| The Grand National was held inside the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I had never attended a rodeo that was held INDOORS before, and it was very pleasant. It was raining outside while we were all warm and dry, enjoying the many events. This rodeo had some of THE best cowboys in the world. I was amazed to hear the announcer stating that such and such cowboy was ranked number ten or seven (or whatever very low
number) in the WORLD. Most of the rodeos I had previously attended had mostly locals participating. | |
| On the bareback broncs, the riders looked literally like rag dolls being thrown around by the horses. I was surprised to see them being bounced around so much and still able to hang on for the required eight seconds. (The scores, in case you were wondering, were mostly in the eighties.) The bull riding was equally impressive. The bulls seemed to be the meanest I had ever seen, and yet many of the cowboys
were able to endure the rides. In this event, scores were mostly in the upper seventies, though one man scored a thrilling ninety-three points! | |
| I think my favorite event was the calf roping. The horses and riders worked together very well, so that a few of the times were less than six seconds. None of the tied calves ever were able to break free from their bonds. I think this was the first time I had ever seen no calves able to wiggle out of the ropes. But as I said, these cowboys were the best of
the best. | |
