The American West

It's not a movie or a set… people wake up and live this life every day.
I showed up in this small town early to get a good parking spot for the fireworks show later that night. I missed the small town parade this year, but there was a rodeo across town, so i went over to check it out. As in many cultures around the world, skills necessary for many families' livelihoods around here are demonstrated to others in the community. In the American West small towns practice that tradition through rodeo. This one was held in the tiny town of Bridgeport, California, population maybe 300, adjacent to 1000+ acre Big Meadow, where cattle are managed in the ways demonstrated in the rodeo. The participants are from roughly a dozen neighboring ranches. Events include "doctoring", roping and tying up the feet of a steer so you can vaccinate him against disease, and one where the cowboys get three sections of portable fence out of a trailer, then round up four steers into the trailer. This "bucking broncos" portion involves trying to ride a bucking horse for 8 seconds, a skill necessary to ride a horse for the first time. Most rodeos have events scaled down for children, so they can develop the skills needed to handle much larger cattle later on in life.
#smalltownusa #AmericanWest #rodeo #Americana #photography