The Sutherlin Stampede

Up in the bleachers - in the shade.

The Sutherlin Stampede flag - all of the sponsors had flags.

After the kids fell off the sheep, the sheep gathered togther for support.

The bulls looked like they were going to throw out their back-ends with all of the kicking.

Saturday, the 21st, we continued our discoveries of Sutherlin by spending some time at the Sutherlin Stampede.  This is a free (entry was a can of food for the food bank) rodeo that is paid for by sponsors and those who participate in the event.  We had heard to get a good seat, one needed to arrive early, so we did which is also why we didn't last for the whole event.  The bleachers were really hard, and we didn't bring secondary entertainment for Griffin.  The first event was "mutton busters" - kids (ages 3-6) riding sheep.  This was very cute!  After the sheep came the calf riding for kids 6-9.  These calves had no intention of letting anyone ride them, so I think about 3 seconds was the winning time.  Girls' barrel racing came next.  That was fun, although some of the horses decided to not cooperate and headed for the gate.  The first bull rider we saw got stepped on, which was a bit scary.  He was on the ground with the EMTs for quite a while.  We saw one more bull rider and then called it quits.