Wild Rides Thrill Audience at Rodeo

Spend even a short amount of time with the hardscrabble folks behind the chutes at any rodeo and a common trait will reveal itself.

Beyond the big belt buckles, the dusty boots, the painted on jeans and kitchen sink cowboy hats there is another, more telling commonality – Young and old, nearly every rider saunters with a creaky hitch in their gate.

Saturday night’s rodeo & wild horse race at the 109th Annual Southwest Washington Fair featured plenty of dust ups with the rough stock and even a few tumbles from the saddle mounted barrel racing women. But the wildest events, by nature, were relegated to the two wild horse races that bookended the more standard competitions.

That unique contest featured a fleet of mustangs captured just two weeks ago from the range lands of Eastern Washington. Teams of three men were assigned to each horse and tasked with capturing it with a rope and then mounting it and riding it around a barrel placed at the center of the arena.

According to organizers a wild horse race had not been held in Western Washington in at least 30 years prior to Saturday night, and upon review, it is easy to understand why. The contest is a blatant affront to the pursuit of self-preservation. But it’s also a whole lot of fun to watch. The wild horses not only bucked, they stood on their hind legs and kicked. Not only did they flee their pursuers with reckless abandon, but free running horses seemed to purposefully blindside riders who had succeeded in mounting their harried brethren. Other wild horse wranglers were dragged around the arena in endless loops as they stubbornly refused to release burning death grips on the ropes of their horses.

“That’s the first time these horses have ever seen a person in their life,” noted Pat Mclaughlin, a rancher from Onalaska who provided the majority of the rough stock for Saturday’s rodeo, including the wild horses and bulls. “Any team that qualified at this rodeo will be going to the Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. That’s a big deal.”

Mclaughlin noted that three teams managed to qualify for the national tournament, and perhaps more importantly, all the contestants were able to pick themselves up and make their way out of the arena under their own power.

“You’ll notice that most of these guys are Native American. This is the real deal,” said Mclaughlin. “These guys are so beyond tough. If there was (an injury), we’d never know it. This is their heritage.”

The wild horses weren't the only animals trailered in by Mclaughlin that turned in punishing performances on the night. To wit – Only two bull riders were able to register a qualifying eight second ride all night. The rest were cast away mercilessly and forced to scramble to safety, one after another.

“We had the cream of the crop of the riders here. The best of the best,” Mclaughlin said. “These cowboys know what they are coming to get on. They don’t (successfully) ride a lot of our stock, but when they do, they win.”

Dalton Davis, of Yakima, was the bull riding champion with a score of 88.5. Weston Grant, 28, of Toppenish, was the only other rider to stick a successful ride and wound up with the second place payout. Both riders were complimentary of Mclaughlin’s stock and repeated a popular phrase commonly uttered around the chutes, qualifying the quality of the bulls as “something you’d like to get on.”

Davis, 22, is no stranger to the myriad of injuries that lurk around every corner for bull riders. Most recently he shattered his foot during a competition in May. After surgery he insisted on returning to competition early and against doctors orders. He noted that his car broke down last week and he was forced to hitchhike to Chehalis for the show and said the $2,520 paycheck, along with the fancy champion’s belt buckle, couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

“It’s all about that money. It’s fun, don't get me wrong, but it pays the bills. It’s not a day job but it pays better than one, when you stay on,” said Davis.

Mckenzie Crosta was one of many bull riders who failed to tame their animal on Saturday. A 30 year old bull riding rooking from Manzanita, Ore., Crosta has only been riding bulls for about six months and Saturday was her first pro ride. Although she was bucked relatively quickly, she was still smiling afterward.

“I was super stoked,” said Crosta.

That’s the sort of reaction a person is prone to have after escaping unscathed from a tussle with a one ton beast. Even when a rider manages to dismount without getting gored or trampled, the whiplash of the writhing beef can wreak havoc on a human body.

“It’s like getting in a car accident,” said Crosta.

A volunteer firefighter and equine instructor in her day jobs, Crosta travels six hours round-trip to Yelm once a week in order to train with renowned bull riding guru Dave Danton. She says that entry into the sport includes a steep learning curve that can chase off many greenhorns.

Still, Crosta says that the most difficult hurdle for her has been overcoming the prejudices of men who don’t believe women should be bull riders. In fact, she says lots of gatekeepers of the sport have actively tried to keep her off of the backs of bulls but, in classic bull rider fashion, she steadfastly refuses to be deterred.

“It’s actually really hard as a woman because they don’t want us to ride because they don't want us to get hurt. Bull riding is old school,” said Crosta.

Crosta noted that the first place she was allowed to climb on a bull was at the Lazy HK Bar Ranch in Silver Creek. In the interim, she’s even managed to win the title for novice bull riders at the Lazy HK Rodeo series. Those hard earned advances have yet to silence all of her doubters though and so she continues to endure jeers and taunts from crowds, and even other riders.

“They say we have no business in bull riding. It’s my job to prove them wrong and show all of these little girls that are watching me that it can be done,” Crosta said.

Crosta first began riding livestock when her mother purchased her a horse when she was three years old. Crosta says the intent was for the horse to serve as a babysitter of sorts, and mostly to keep her busy, but she was too small to put the saddle on her new pony. If she wanted to ride, it would have to be bareback or nothing, so, of course, Crosta climbed on sans saddle.

“I like physical challenges,” Crosta admitted. “Now that I’ve started riding bulls, my mom says that was her mistake.”

Still, Crosta also admits that a wave of fear does wash over her every time she steps into the chute and straddles a hulking bull. In that moment, she says she tries to empty her mind completely.

“Mentally, it gets to you. The second I get on the bull, the second I step over the chute gate, it’s natural to want to get out. It’s your body's fight or flight response,” explained Crosta, who will ride next at the Lazy HK Winter Series in Silver Creek on Sept. 8. “I just try to think about nothing except kicking the s*** out of the bull I’m on.”

In other action, Kyle Bounds took home the big check and belt buckle in the bronc riding competition and Wyatt Hays wound up with a runner-up finish. Wyatt Grant was champion of the saddleback competition.

The top two spots in the barrel races were held down by a pair of Mint City cowgirls. Amber Mercer claimed the top prize, while Katelyn Buckman placed second. The next four spots were filled by Kyla Long, Diane Carter, Morgan Dudley and Rosemary Ayers.

A 25-year old who moved to Chehalis four years ago, this was Mercer’s first year competing at the SW Washington Fair.

“It’s a lot of adrenaline because you’ve got the crowd screaming and you’ve got the rough stock right on the edge of the arena and that was a lot smaller of an arena than I’m used to,” explained Mercer. “I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. This is new ground for me. A new arena for my horse. We were just going in hoping for the best and I guess we got the best.”

Mercer noted that she first got the horse bug when she was about five years old and her parents bought her a mustang. Shortly thereafter, she began helping her grandfather break in colts.

On Saturday, Mercer rode D.J., one of the colts she had broken with her grandpa, in route to her victory.

“He always said I could do it and I had the horse to do it,” said Mercer.

The barrel racing runner-up, Buckman, is a 2018 graduate of W.F. West who spent four years competing on the Bearcats’ equestrian team. She has been riding for seven years total and in the fall she will begin working out with the college equestrian team at Eastern Washington University. She noted that she first competed at the SW Washington Fair rodeo in 2015.

“I really enjoy supporting our fair and our rodeo because I know there’s a lot of people that enjoy watching it. I really like being able to ride in front of so many people that I know,” said Buckman. “Even though it was a little rough this year with a few riders getting hurt, it was still a good time.”

Indeed, at the rodeo, the motto that rules the day is “The show must go on.” Mclaughlin, the rough stock contractor from Onalaska, agreed with Buckman’s assessment of the evening’s spectacles.

“This is the first year we’ve done this rodeo. It was a good show,” said Mclaughlin, who began riding in rodeos when he was 15 and has spent the last 12 years as a stock contractor.

“I’d like to extend a big thanks to the Lewis County Commissioners and to (Fair Manager) Tamara Hayes for trusting in our outfit to put on this show.”