The annual Grain Millers Showdown New Holland rodeo announcer Brad Stenberg was back for his fifth year to share the excitement of rodeo with the many fans in attendance. "Every year I become part of the Harvest Showdown. I'm here for the whole week announcing the horse shows, the heavy horse division and the rodeo," Stenberg says.
Rodeo originated many years ago when cowboys used to chase those big herds of horses and cattle in the 1800s. "They'd get someplace and they'd want to let off a little steam and they'd kind of pull a horse out of the herd and see who could ride it. That's kind of how the saddle bronc event got started in the rodeo," Stenberg explains.
Over time various other events including the timed events were added. "Then some of those guys thought they were tougher than others, so let's ride some bulls," he adds.
The New Holland Rodeo offered all the rough stock events and all the timed rodeo events.
The rodeo opened with bare back riding. Retired past champion Michael Tuck came out of retirement this year and was on hand competing on the bare back bucking horse events, Stenberg reports.
In the saddle bronc event the rodeo featured some tough horses including F-Bomb which has managed to buck off just about everybody who tried to ride him all across North America this year, Stenberg adds. "The horse has a buck off percentage of 90 to 95 per cent, Stenberg claims.
Timed events included team roping, calf roping and steer wrestling as well as ladies barrel racing, featuring some of the top past champions of the Canadian Cowboys Association (CCA) and Manitoba Rodeo Cowboys Association (MRCA) as well as cowboys who've competed at the Canadian finals.
Both nights also offered some exciting bull riding action.
In addition to the competition, entertainment was provided by Duane Riechert of South Dakota who's been to the National Finals Rodeo and the Calgary Stampede. Riechert had his trained horses perform tricks to amaze rodeo fans.
Stenberg claims, "Rodeo is the greatest sport on dirt."
