I need to do a reunion of the Juniper Joust…seriously I do…if you are reading this and had family involved or were involved with this let me know. I will update this on a different blog…rodeo has been a big part of my life and heritage.

Dad and Jingle….1940’s roping here in the arena across the road. The Juniper Joust eventually became the Mustangers.

Dad roped all over the NW…he was one of the founding members for the AQHA for this area of Eastern Oregon and Washington.

Me doing my thing on Red at the Mustangers….pole bending race.

Running the barrel race too!

Back to The World Famous Pendleton Round Up

The beginning of each day of the rodeo…riders come into the arena presenting the flags.

Racing around the track.

Finally entering the middle of the arena as the national anthem is sung.

Then the Round Up Court comes out….first the Princesses jump the fence and do the run in across the arena.

Another Princess makes her entry jumping the fence.

Then the Queen follows her court jumping the fence!

Another shot of the Queen racing around the track waving to the crowd as she goes by them.

The President of the Round Up follows chasing the five gals around the track and out the gate.

I love seeing the run in each day at exactly 1:15 for the kick off of the rodeo. It is thrilling to watch!

The grand stands are full with a cowboy-cowgirl crowd ready to see some rodeo.

Pendleton is ready to boogie!

And this lights your fire…the United States of America flyover at the beginning of the rodeo on Saturday.

Round Up is blessed each year to have the fly over…it brings tears to my eyes and makes me proud of who I am here…and of the heritage of where I live…and my personal family history. There are many of us who grew up here…left to go to college and experience life away from here…only to come back home following in our families footsteps…we are the lucky ones. Many left and can not come home again or come back…so if you are reading this and you live here….grew up here…and your life is here now…you are blessed.

Slack started Monday at the rodeo grounds with steer roping and barrel racing.

Look at her go….she is turning and burning!

Slack continued Tuesday with steer wrestling.

And calf roping for the 2011 Round Up.

This picture was taken last year at the rodeo for one of the Indian Relay races.

The winners making their victory lap!

Tough Enough To Wear Pink Day is Thursday of Round Up….the cowboys and the crowd all wear pink shirts that day to honor breast cancer survivors and raise money for TETWP.

Wild Bill and I with our pink shirts on and the pink beads that are given away on Tough Enough Day.

Another picture of my Dad on my mare Lottie in 1986. Dad was inducted into the Round Up Hall Of Fame in 1990….his plaque names him as “The Cowboy President”….the cowboys who came to compete liked him as Dad was able to make changes that helped them out as well as talk to them as a cowboy himself.

Wild Bill when he used to help with the Round Up’s Oxen…this picture was taken during the Westward Ho Parade…he also helped take a team of oxen through Happy Canyon each night…Happy Canyon is a night pageant that runs nightly during the rodeo week.

That’s me riding my mare Lottie escorting one of the wagons through the Westward Ho Parade. This parade is awesome to see as there are no motor vehicles….just people, horses and livestock.

So now on to how I get ready for Round Up each year…hmmm.

Ok this is a hair clip my hubby gave me…I tried to take a picture of it in the mirror…not sure if you can see the bucking horse on my hair clip…but it is there.

These are my shoes…pretty much boots and outside shoes here…cowgirl stuff as in daily grind…for Round Up I will shine up my Boulet boots in the back corner.

These are my favorite ones to dress up in…Old Gringo…love these boots!

Look how awesome they are….it is like wearing a work of art!

Uh….hmm…these are Wild Bills shoes…ok…where did you put your boots WB….come on…no I mean your Justins…ok fine your lace ups….no what about your Buckaroo boots…come on…give it a cowboy try…please:)

Wild Bill looks good with his cowboy stuff on… he is my cowboy hubby.

I had to shop a bit before the crowds devoured everything! Skyhawk Rugs are my pick….I have had them now for many years and they last….great pile…and amazing durability…and I am PICKY.

Minnie was named one of their best models this year…her stripes blend and match their Navaho Cross rug…my very cool girl…you are beautiful…”Diva Minnie”.

And I had to go to HAMLEY’S Western Store! Where you find incredible jewlery….incredible clothes.

Wild Bill gave me this for Christmas…it matches my hair clip…I love the Pendleton bucking horse on them.

I am ready to head to the rodeo!

As Kiah is trying to say….Let ‘Er Buck!!!