From Rodeo Drive to Rodeo Houston

I lived in the LA area while the husband was in law school. Though not excessively wealthy with the husband being in school and all, I did enjoy the occasional visit to Beverly Hills. I liked walking around Rodeo Drive and heading over to Sprinkles for an overpriced, decadent, cupcake. While living there I didn't realize how immune I had become to the culture. The LA culture is full of overly-thin and very stylish women of all ages. There are a multitude of Sushi bars, Tapas restaurants, and hip clubs of all kinds. There is tons of high class shopping and little boutiques where you can get the latest fashion. This is a place where when you said RO-de-o all the real Californians (as much as any of them are "real") knew you were just an out-of-towner, mispronouncing Ro-DAY-o Drive.

Then I moved to Texas. Where there are real Rodeos. I had never been to one and was curious, so the husband, baby, and I went seeking adventure and headed to our local Rodeo this afternoon. The husband and his fellow co-worker (from New Jersey) had a highlighted program of things they felt the need to investigate. Mutton Bustin' was at the top of the husband's list. He had a law school exam over this very subject and his curiosity drove him. So, as soon as our feet hit the pavement we went over to the Mutton Bustin' arena. (Note: it is "Bustin'," not "Busting." If you say "Busting," all the real Texans will know you're just an out-of-towner.)

Mutton Bustin' is not for the faint hearted. I'll try to describe the scene. Imagine a white tent over a dusty arena that is surrounded by hundreds of parents with strollers, toddlers, and children ages 3-6. There are gates at one end of the arena where children between the ages of 3-6 weighing less than 60 pounds are slapped up on top of a sheep. When the child is "safely" mounted with a football helmet and flack jacket on, the gates open and the child on top of the sheep hopes he or she can hold on for 6 seconds to earn a score and hopefully qualify as the winner (I guess it is a smaller-scale version of bull riding.) The sheep burst out of the gate, as only sheep can, and sprint across the arena to a fellow lone sheep wandering around the other end of the arena. This lone sheep is what I call a "decoy" sheep to lure the others across the arena. Sheep are stupid and more than one of them kept running and banged its head on the railing at the other end. After several children have a turn there is quite the herd of sheep at the other end.

As you watch these children a certain respect and awe starts to grow. Some children would fall off immediately and cry while others hung onto the sheep until the stiff "bump" at the other end of the arena. It was impressive. So impressive that I feel like pictures will speak louder than words.

This is the decoy sheep that was wandering around the arena until some fellow sheep joined her.

At the beginning many children fell right off the sprinting sheep. Poor kids. My heart was pounding and I feared that the children would be trampled, but the sheep were too intent on getting to the other side to join their fellow friends.

Then some of them showed impressive prowess by holding on for dear life. Some even held on and were dragged along with the sheep.

This poor kid did so well and got a lot of cheers, but he still didn't make as good of a time as the little girl who went before him. Though I thought he deserved a reward for effort!

Never a dull moment. From high fashion and shopping to watching a determined four-year-old getting bounced off the back of an excited sheep. You say Ro-DAY-o; I say RO-de-o.