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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.