All told, the 2014 Long Island Lake Amateur Rodeo could not have gone any better.
“It went really well,” said Long Island Light Horse Association member Hope MacIntyre. “The stock contractor said it was probably one of the smoothest rodeos we’ve run.”
The rodeo took place on June 14 at the LILHA’s saddle grounds not far from the shores of Long Island Lake, and faced a small challenge right off the hop. Eighty-four teams entered the team-roping event, MacIntyre said, so they had to fill the slack time with weeding out the top 10 teams to compete during the afternoon show.
But once that was all sorted out, with the bright sun and cool breeze, it was a great day at the arena.
Numbers at the rodeo on both sides of the fence were down slightly, she said. For spectators, she chalked that up to there being a lot going on that weekend.
As for competitors, it was a dual hit of several competitors making the decision to turn pro, and going up against the Goose Lake rodeo. Even with those two factors, things worked out in the LILHA’s favour.
“We have a bunch of new, young ones that are coming in and trying out things,” MacIntyre said.
This year’s rodeo featured several strong performances in different events, but perhaps the most unique was the one put on by Drake Wasieczko in team roping.
MacIntyre explained a competitor can enter the event as many times as he or she likes, with a different team each time.
Wasieczko took full advantage of that, qualifying two teams in the top 10 and winning first and second place in the final round. All at 13 years old.
“He walked out with a big wad full of cash in his pocket,” she said.
In other events like the bull riding, bareback riding or saddle bronc, where riders fight to stay on their animals, it became clear it wasn’t going to be easy to win. In fact, no riders posted a qualifying ride in the bull riding.
That challenge led MacIntyre to credit the stock contractor with bringing his ‘A’ game.
“He had some great horses in there that really bucked out well,” she said.
With the fifth annual rodeo under their belts, MacIntyre said it’s time to relax a bit before getting cracking on the 2015 rodeo.
Planning will start in the winter months, she said, as the organizing committee follows a spreadsheet outlining what needs to be done when in order to ensure the event is put together in time.
Even with the list, it’s still a massive undertaking, and the LILHA will take as many volunteers as it can get.
“It’s a huge undertaking for the very small group we have,” MacIntyre said. “We’re dedicated, obviously, because our whole world stops when we’re doing this.”
Any interested in volunteering to help with the 2015 rodeo is asked to call Joy Rea at 780-221-2659.
