Editor’s note: This story was updated Monday to include a weekend summary and provide the total cash amount awarded to competitors.
Returning for its 96th year, the Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo kicked off Thursday evening at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds under a spectacular Colorado blue sky and sinking yellow sun.
Three nights of competition came with $91,351 in cash prizes Thursday through Saturday. Saturday evening wrapped up one of the most celebrated local summertime gatherings with a sold-out audience.
In the stands, crowds cheered to encourage athletes in team roping, bareback riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing and more.
Ute Mountain Rodeo chair Bentley Colbert said what stood out was the level of crowd intensity: “Ninety-six years in, and this community still shows up like that – it never gets old.”
Night one welcomed a crowd of several hundred in an opening performance blending historical tribute, prayer and patriotism. The announcer began highlighting the history of the American cowboy originating in Spain, tracing it to the traditional Mexican horsemen – known as charros and virtual icons of Mexican heritage.
Energetic music and grandstand cheers filled the air while a woman on horseback, dressed to the nines in an embroidered flowing skirt, assumed center stage.
“This lead horseman established the cultures that define the Western herding today,” said professional rodeo announcer Jody Carper of California.
“Horsemen develop unmatched skills in roping, riding and herding,” Carper continued. “Today, this legacy lives on not only as the charro … but right here tonight at the Ute Mountain Roundup.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he yelled. “We call it rodeo. Are you ready?”
Cole Edward Phillips sang and played the national anthem on his guitar to close out the patriotic opener before Carper greeted the crowd in Cortez for what he called “America’s original sport,” by announcing the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the Women's Professional Rodeo Association and the event’s sponsors.
The Powder River Rodeo livestock have been owned and managed by Hank and Lori Franzen since the 1980s.
Along with the summer weather, Thursday’s festivities kept promises of the usual fanfare with a mixing of sport, pleasing food and upbeat music contributing to the arena’s high-energy atmosphere. The emcee detailed specific scores over the rodeo’s male and female events while peppering in banter with PRCA award-winning clown Dusty Myers as the duo engaged the crowd during ofttimes.
A major crowd-pleaser Thursday was the mutton-busting event, in which young children attempted to ride sheep. Five-year-old Lincoln Days won the event with an 86-point score while riding backward, earning a free pair of Justin Boots.
The Fraizer Carnival could be seen in the short distance, where at dusk the Ferris wheel stood picturesque before the backdrop of Sleeping Ute Mountain.
Many attending Thursday evening were locals who recall the memories of coming to the rodeo each year. Rachel Theobald described it as a cherished outing planned annually with her best friend as a “girls’ night out.”
She said the rodeo brings nostalgia and deep familiarity.
“I love the bull riding or barrel racing,” Theobald said. “I have lots of friends that barrel race. So, it's fun to watch it.”
While another attendee Amber Baraner recalled participating in the rodeo when she was younger and brought her young daughter Thursday as a generational tradition.
Behind the scenes, athletes enduring the physical toll were adjusted by Cortez chiropractor Kiviok Hight, who has offered his knowledge and time to help riders with their injuries for three decades.
He said he’s exposed to wide-ranging injuries occurring from “head to toe.”
Hight treats a range of common to new, acute symptoms for contestants. He said it’s any athlete from a team roper to the stock rider that may experience the rough-and-tumble, repetitive issues in events where he said “just about everything happens to them.”
“My favorite part of this event is seeing the athletes coming back year after year and being able to reconnect with them,” Hight said.
Hight also visits with and helps rodeo staff who happen upon the fairgrounds hospitality suite. On occasion, he’s cared for the spare sheep or horse.
He said he has learned a great deal from his own athletic background in high-intensity outdoor sporting featuring mountain biking, trekking, running, and kayaking. It’s personal insight on recovery he calls up when addressing rodeo athletes in the real-time throes.
“It is about how the injury relates to their life,” Hight said. “We all depend on our body day-to-day, and I want to be able to help them whether there needs to be changes or I'm just a part of their whole routine.”
awatson@the-journal.com
