Tina the Princess: Colorad-eo

You know it, of course we went back to the rodeo! This year I absolutely made sure I did not forget my camera so I could bring you the best, well better, photos. And we had better seats this year too. I'm nearly embarrassed to say we booked in advance to be sure of better seats. I needn't have worried as the row in front of us was empty! Well sure isn't it good to be prepared.

Of course what rodeo could start any other way than with a ra ra-America display and a reminder of how great and free it is?!

In fact so prepared we were, we had bought westerny shirts (that were on sale) in Old Navy during the week. Last year we stood out from the crowd because we didn't have cowboy hats. This year we thought we'd made a small gesture to the cowboying fraternity.

I think our seat neighbours were impressed we'd made the effort. Well I'm sure they would have been had we told them.

We saw most of the same events as last year, there wasn't any mutton bustin' sadly. But we did get to see the Miss Rodeo Colorado coronation. I'm not joking.

This is the moment; when one Miss Rodeo Colorado hands over her crown (yes, an actual crown which goes over their cowboy hat) to the new Miss Rodeo Colorado. As I'm sure you can imagine it was an emotional moment...lost on Megann and me.

The rodeo is really like nothing else I've ever seen, and to be quite honest I don't think it would even be legal inside the EU. But animal rights aside, who doesn't love a good night out with cowboys?! (I could be wrong, but wasn't Linda McCartney a big rodeo fan? No? Ok then.)

I put together this montage of video clips from all the events we saw:

I know it looks like there were as many people there as it does during a UTV report of a Saturday at Seaview but there really were a lot more people than it looks. As I'm sure Crues fans say too.

You really do sit there with your mouth open at what you're seeing. Whether it's someone getting thrown all over the place on a horse or bull or someone being able to wrestle a steer (check me out with my rodeo lingo) and tie its legs in 5.7 seconds. Like Megann said she can't even tie her own shoe laces in 5.7 seconds! Your brain just cannot take on what you're seeing.

Obviously I took pictures too, ah the added advantages of bringing your camera! I stand by last year's declaration that none of these things are on the good side of crazy.

That white thing mid air is his number. Yes, he was being thrown that violently his number fell off. Bodes well for his spine, don't you think?

Team roping. So much precision happens in such a short space of time.

Real cowboys wear pink shirts.

Their horses just stand there so still.

Of all the events bull riding has to be the craziest.

Not just for the bull rider, but for the ones inside the ring which distract the bull enough so the rider can get away. There's a guy inside the barrel. According to the programme he's a 'Professional Clown and Barrelman'. I'm sure it's what he always saw himself doing.

You can just see his head pop out of the barrel.

Our seats were up at the riding events side of the arena so we could see all the competitors. I loved watching the build up to their events and seeing how relaxed they were. They just stood there and chatted like it was no big deal.

I think on balance though, compared to last year it had been better. The standard was better last year, maybe because we went later, so the all-comers were knocked out and it left the real pros, I'm not sure. But that is a worrying sign; I am able to grade my rodeo experiences and know what makes a good rodeo. I mean, really?

Aside from the rodeo events that were on we had a couple of horse displays too.

These are the Clydesdales. And on the stage coach is the Denver equivalent to Noel Thompson and Barra Best. Oh yes, the stars come out for the rodeo!

These are the Westernaires, a local horse formation group that do all sorts of fancy things riding with American flags.

But our favourite thing of the entire night was a horse called Justin Boots (or JB to his friends). Jerry, his trainer, is a horse whisper type - he got JB to do everything without so much as rope or reins. Take a look at the videos I took:

Not a rein in sight!

Then his wife (Jerry's, JB is still looking for that lucky lady) came out in their truck and JB jumped into the back of it while she waited.

Well if that impressed the next thing was this:

JB: The Wonder Horse! (I can't help but feel the first week in January is awfully early to be finishing up your 2011 rodeo calendar, but what do I know about rodeos?! Or wonder horses for that matter.

At the end we tried to take a picture of ourselves in our cowboy-esque shirts. But they were a bit rubbish. A girl saw us trying and offered to take it for us. Very nice of her.

And not a bad effort at all but I look so full of the cold!

Once we had our coats and all on and were ready to leave, we turned back to the girl who had taken the photo and there she was chatting with her friend, only the newly crowned Miss Rodeo Colorado! I kid you not. Of course I took a photo of her for you.