California Rodeo Salinas kicks off

Wyatt Smith of Rexburg, Idaho, scored 10.4 seconds in steer wrestling Thursday, opening day of the California Rodeo Salinas. (Photos by Tarmo Hannula).

SALINAS — Sitting astride his giant steed, Clifford Happy plied the arenas of the California Rodeo Salinas Thursday morning, helping out where he was needed and waiting his turn to lasso a calf in the team roping competition.

An archetypal cowboy, Happy was wearing a Western shirt, jeans, an immaculate hat on his head and was sitting on a well-worn leather saddle. With the look of a man who has spent a lifetime working outdoors, he said he has been in the rodeo business all his life.

Happy said his mother was a trick rider, who performs stunts while riding a horse.

“I’ve been coming here since I was old enough not to know better,” he said.

In the rodeo world, many of the participants are carrying on a family tradition of rodeo performing.

For Brenda Mays, her 30-year history with rodeo events started with her great-grandparents, who were rodeo professionals themselves.

“It’s one of those things that gets into your blood,” she said.

Indeed, Brenda’s mother Lynne Mays, who won the top prize in the Salinas Rodeo in 1975, used to take Brenda on the rodeo circuit when she was a young girl.

“She craved it,” Lynne Mays said of her daughter. “She got mad when we had to go home. She got the bug when she came here with me.”

Drew Horner, from Dallas, Texas was competing in the team roping competition, in which a pair of riders race after a calf, with one of them using a lasso to catch its neck and the other tasked with roping its hind legs. The fastest pair of cowboys wins.

Horner, 23, said he started roping when he was 15, following in the footsteps of his father.

“It’s a big family thing,” he said. “I love it. It’s a lifestyle.”

Alberta, Canada native Lindsay Sears, 31, said she was three when she started practicing the intricate skills required of barrel racing.

Nearly 30 years later, Sears is a two-time world champion in the sport, which requires riders to control their horses as they race around three barrels, then thunder back out of the arena.

Each rider has three chances to compete, but it wasn't as easy as it looks — each time they touched the barrels, five points were added to their final time.

“Barrel racing is an addiction,” Sears said. “It’s an adrenaline rush.”

About 30 cowgirls competed in the event, but amazingly, most of their hats stayed on their heads as they raced through the course. Though not a requirement, riders are best served to keep them on — they get pinned with a $20 “retrieval” fee if it flies off in the racing wind. In some competitions, competitors lose points if their hat falls off, as they do if their horse touches a barrel.

“Salinas (Rodeo) is one of the most prestigious rodeo events of the entire year,” Sears said. “There’s nothing like it.”

Ed Castro of Lakeside said he has been working with horses all his life but for him competing in the team roping competition is not an all-encompassing obsession, as it seems to be with many of the other riders.

An electrical contractor by trade, Castro said the competitions are more of a “weekend warrior” thing.

“I do it for the love of the sport and for the tradition,” he said.

Linda Key of Bryan, Texas, said she came to see her son compete in the team roping competition. Key said her son was inspired by her husband, who was also a roper.

“It’s pretty awesome to be able to do what you love,” she said. “Not everyone gets that opportunity.”

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The California Rodeo Salinas is located at

1034 N. Main St. in Salinas. For information, visit www.carodeo.com

Schedule

Saturday July 21st

10 a.m.

Gates Open

 

11 a.m.

Heritage Museum Open



11 a.m.

Kids Corral Opens

 

11:30 a.m.

Horse Parade (Downtown)

 

12 p.m.

Special Buckaroos Rodeo (Rodeo Track)

 

1:15 p.m.

Grand Entry & Rodeo: Salute to Military Day - Arena events: Bull Riding, Tie Down Roping, Bareback Riding, Team Roping, Saddle Bronc Riding, Steer Wrestling, Bull Riding

•••

Sunday July 22nd

10 a.m.

Gates Open



10:30 a.m.

Cowboy Church in Main/West Grandstands

•••

Saturday

11 a.m.

Heritage Museum Open



11 a.m.

Kids Corral Opens



11:30 a.m.

Horse Parade (Downtown)



1:15 p.m.

Grand Entry & Rodeo: Crown Royal Day of Champions - Arena Events: Bareback Riding, Tie Down Roping, Team Roping, Gold Card Team Roping, Saddle Bronc Riding, Steer Wrestling, Bull Riding



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