Before last week, I had never really given rodeo a chance. Not because of any misguided preconception or unfair stereotype. Rather, I simply never had any interest in attending one.

Upon researching the events comprising the past weekend's Strawberry Days Rodeo schedule, that all changed.

And then I made the trip to Glenwood Rodeo Arena on Friday.

What did I learn?

Rodeo cowboys/girls are athletes. Fearless athletes at that.

I can't imagine hopping on thousands of pounds of angry bull, a beastly creature that bucks wildly and wants nothing more than to send you flying through the arena.

I can't imagine leaping off a speeding horse onto a speeding steer, then wrestling that steer to the ground by its horns.

I can't imagine roping anything while standing idle, let alone lassoing a fleeing calf while mounted on a rapidly moving horse.

Outstanding horsemanship. Hand-eye coordination. Agility. Brute strength. Fearlessness. An unpenetrable will. A high tolerance for pain. The ability to calmly read and then tackle a chaotic situation.

All qualities a rodeo athlete would be best suited to possess.

Strawberry Days Rodeo contestants flashed those very traits.

Take Micky Downare, in town from Hartsel and a highly ranked pro bareback bronco rider. Downare played football growing up, but his true love is rodeo. He turned pro right out of high school and competed collegiately at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas.

Donning bright turquoise chaps, the 23-year-old Downare demonstrated his immense skill by twice lasting eight seconds on a maniacally flailing horse Friday night. The horse didn't score well on his first run, and the ultra-competitive Downare, whose brother Monte was to compete the following night, jumped at the chance to better his score with a second go-around.

Add perfectionism to the trait list.

One of the Colorado Pro Rodeo Association's better steer wrestlers, Kelly Masters, is a weekend warrior in the arena. An electrician by day, the Erie resident is all about the rodeo when the work day is done.

He's proof - as is Downare - that atmosphere is often critical to a rodeo athlete's development. Now middle-aged, Masters picked up the sport back in high school and already has his 5-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter into rodeo.

"He'll be a bulldogger," Masters said with a big smile.

Some things just run in the blood.

Add a rodeo bloodline to the trait list.

Wandering around Glenwood Rodeo Arena, getting a full-blown rundown of the rodeo ropes from Strawberry Days Rodeo co-chair couple Leslie and Smokey Torres and various athletes, I unearthed a newfound respect for the arena dwellers.

"You have to be an athlete," said Downare. "It takes a lot of work and a ton of dedication."

Well put.

I now have a new item to add to the list of things I want to do before I die.

Attending a Professional Bull Riders event is now on there, along with going to a Super Bowl, attending an English Premier League soccer game, going to an Olympics and taking in a live Canadian Football League game.



<I>Contact Jeff Caspersen at 384-9123 or jcaspersen@postindependent.com.