By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The 36th Annual Raton Rodeo took to the Jim Young Arena Friday night to put on quite a show for the large crowd that occupied the grandstands.
Jean Berry a long time member of the Raton Rodeo Association passed this last year and she was honored as her grandson Mason Berry led a riderless horse around the arena. Rodeo announcer Wes Huggins spoke how she was big part of the rodeo helping out where she could and noting that she would be missed.
Stock contractor Southwick’s Rocky Mountain Rodeo Company brought some of the best rodeo stock around. While some of the PRCA cowboys managed to ride em for points others found themselves coming up short or shall we say upside down as more than one cowboy found the soft dirt of the arena. The broncs proved difficult to ride the eight seconds but the bulls did even better with only a couple of the cowboys making the eight second ride.
The tie down ropers and team ropers didn’t fair much better with several teams only managing to wrap up one leg of the two required in team roping thus giving them a 5-second penalty. The tie down ropers struggled with fast calves and broken barriers.
World champion barrel racer Sherry Cervi set the standard for the girls last night with a 16.4 time on her run. Yet several of the ladies added to their total times when barrels fell adding 5-seconds on to their time.
Super fine photography!