After being thrown off his bull, the only thing Ramon Barracus of Edgewood, N.M. remembers seeing is mud.
“There was a big glob of mud stuck in my helmet,” he said.
There was also an angry bull looking for something to trample.
Barracus took off running, but the bull lowered his head and caught Barracus in his legs and flipped him head over heels as the crowd gasped. Barracus tore off his helmet and took off for the fence surrounding the rodeo arena. He made it out safely and later gave a thumbs up and a wide grin.
The bull riding event concluded the third annual Rio Arriba County Rodeo June 20 in Abiquiú. Billed as the “Showdown in Abiquiú,” the rodeo drew hundreds of spectators to the County’s Rural Events Center. After a dry start June 19, the Center was soaked by a steady rain the morning of June 20. The skies cleared in time for the 7 p.m. opening ceremonies, which included the crowning of 2009 Rodeo Queen Michelle Herrera, but during the saddle-bronc riding competition the skies opened again and a brief but heavy downpour turned the arena into a sea of mud.
The final competitor in the bull riding competition, Tommy Heck, of Cimarron, capped off the show by staying on his bull for the requisite eight seconds; he was the only rider out of 25 entries to do so. Heck took home $2,515 for his successful ride. It was the biggest purse of the Rodeo, which awarded over $22,600 in prize money.
In the bareback bronc riding, the competitors started with a clean slate June 20. None of the riders who competed the night before had stayed on their horses.
That changed dramatically, as all four riders June 20 stayed on their horses.
”That was as good a four-horse ride as I’ve seen in a while,” Donnie Bradley of Tres Piedras’ 6X6 Rodeo Stock said.
Bradley’s company provided the bucking horses, bulls and other stock for the Rodeo for the second straight year.
Toward the end of competition it looked like J.R. Chino, of Mescalero, N.M., would take the top prize with a score of 76 for his bronco ride. But Larry Carter, of Norwood, Colo., drew a second ride after his first horse failed to buck. Carter made the most of it, scoring a 77 out of a possible 100. He edged out Chino by one point.
“I don’t know what those judges saw,” Carter said. “(Chino) should have won.”
Chino was gracious in defeat.
“As long as both of us got a check,” he said.
Carter took home $593, while Chino pocketed $445 for second place.
As Bradley helped load the stock at the end of the Rodeo, he said he was pleased with the result, despite the fact that Heck’s ride deprived the company of receiving the event’s belt buckle. The buckle goes to the stock provider if none of the cowboys can stay on the bulls, and 6X6 took home the Rio Arriba buckle last year. Heck received the buckle this year.
“There at the end, the crowd was cheering for (Heck) and really getting into it,” Bradley said. “It was great.”