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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2018)
SPORTS FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2018 WOODLAND LEADS AFTER FIRST ROUND 3B 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS FARM-CITY PRO RODEO, SECOND PERFORMANCE Making a Dent Steven Dent wins bareback, bronc riding on Thursday night By ERIC SINGER & BRETT KANE East Oregonian HERMISTON — It was quite the night for Steven Dent at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo on Thurs- day night. Dent, from Mullen, Nebraska, made the trip back to Hermiston after a one-year hiatus and left town sitting in first place in both bareback and saddle bronc after a pair of big rides. He started off the night with an 85.5-point ride on Zulu Warrior from Calgary Stampede, holding off Richmand Champion (The Woodlands, Texas) and his 84.5 and edging Clayton Biglow’s 85 points from Wednesday. “Man, that horse was really good,” Dent said. “Kind of bucky once you set your feet, but the right kind, and a good horse to get a lot of points on.” Later in the evening in sad- dle bronc, Dent scored 84.5 points on Bookmark from Kesler Rodeo to jump to the top of the leaderboard as well. “I knew I drew good com- ing in,” Dent said after his bronc ride. “And I’d been riding good recently and usually that is a good combination.” Dent’s 84.5 points in saddle bronc wasn’t good enough to win the night or take first place outright, though, as Desdemona, Texas, cowboy Isaac Diaz scored 84.5 points as well, riding Kes- ler Rodeo’s Nickles & Dimes on the last ride of the night. Diaz said he’s been on that horse once before and actually received the same exact score. Diaz also said that he enjoyed being last in the round, just as most riders do. “Not only does it give you more time to pull your saddle tight,” he said, “you get to see who’s in front of you, too. And it just seems like the higher scores are towards the end. It’s proba- bly all in our heads, but we like being last.” Barrel racing Thursday night’s barrel rac- ing event was off to rough start as several competitors incurred 5-second penalties for knocking down barrels. “No more barrels down tonight — you hear me Jordan?” said announcer Randy Corely as Hermiston native Jordan Minor geared up to start her race. It was a close competition, but Minor was victorious with a time of 17.19 seconds, tailed by Cheyenne Allan of Mabton, Washington with 17.22 seconds, Staff photo by E.J. Harris Steven Dent of Mullen, Nebraska, rides Imperial Beach for 87 points in bareback riding. See RODEO/2B “This breed of horse isn’t so common anymore. We’re here to keep the legacy alive.” — Todd Radermacher, Budweiser Clydesdales trainer Beer delivery, the old-fashioned way By BRETT KANE East Oregonian Rodeo-goers can catch a glimpse of American history as the Budweiser Clydesdales ride through Farm-City this year. The act has been touring the country since its inception on April 17, 1933, when Prohibition was abolished, and a team of Clydes- dales drew wagons of Budweiser beer across New England, mak- ing deliveries to former New York governor Al Smith and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The tradition is alive and well to this day. Three separate teams tour west, east, and central United States, including yearly public appearances at the Rose Parade in Portland and the Hollywood Christmas Parade. The team, led by trainer Todd Radermacher, will perform in the Farm-City Pro Rodeo arena this week, demonstrating the horses’ precise maneuvers, and offer an example of how the beer was once delivered. Ten Clydesdale draft horses also will be on display near the rodeo grounds. They’re housed in a large, red Budweiser stable that allows fans to get a closer look. The horses stand upwards of 6’4” at the shoulder and weigh over one ton. Radermacher spends his time before each show bathing and grooming the horses, making sure they’re ready for each big appear- ance. There are specific qualifica- tions a horse must meet to be pre- sented to the public. “We like the horses to have four white stocking feet, a white blaze on its face, and a darker mane and tail,” Radermacher said. Radermacher tours the west with seven team members, ten horses, and two Dalmatians, which are also a staple of the show. Tra- ditionally, the dogs watched guard over the wagons during deliveries in the past. Based out of Fort Collins, Col- orado, the crew typically spends over 340 days out of the year on the road. “The show’s been around for 85 years now. This is the fourth gen- eration that’s been able to experi- ence this,” he said. “It’s a special thing for grandparents, or even great-grandparents, to get to take their families to see the same show they got to see when they were kids. Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Budweiser Clydesdales are driven into the Farm-City Pro Rodeo arena during an intermission in the rodeo on Thursday in Hermiston. The act has been touring the country since 1933.
