Children aged fourteen and under from all over the province, as far as Qualicum Beach, came to 100 Mile House to show off their skills in all things rodeo during the Little Britches Rodeo on May 19 and 20.
“Overall, it went really good,” said one of the organizers, Denise Little. “It was a pretty good weekend.”
She mentioned the entries for competitors were down from years past but added that tends to happen as the juniors move up to seniors and the seniors move up to high school rodeos and now they just have to wait for the next generation to come up again.
Little and her husband pointed to the senior girl’s barrel racers as one of the biggest draws of the weekend.
“Some of the times they were turning in were really good. I did watch a few of them and boy, they’re right up there. I can see them headed for the higher levels as they age and move up in rodeo,” said Little.
Another one of her favourite moments was when a volunteer helped show a contestant in the senior boy’s chute dogging how to properly wrestle the calf to the ground.
It was the first time the contestant had tried the event after being convinced to give it a go. Unfortunately, he timed out which prompted the volunteer to step in and show him.
According to Little, the level of talent within the competitors has stayed roughly the same, with a mix of beginners and more experienced competitors, who take it very seriously.
“Even some of your juniors – nine-year-olds- are really competitive. They have been doing this for a few years and they’re really competitive. [It’s] the same with the seniors, you get your lower end that doesn’t do it in full time or are just getting into it. And [you have] your seniors who are really into it and they got good horses who’ve been working on it,” she said.
There weren’t any new events this year and it’s unlikely any changes will be made next year, at least that Little knows of. Little said they had a fair collection of spectators on Saturday, with an estimation of roughly 150 people coming in and out throughout the day with Sunday yielding a little less at somewhere between 70 to 80.
While Saturday had good weather, Sunday had some rain on and off which Little said may have held some people back from coming back
“Your audience is really dependant on weather and with the rain we had on Sunday, I can’t really blame them. Unless you’re a die-hard rodeo fan if it’s drizzling you’re probably going to stay home,” said Little, who added the number of people, while a little short of last year’s rodeo, was what they were expecting.
Results:
Day One, May 19
JR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1: Tess Rawlings
2: Simone Lamberton
3: Ashlyn Wade
JR GIRLS POLE BENDING
1: Ashlyn Wade
2: Shayl Maurice
3: Jordyn Jardine
JR GIRLS GOAT TAIL TYING
1: Ashlyn Wade
2: Jordyn Jardine
3: Nevada Jones
JR GIRLS DUMMY ROPING
1: Tess Rawlings
2: Simone Lamberton
3: Sterling Schneider
JR BOYS STAKE RACE
1: Turner James
2: Kolt Alexander
3: Eric Fraser
JR BOYS GOAT TAIL TYING
1: Kolt Alexander
2: Lee Fraser
3: Colby Ignace
JR BOYS DUMMY ROPING
1: Turner James
2: Colby Ignace
3: Lee Fraser
JR BOYS STEER RIDING
1/2 tie: Colby Ignace and Tate Allison
3: Taylor Escott
SR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1: Alison Hampton
2: Reese Rivet
3: Malaya Cholette
SR GIRLS POLE BENDING
1: Maya Starrs
2: Taylor Andersen
3: Karis Wilson
SR Girls GOAT TYING
1: Sunny Cooper
2: Maya Starrs
3: Elsie Rawlings
SR GIRLS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1: Elsie Rawlings
2: Andee Walker
3: Taylan James
SR BOYS STAKE RACE
1: Kale Mikkelson
2: Corben Marchiel
3: Tryton Bose
SR BOYS GOAT TYING
1: Wyatt McCullough
2: Tryton Bose
3/4 tie: Brock Everett and Cruise Schneider
SR BOYS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1: Patrick Bennett
SR BOYS CHUTE DOGGING
1: Wyatt McCullough
2: Bryce Garcia
3: Chase Horsley
COED STEER RIDING
1: Landen Horsley
2: Kale Mikkelson
3/4/5 tie: Brock Everett and Wyatt McCullough and Shardy Allison
Day Two, May 20
JR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1: Ashlyn Wade
2: Simone Lamberton
3: Tess Rawlings
JR GIRLS POLE BENDING
1: Ashlyn Wade
2: Nevada Jones
3: Tess Rawlings
JR GIRLS GOAT TAIL TYING
1: Nevada Jones
2: Paige Cady
3: Simone Lamberton
JR GIRLS DUMMY ROPING
1: Ashlyn Wade
2: Tess Rawlings
3: Paige Cady
JR BOYS STAKE RACE
1: Turner James
2: Colby Ignace
3: Kolt Alexander
JR BOYS GOAT TAIL TYING
1: Kolt Alexander
2: Lee Fraser
3: Tate Allison
JR BOYS DUMMY ROPING
1: Turner James
2: Kolt Alexander
3: Lee Fraser
JR BOYS STEER RIDING
1: Turner James
2: Tanner Loring
3: Tate Allison
SR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1: Alison Hampton
2: Taylan James
3: Malaya Cholette
SR GIRLS POLE BENDING
1: Maya Starrs
2: Taylan James
3: Hailey Ambler
SR GIRLS GOAT TYING
1: Isabella King
2: Malaya Cholette
3: Madelin Pozzobon
SR GIRLS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1: No catches.
SR BOYS STAKE RACE
1: Clay Farmer
2: Gage Rawlings
3: Corben Marchiel
SR BOYS GOAT TYING
1: Wyatt McCullough
2: Brock Everett
3: Bryce Garcia
SR BOYS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1: Bryce Garcia
2: Lorenzo Bennett
3: Brock Everett
SR BOYS CHUTE DOGGING
1: Bryce Garcia
2/3 tie: Wyatt McCullough and Shardy Allison
COED STEER RIDING
1: Wyatt McCullough
2: Brock Everett
3: Landen Horsley
JR GIRL ALL AROUND WINNER: Ashlyn Wade
RESERVE ALL AROUND: Tess Rawlings
JR BOYS ALL AROUND WINNER: Turner James
RESERVE ALL AROUND: Kolt Alexander
SR GIRLS ALL AROUND WINNER: Maya Starrs
RESERVE ALL AROUND: Andee Walker
SR BOYS ALL AROUND WINNER: Wyatt McCullough
RESERVE ALL AROUND: Brock Everett
CONTESTANT DRAW WINNER: Karis Wilson
SAFETY AWARD DRAW WINNER: Andee Walker
