{"id":104665,"date":"2016-06-10T17:22:03","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T23:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/roundup-rodeo-features-top-talent-this-weekend\/"},"modified":"2016-06-10T17:22:03","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T23:22:03","slug":"roundup-rodeo-features-top-talent-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/roundup-rodeo-features-top-talent-this-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Roundup Rodeo features \u2018top talent\u2019 this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CXw1YFquqOc\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dozens of cowboys and cowgirls competed in events such as bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding. They traveled from all over the Rocky Mountain West \u2013 from Idaho to Texas \u2013 to compete at the fairgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>The festivities continue this weekend at the fairgrounds with rodeo performances Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. A parade Saturday begins at 1 p.m. in downtown Cortez.<\/p>\n<p>The grandstands at the fairgrounds were nearly full Thursday, and Roundup Rodeo chairman Bentley Colbert said it\u2019s the biggest opening-night crowd that he\u2019s seen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re hoping for a third straight sold-out year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Colbert had been looking forward to the competition in barrel racing, and he said it didn\u2019t disappoint. Barrel racing should be even bigger on Friday, with more competitors, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Although there are some cowboys and cowgirls competing in multiple events this weekend, Colbert said that\u2019s rare. Rodeo events are so competitive that most cowboys focus on a single event, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The crew members running the show are some of the best in the business, Colbert said. Be on the lookout for some new things this year, especially at the beginning of the show, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re excited about doing some different things to start the rodeo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Colbert also was impressed with rodeo clown John Harrison, who provided the entertainment during the show. Colbert said Harrison will have something different each night for the rodeo show.<\/p>\n<p>A three-time winner of the National Finals Rodeo Comedy Act of the Year Award, Harrison entertained the audience Thursday with a dress-up gag and a trick-riding routine in which he rode a horse upside-down with his feet in the air.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison, who is from Soper, Oklahoma, said it was his first time at the Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo. He said he enjoyed seeing Mesa Verde National Park and being around the spectacular scenery. His kids couldn\u2019t wait to go to the carnival, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot about this rodeo, and it\u2019s great to be here,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n<p>Announcer Jody Carper, who is from West Texas, has worked the Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo for about seven years. He said the crowd Thursday was outstanding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know how the crowd could be much better, but it will get better every night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Carper, a professional tie-down roper, said he was looking forward to the performances and speculated that some arena records would be broken. The team roping and barrel racing should feature some outstanding competition, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery event has top talent,\u201d Carper said.<\/p>\n<p>Rodeo Queen Kelly Charles, of Cortez, said Thursday\u2019s attendance numbers were good for a rodeo opening night. A longtime Roundup Rodeo spectator, Charles said it\u2019s exciting to be named Rodeo Queen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to do this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Madelaine Mills, who is Miss Rodeo Colorado 2016, also attended the Roundup Rodeo on Thursday. Mills, from Castle Rock, said the show was a high-quality production with a great crew and big-name contestants. \u201cI love this rodeo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Mills was looking forward to Friday night\u2019s show, which will be Military Appreciation Night. She said honoring American heroes fits with the rodeo tradition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRodeo is a cool sport because it\u2019s about western heritage and American tradition,\u201d Mills said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be American.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:jklopfenstein@the-journal.com\">jklopfenstein@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-scoreboard\">\n<h4 class=\"scoreboard-title\">Schedule<\/h4>\n<p>Friday<br>\n                Third annual Rob Yates Memorial Cowboy Golf Tournament 8 a.m., Conquistador Golf Course<br>\n                Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo Military Appreciation Night 7 p.m., Montezuma County Fairgrounds<br>\n                Saturday<br>\n                Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo Parade, 1 p.m., Main Street. (Main Street will close from Maple Street to Mildred Road during the Ute Mountain Roundup Parade from 12:30\u20132 p.m.)<br>\n                Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo 12th Annual Tough Enough To Wear Pink Night, 7 p.m., Montezuma County Fairgrounds<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>of cowboys and cowgirls competed in events such as bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding. They traveled from all over the Rocky Mountain West \u2013 from Idaho to Texas \u2013 to compete at the fairgrounds. The festivities continue this weekend at the fairgrounds with rodeo performances Friday and Saturday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,13,60,937],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-104665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-montezuma-county","tag-rodeo"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104665"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=104665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}