It would be nice to say the sun always shines on St. Paul Rodeo Week. But of course it’s hit-and-miss.
That said, beautiful weather contributed to an outstanding celebration in St. Paul last week as residents and visitors, local businesses, and community organizations headed outdoors and had a great time.
The food! Pancake breakfasts, lots of cowboy fare including a chili cook-off, a barbecue and a beef-on-a-bun supper, a Ukrainian lunch, and plenty of concession stands kept everyone fed all week long.
There were beer gardens, live music, art sales, kids’ activities, and family entertainment. The huge parade Saturday morning celebrated the centennial of the RCAF.
And, of course, there was plenty of rodeo action. The Lakeland Rodeo Association presented five full competitions at Clancy Richard Arena during its Finals week with top-level riders and ropers going all-out to win some prize money.
Horsemanship, practice, and experience provide the edge for steer wrestler
Rodeo traces its roots back to the 1820s, with ranchhands challenging each other to informal ranching skills competitions. Now it’s a professional sport, with serious athletes competing for serious prize money.
But rodeo never left the ranch. The skills—horsemanship, roping, and handling livestock—are still a ranch hand’s or cowboy’s stock in trade.
Jordan Ness competed in the steer wrestling event at the Lakeland Rodeo Association finals in St. Paul on the weekend. As a former Junior A hockey player with the Drayton Valley Thunder, he understands an athlete’s approach to game day.
“Lots of practice,” he said. “Lots of practice, good teams around you, good horses. And whenever we get home from the weekends throughout the week, practice every once in a while and sharpen our skills.”
Ness approaches steer wrestling the way he played hockey: be ready, and stay loose. But being ready requires a bit more mental preparation for rodeo than he would do for a hockey game.
“For me personally, it’s changed. My hockey preparation was I could just turn it on and off from the bench,” he said.
Now, though, he says “I have to get a little more dialed in. More of a routine and maybe a little bit of superstitions come into play on the rodeo side. But for the most part, as long as you have it in your mind before you ride in, things should go good.”
Ness declined to reveal his pre-ride superstitions beyond saying it’s just some old rodeo traditions—nothing spooky. “Nothing really that totally affects my day,” he said.
He doesn’t do a lot of gym work or other dry-land training to prepare for steer wrestling contests. He knows there are top riders, and some aspiring to that level, who have thorough training regimens. “Some more than most,” he says.
In our interview Ness often returns to the value of “staying loose” in competition. A ride might only last a few seconds, but in that time there are countless ever-changing variables that can affect the outcome. It’s important to be able to adapt on the fly, and there’s no substitute for experience.
“The more you do it, the better you get at reacting to cattle,” he said. “That’s why my preparation is I like to stay loose, because every situation is different—especially in the steer wrestling. There’s my horse’s mind, the hazing horse’s mind, the steer’s mind, my mind, and the hazer’s mind.
“That’s a lot of things that can go wrong.”
As in all rodeo events on horseback, success depends on excellent teamwork between the rider and the animal.
“You’ll see the guys who are very successful are more often than not really good horsemen. And you see it especially in the barrel racing. Those ladies are pretty handy. They ride some fast horses and they can do a lot of things in 13 or 14 seconds,” Ness said.
He says a good horse and rider combination can often work just by feel. “Last night with my horse, even I knew he was ready to go. So I didn’t want to take long in the corner and it was just off we went,” he said.
“You definitely get a feel, but you also have to have the ability to get on other horses and be able to do the same job.”
Great captures Jeff!