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Bronc riding,
then nap time
 Young
cowpokes compete in Fort Bend County Fairs stick horse
rodeo
By JENNIFER LATSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 28, 2009, 7:09AM
Photo by
Karen Warren Chronicle
Fort Bend County Fair Princess Maci Rubesh, 5, tries her
hand in the barrel racing portion of the competition
ROSENBERG
Three children backed out before the bronc riding even
started, and two more ran screaming into their mothers' arms
after taking one look at the rodeo clown.
Three-year-old Trent Ramirez knew what to do: when the chute
door swung open, he took his stick horse for a flailing,
galloping ride, so wild his cowboy hat flew to the ground.
He didn't pause for the hat until his 8 seconds expired.
The Fort Bend County Fair debuted a new attraction as this
fall's festival season opened: the stick horse rodeo.
The Sunday afternoon event attracted about 20 up-and-coming
rodeo riders, ages 2 to 6, and slightly more spectators, to
the same arena that hosts the fair's more traditional roping
and riding competitions.
These pint-sized riders mounted stick horses essentially
broomsticks covered with felt and topped with a stuffed
horse head and competed in three classic categories: bronc
riding, barrel racing and pole bending.
Trent, a rodeo aficionado whose favorite movie is 8 Seconds
and who practices bull riding in an imaginary chute bordered
by his couch and coffee table, opted out of the latter two
events because, he said, they're for girls.
Prior to the first event, 2-year-old Mabi Farrel eyed her
stick horse with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. It was
unclear whether she'd know what to do with it.
It's nap time, her mother warned. We'll see what we get.
When the chute opened, Mabi took two steps forward and then
met the clown with the same blend of suspicion and
bewilderment.
She wavered, shifting glance between her mother and the
clown until the horn signaled the end of her 8 seconds.
A combination of heat, hunger and sleepiness took Mabi out
of the running for later events. She rode in a stroller to
the cotton candy stand instead.
Jess Stuart, executive director of the Richmond YMCA,
coordinated Sunday's competition and even crafted the
child-sized chute himself.
We tried to make everything miniature, he said.
Learning from the snags of the inaugural rodeo, he plotted
improvements for next year: a streamlined registration
process, warm-up time with the horses and maybe a later
start time to accommodate pre-competition napping.
Even children who cried in the chute warmed up to later
events.
They each earned participation ribbons that granted them one
free ride on the fair's mechanical bull. They also got to
keep the horses.
Trent, who won the bronc riding event, was hoping for a belt
buckle like a real cowboy but seemed satisfied with his
glittering blue-and-red trophy, topped with a golden horse.
He smiled a smile to melt his mother's heart, then waved his
stick horse in triumph.
jennifer.latson@chron.com.
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