No animals were hurt in the making of this rodeo.
That’s because at the Stick Horse Rodeo at the National Western Stock Show, kids six and younger compete in all events atop a simple stick bearing a fluffy, disembodied equine head. But they negotiate their way through some of the very same events — bronc riding, barrel racing, pole bending, calf roping — that the in the arena a few hundred feet away.
“Really good,” is how first-grader and Highlands Ranch resident Andrey Klamm assessed his “bull riding” skills Saturday, which consisted of dashing out of a tiny bucking chute and gyrating in the ring atop the stick horse.
His father, Bill Klamm, said his son, who he adopted from Russia when the boy was 2 years old, loves coming to the stock show.
“It builds the kids’ self-esteem so much,” he said of the event.
Kitty Bladt, a stock show volunteer who was in charge of Stick Horse Rodeo Saturday, said the event helps plant a seed for kids who might be considering a future in agriculture, animal husbandry or — for that matter — in professional rodeo.
“Just about everything that goes on in this tent is to promote agriculture, education and to show people their heritage,” she said.
Around 60 kids showed up for Stick Horse Rodeo, though about half that number actually lined the colorful wooden benches inside the ring, wearing matching blue bandannas, cowboy hats and chaps. Lucas Protsman, of Denver, was one of them. His mother, Stephanie, said the 5-year-old and his siblings “love the 4H thing.”
She said it’s difficult in Denver to amass horses and other large livestock but the family does have backyard chickens.
“We’re bringing it in little pieces to our home,” Stephanie Protsman said.
Overall, Stick Horse Rodeo was mostly a tame affair except when one overly eager rider lunged toward one of three barrels set up for the barrel racing segment. She took a digger in the dirt on one particularly ambitious turn but rose from the ground to a tent full of hardy applause.
“They look like they’re enjoying it,” said Laura Lahr, a Morrison mom who was there to watch her 6-year-old daughter, Ella, careen around the ring.
The National Western Stock Show continues daily until Jan. 22. Information on events and programming can be found at the .
