Yeeha! The Rocky Mountain rodeo returns

Dust off the hat and put on the boots because the rodeo is coming to town.

The Rocky Mountain Professional Rodeo Association returns to the valley for its fourth year at the Fall Festival.

This year’s rodeo chairman, Loyce Seastrunk, is excited about the rodeo situation this year. He said it just keeps on getting better every year.

“We have a brand new halftime show for the rodeo,” he said. “It will be Aerial Assault, which is a touring extreme trampoline show.”

They are the only touring trampoline show on Earth with mid-air costume changes.

Each show includes a very charismatic MC and three athletes. Athletes will fly as high as 25 feet above the ground performing single, double, and even triple flips with twists. Skis, snowboards, and other fun freestyle acts are all part of the show.

Seastrunk said the rodeo committee has concentrated on efforts to get quality contestants to enter the rodeo because people want to see more action. He said the committee has worked on this aspect of the rodeo.

“One of the ways we are using to attract contestants to the rodeo is increasing the size of the prize money,” Seastrunk said. “We also have added more sponsors to help with the problem.”

This year’s rodeo will be a two-day event.

In addition to adult entertainment, Seastrunk said there will be part of the rodeo dedicated to kids.

“At the beginning of the rodeo we will do a ribbon race or scramble for the kids,” Seastrunk said. “Usually we will have about 50 kids involved in that. We also will have tours for the kids to see the rodeo animals. That’s usually an hour or so before the rodeo starts.”

Of course having a rodeo has always been the way cowboys proved who was the best horse rider in town.

A bit of history

The first rodeo events came from the Fall Festival. In 1963 the Fall Festival was called the Harvest Festival and was centered around rodeo events but it was not a true organized rodeo.

Instead, it was a gymkhana-style event where there were events like pole bending, stake racing and barrel racing. These events took place over two days. There was also the crowning of a queen and a huge western-style barbeque.

The great thing about this was it was all locals putting on a show and showing off what they could do on a horse. The whole point of the gymkhana was to see who was the best horseman in Pahrump.

The town still throws gymkhana events and they are put on by the Pahrump Valley Rough Riders on the third Saturday of the month.

The rodeo tickets will go on sale on August 15. Presale tickets will be for either Friday’s rodeo or Saturday. Tickets are $10 for adults. On Friday there will be a special where if an adult purchases a ticket, one child or senior gets in free.

The Rodeo is at 7 p.m., at the McCullough Arena on September 24 and 25.

Tickets for the rodeo will be on sale soon at the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce, located at 1301 S. Highway 160. For more information call 775-727-5800.

Price at the door will be $12.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com