‘Drive-in rodeo’ gets cowboys back in the saddle in season shortened by cancellations

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    JOLIET, Mont. (Billings Gazette) — Rodeo is back in Montana, even if it didn’t look much like a regular rodeo.

There were only a few cowboys on a few saddle broncs, with no bulls, barrel racers or even a clown. For laughs, there was a short-legged dog race, mostly corgis and a tiny dachshund named “Wiener” who won.

“I’m just so glad to be out of my house, to be with other people, to have a conversation with another person, in person,” said Willa Granger.

Billed as a “drive-in rodeo” and hosted by the Sankey Pro Rodeo family on their ranch outside Joliet, the Saturday and Sunday events were organized with the guidance of Carbon County health officials.

About 100 fans parked around the arena Saturday, many sitting on lawn chairs in the bed of pick-up trucks. Kids ran wild and free.

Granger attended after seeing a notice about the rodeo in her Facebook feed. She’s staying with friends in Cody, Wyoming, while work is done on her home in Roseburg, Oregon.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not even that big of a fan of rodeo, I just wanted to be with people,” she said. “But who cares? Have you seen those cowboys?”

Those cowboys were all young men who had seen most of their spring season disappear to COVID-19 cancellations. Some had traveled hundreds of miles to ride in this backyard rodeo – and for free. There was no prize money.

The Calgary, Alberta, cowboy Keenan Reinhart drove from where he’s been staying in White Sulphur Springs, and it was worth the drive. He scored a very respectable 84 points on his first ride.

“We all just want to get on,” he said. “Some of us haven’t been on a bucking horse in months. We wanted to take our chances, you know, get it while we can.”

Rodeo announcer Will Rasmussen called the action like he was at the national finals. He was as glad as anyone to be back with the sport he’s been with for more than 25 years.

“We decided to have this here not knowing if anyone would even show up,” he told the crowd. “We decided to do it just because we love it.”

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