4.2 seconds. 8 seconds. 15.4 seconds. At the rodeo, the clock is king, differentiating between winners and losers. For each event, cowboys and cowgirls are racing either to come in with the lowest time on the clock or to ride just a little bit longer than the clock time limit. Not everyone makes it, and some leave the stadium to a “No score” on the display board. But everyone gets a round of applause from a supportive crowd who are there to cheer on everyone in the arena.

We got to the rodeo early so we could get front-row seats – success!!

We arrived in Cody, WY after a day of driving across the state. 80mph speed limits and interesting rock formations on either side of the road provided a quick and easy drive from the east side of the state. We elected to stay one night in Cody before driving to Yellowstone, so that we could go into the park in the morning to find out campsite and explore. In Cody, we stayed in a small cabin at Buffalo Bill Village, just a few miles down the road from the rodeo arena. After a quick cheeseburger for dinner, we arrived shortly after the doors opened in order to get front row seats. We sat in Buzzard’s Roost just to the left of the shoot, behind the prep area for the broncs and bulls.

Barrel racing

Bareback bronc riding – all my pictures were a little fuzzy since it went by so quickly!

The event started with a small herd of horses running through the arena and then singing of the Star Spangled Banner. Finally, the rodeo began. This being a full rodeo, all of the usual events took place: bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and bull riding. Each event had between three and ten competitors, including a junior competition for younger riders for both barrel racing and bull riding.

Because of our seats, we were able to see the behind-the-scenes preparation before the bronc riding and bull riding. The cowboys got their horses and bulls ready, pulling on ropes and tightening cinches. For the riders, there was a lot of downtime sitting around and preparing, leading up to the few seconds they were actually riding and competing in the arena.

A cowboy preparing his gear for the next event

Cheers went up from the crowd every time a new rider entered the arena, and didn’t let up until they left. The announcer kept up a running commentary, not only of the event taking place but keeping the crowd engaged and laughing with his jokes and observations.

Q: What did the mother buffalo say to her baby boy buffalo when she was leaving?

A: Bison! (bye son!)

A clown and a junior bull-rider leaving the arena

After the last bull rider finished and the crowd started to dissipate, we sat in our seats a few minutes longer. A few cowboys were using the area for some practice, so we watched them for a bit. Finally, deciding it was time to go, we slowly walked out of the arena, passing by the pens containing the horses and bulls. It was a magical evening; something I had always wanted to do. We were happy to spend the evening in Cody at the longest running nightly rodeo; the rodeo goes every night in the summer and has been running since 1938. While not the largest or splashiest, we enjoyed ourselves in the intimate setting nestled at the base of the mountains. It was a night that we’ll always remember fondly and yet another memory to add to our growing bank of memories from our trip.