“The thrill of victory … and the agony of defeat.” This was Jim McKay’s famous introduction to ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” in the early 1970s. I found McKay’s quote when I Goggled inspirational quotes about victory. Another quote popped up and came from sportscaster Howard Cosell, “Winning isn’t everything but it sure feels good.” I think you can tell that by the photo of the Rodeo City Riders (RCR) with their first-place trophy from the Mid-Western Rodeo Parade. It sure felt good.
The journey to any victory is difficult especially when you are dealing with horses and the outdoor elements. Add to that rookie horses, injured horses and riders, conflicting work schedules, trying to get hay in, broken trucks, hitting a deer with your truck, layoffs, getting bucked off, sunburn, broken fingernails – OK, so I’m getting off track a little and too detailed – but I could go on and on.
The members who ride in the parade group are dedicated drill team and ground crew members. Practice for drill team starts in April and is held rain or shine, every Tuesday and two Sundays a month. Some of the girls drive over 100 miles round trip for these practices where arena and weather conditions are not always favorable. Due to this year’s drought, a common practice among the team was to wear eye protection and to wait to take your daily shower after practice – just our way of helping to save the earth by conserving water. Remember the old hippie saying, “Save water, shower with a friend”? Oops, getting off track again. After many a dusty practice, the removal of eyewear produced a racoonlike appearance around the eyes and blowing one’s nose was reminiscent of a long day putting up hay in a haymow.
Those days are behind us as we reap the rewards of hard work. The first weekend in July found the team at their birthplace, the Mid-Western Rodeo in Manawa. We were celebrating our 10th anniversary.
Way back in 1999, eight members of RCR carried American flags in the opening ceremony at the Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo. Our performance was a simple 3.5-minute routine to the strains of “Stars and Stripes Forever.” I have to laugh when I look back to that performance; we had about two practices and had no clue what music to use, only that it should be patriotic. We walked and trotted, and even cantered some. Yahoo! The adrenaline rush after leaving the arena was like no other. We were hooked, and the RCR drill team was born.
The team presently performs at rodeos throughout Wisconsin and upper Michigan. We are known for sparkly red, white and blue, intricate moves executed at a fast speed, high-energy music and big smiles.
This year’s team had 16 members and a first – Manawa Rodeo Queen Rachel Ziebell, Manawa Rodeo Princess Kaitlin Cleven and newly crowned 2010 Miss Rodeo Wisconsin Amanda Breitenfeldt, all rode on the team.
Twelve RCR members even helped display a huge American flag in the rodeo’s opening ceremony. We were more nervous doing the flag presentation than doing the drill. No one wanted to let that huge flag touch the ground or trip over their chaps when they ran backward to pull it open. The patriotic opening brought a knot to your throat, which swelled even more when Ziebell rose out of the Liberty Bell, American flag in hand, on horseback over 20 feet in the air. What an enormous reward for all of us to be a part of.
The team just got back from the UP Rodeo in Iron River, Mich. On Saturday, pass over-type rain showers came and went. They may have dampened our curls but were never enough to dampen our smiles. The 10 a.m. parade saw chilly, windy, sunny and cloudy conditions with springlike temperatures and rain showers, but amazingly never snow. The horses were all pretty frisky, and the six-horse hitches, larger than life Holstein on a trailer and a goat with a hat and hula skirt didn’t help matters either.
I kept looking for a rainbow during the parade; it was that type of weather. It showed up before the drill team performance at the rodeo that evening. It was a rainbow and a half, with the brightest spot at “the pot of gold.” It was beautiful and inspiring, another one of those rewards that can’t be bought, just experienced. I said a prayer of thanks like I always do before and after each performance.
We again helped with the flag presentation, this time adding Jeff and Clayton Fulcer to the crew holding the flag. We needed their strong arms to help hang on with the windy conditions. A five-person, flag-bearing military group was added to the opening. Looking into their eyes before marching in, wondering where they have been or what they have seen made the presentation even more moving.
We gave the rodeo fans in Iron River a colorful high-energy show and can’t wait to do it again next year. I was excited for the UP Rodeo Committee; the attendance was much improved from the last few years. The committee has been through some trying times with this economy and was rewarded for their hard work. Our congratulations go out to them.
Two events down and two to go: Viroqua Wild West Days and Brown County Rodeo in De Pere.
The last time we were in Viroqua was 2007, the year of the flood. I still have the surviving rubber ducky from that trip in my trailer. I will bring it out and set it on a table to memorialize that weekend. Maybe I’ll add a little rainbow to the display in hopes that a flood like that will never happen again.
In closing, I’d like to congratulate the Mounted Justice on their third-place finish in the Mid-Western Rodeo Parade. We’ll meet you there again on July 3, 2010, for another “friendly” competition.
I have a few more quotes to share with my friends on “The Justice.” This one from race car driver Al Unser Jr., “Besides winning, [the most fun thing is] getting out there and mixing it up with friends; it’s the competition.” And from Jerry Seinfeld, “People who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to.” I think that goes the same for people who listen to rumors.
See you at the RCR trail ride Oct. 17-18. See our ad in this issue of the Wisconsin Horsemen’s News.
Until next time, ride … ride wild!
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6/7/10 - 12:00PM