A children’s rodeo was a popular part of this year’s Estevan Rodeo activities, with 24 children participating in the event.
Each youth who entered tested their skills Sunday morning in five activities: barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, stick horse roping and mounted shooting.
Event organizer Brandice Petterson said the organizers wanted to offer something for children during the weekend. The young people who entered ranged in age from three to 11.
“I was just trying to find something that would bring some of the kids in and let them do something that I thought was fun,” said Petterson. “My own kids participated in it, and they told me they had a lot of fun doing it.”
A few of the parents she talked to afterwards told Petterson they were really happy they came to the event.
“I know one of the parents, her two kids came to it. They actually came and went to the horse show, stayed overnight and stayed for the kids’ rodeo. They were able to make it more than just a one-day thing. They were able to camp overnight and make it a weekend.”
The rodeo arena was available on Sunday morning, so Petterson thought it was a good time to try a kids’ rodeo.
The young people aren’t quite ready for the ranch rodeo, she said, which took place after the children’s rodeo. That left the Estevan Parade and the light horse show as options for participation.
The children weren’t timed for their results, and they were presented with a prize at the end of the rodeo.
Two of the events, pole bending and barrel racing, saw the young people ride horses. The other events did not have live animals.
“It was a chance to let them see what it’s like to rope something, or to pretend to goat tie,” said Petterson. “And then the mounted shooting, that was just done with a water gun on the target. It’s something that’s not really a rodeo event, but it’s something fun for the kids to do.”
Petterson hopes the children’s rodeo can become an annual part of the rodeo. She has already started working on next year’s event, and she would like to see it expand to older kids in the future.
