Sammy and the Rochester Rodeo

Last night we took Sammy to the rodeo at the Olmsted County Fair. Bernie and Mark came with us too. We'd never been to a rodeo before, so it wasn't always clear to us how the scoring was done...perhaps we'll have read the rule book. Luckily no one was seriously injured. The part we enjoyed the most was the horses running around the barrels. Sammy of course was in his glory...in a cowboy hat surrounded by fellow cowpokes.

Sammy enjoying the rodeo...

Sammy, Bernie, and Mark enjoying the rodeo...

Michele, Sammy, Bernie, and Mark...

A big bucking bronco...
...bucks a bold buckaroo...
...before a bevy of blaring bystanders...

A cowboy consoles an injured but unvanquished vaquero...

Does it matter if they lose their hat?

Two cowboys go to rope a calf...

The clown was quite athletic...and crazy...
...he climbed up one of the steel poles like the one behind him...

At the end, they all rode their horses in a big circle...
...raising a ton of dust...

A cowboy at the end of the day...

SouthDakota2008: Old MacDonald's Farm

A big part of Sammy's trip was to ride a horse (or pony). So one thing we did was take him to Old MacDonald's (Petting) Farm. This was the first time Sammy had ever ridden on a live animal (other than the time we put a saddle on Veto and let Sammy ride him around the house --that was quite the event). Sammy had a great time riding the ponies at Old MacDonald's(Petting) Farm. He made sure he rode every pony there at least once...and...we made sure Sammy washed his hands many times after touching animals.

The sign outside Old MacDonald's (Petting) Farm...

Someday it's going to be tough to get Sammy in these kinds of photos...
...but until then, enjoy...

Giddyap!

Our little cowboy...

Friend of the animal kingdom...
...Sammy feeds sheep...

Patiently waiting his turn to ride ponies again...

This pony may be going in circles...
...to right now Sammy is blazing across the wide open prairie...