Mutton Bustin

Yep, that's me back in the day. Throwback weekend for me with the two girls who I tricked into thinking this was fun. Kylie and Chesney were the adventure junkies this weekend, taking on the wild woolies at the Draper Rodeo Saturday night. Kylie's a veteran, we entered her in the Muttin Bustin a couple years ago when she was Chesney's size, so this was her 2nd trip to the chutes. Chesney was easily the smallest competitor. They were required to wear the bike helmets, and opted to throw on the Disney princess elbow pads for looks - fashion before function for these girls! Kylie rode upright, using the bullrope setup to hang on. I had Chesney lay down and grab and handful of wool in each hand - shorter distance to the turf that way.

Have to admit that it's a proud moment for a dad when his little girls get a little nervous and scared about something, and make the decision themselves to take it head on. Both expressed fear in the chute (they'd watched 7-8 kids come out of the arena with mouthfuls of dirt before their turn), but neither needed any coaxing to stay on and do what they came to do.

Kylie landed hard, and Chesney got a mouthful of dirt - mainly due to me hanging on to her, smile. They were rewarded with a cowboy boot with a can of rootbeer in it, and a kiddie version of the satisfaction that comes from getting way outside of one's comfort level and passing a gut check - both got hurt a little and came up crying, and both are really proud of doing it and already asking about next year.