PRCA Rodeo Championship Camp
Back in February I received an email about the one day PRCA Championship Rodeo Camp hosted by Hidden Springs Youth Ranch in Converse, Texas. The camp was sponsored by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and was taking place during spring break. I asked the boys if they were interested in attending and then signed them up.
Connor was especially excited for it and had been really looking forward to it. When we arrived at the camp, the boys got checked in and they each received a gift bag, a number to pin on their back, and a lanyard with their group name and schedule.
There were 8 stations that the groups were going to be rotating through plus a group demo, a break for lunch, and time at the end to go back to whatever station they choose. The first station the boys went to was the saddle bronc riding station. This was one of their favorites. They started out by practicing balance and then took a ride on a practice horse. They had so much fun taking a ride around on the practice horse.
From saddle bronc riding, the boys moved over to the bull fighting station. The bull fighter actually drove to the wrong town so he was running quite a bit late. Even though the boys didn’t get to learn from the bull fighter, they still had fun. They had fun running from the bull, which was a wheelbarrow, and Connor even got to be the bull.
The next station they went to was history of pro rodeo. They watched a video about the history of pro rodeo and took a look at some rodeo equipment.
Next up was bareback riding. I didn’t see what they did at this station because I went to go pick up lunch but I did grab a picture before I left.
I also missed the group demonstration which was after bareback riding. I got back right at the end of it but I was just in time to go in with them to brush one of the horses.
Once they were done, they took a break for lunch and then moved on to the roping station. This station was another one of their favorites. First they practiced roping on their own. It took JT a little while to get it down but he eventually got the hang of it. After that they tried heel roping and team roping.
After roping, the boys headed off to the next station to learn about the animals in rodeo and then they moved on to the bull riding station. They boys didn’t do the bull riding as much as they could have. Connor rode on it twice and JT only rode on it once. The bull had been out in the sun all day so they said that it was too hot for them.
The last station the boys went to was steer wrestling. First up, they learned the history behind steer wrestling. Then the boys each took a turn practicing the grab and then they practiced holding on to a rope that was tied around a tree.
Once the time was up for this last station, the kids were able to go back to whichever stations they wanted to. In the morning the boys had decided that they wanted to go back to the saddle bronc riding but they actually ended up going back to the roping station.
The boys had so much fun at this camp and I enjoyed watching and learning too. I’m so glad that the boys were able to attend. There are a few more camps scheduled for this year in other cities. You can check them out on the Pro Rodeo website.
Have your kids ever attend a rodeo camp? What’s your favorite rodeo event?
