Preble County Fair to host rodeo event

0

EATON — Rodeo is a true American sport. The rodeo cowboy has taken the skills of the ranch cowboy and refined them with the perfection and precision required of all professional athletes. In time, rules were added to the contests imposing conditions and pressures that ranch cowboys do not have.

The Preble County Fair will be hosting its first Championship Rodeo, Monday, Aug. 1, at the fairgrounds in Eaton.

Starting time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

This rodeo will be co-sanctioned by the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA), and by the Mid-States Rodeo Association. The rodeo will operate under the IPRA rules and regulations.

Although many cowboys still come from traditional ranch or farm backgrounds, a number of rodeo competitors may have started in youth or high school rodeo events.

One significant change in rodeo during the past twenty years is the circuit used to run from spring until fall, but indoors rodeos in coliseums and arenas have made year-round rodeo competition possible. Rodeo competitors spend countless hours and many miles traveling from one rodeo to another.

The ultimate goal in rodeo is to win a world championship. The IPRA names its champions at the conclusion of the IFR Finals Rodeo in seven events: bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, cowgirls barrel racing, steer wrestling, tie down roping, and team roping.

These world titles are sought after and hard earned, but the title of IPRA Champion All-Around Cowboy is rodeo’s most prestigious. To win this coveted award, the cowboy must excel in numerous events, a difficult feat in today’s age of specialization.

Those who will participate in the Preble County Fair will compete for $4,000 in added prize money and championship points. This rodeo will be produced and contracted by the Broken Horn Rodeo, located in Ripley, Ohio. Broken Horn Rodeo will be bringing in outstanding world championship stock, which has been to the IRF finals and holds the honor of most active contractor the past three years in the IPRA. Join the action and fun. There will be Stick Horse races for the kids, two age groups (5-under, and 6-9.) No entry is needed for the stick horse race.

Call in date for entry is July 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Registrants should call 1-800-639-9002. Anyone wanting to enter must do so before the night of the event. These are IPRA rules.

For more information, contact: Broken Horn Rodeo, Jim McElroy, at 937-392-4608, or 513-309-5371 or email [email protected]. You may also contact the Preble County Fair Office at 937-456-3748.

By Oliver Sanders

[email protected]

Reach Oliver Sanders at 937-683-4062 or at Twitter @osanders_RH

No posts to display