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Blog Entry 38 of 47 The Dog Blog : Tales From The Dog Show Circuit & Other Sundry Ramblings

This cast of characters mainly has four legs and eats from a metal bowl on the floor. I've been involved in the sport of purebred dogs for almost 20 years, competing in shows, hunt tests and occasionally breeding. My merry band of twits consists of a bunch of Weimaraners aged 6 months to 11 years and one rare breed Bracco Italiano who is cuter than all of the rest of them (and knows it). I recently finished my 19th show champion and hope to reach the 20+ champion mark by the end of 2008. Showing dogs is a unique sport involving a lot of interesting and eccentric people from all over. The dogs are just dogs - but the people make these events worth going back to over and over again. I have stories from the past to tell along with new entries and current travels.

Blog Url: http://coloradosprings.yourhub.com/~Amysfalconblog

River City Roundup : Preamble to a Yee-Ha

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Contributed by: Amy Fast on 9/25/2007

Having worked for the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboy's Association) for nearly six months, I am becoming learned about rodeo, in ways I had never contemplated. My life, prior to becoming the PRCA web publisher, had brief brushes with ideas of western nostalgia, western lifestyle and the history of rodeo. My senior thesis in college was about Charles M. Russell, the famous "cowboy" artist who lived in my birthplace, Great Falls, Mont.

Rodeo, in my assumption, is the only visible venue left of this mostly vanished way of life. There are still ranches and real cowboys but they're not met with the same cultural fascination as they were in the late 19th century. Russell, in his musings, wrote about the closing of the open range was a turning point in the history of the United States. The core idea of real freedom and wilderness had shrunk to small lakes across the west, instead of an entire inland sea of grass and plains.

Later this week, I am going to the River City Roundup in Omaha, Nebraska. I have been all over this country by car, mostly as a function of showing dogs and occasionally going to hunt tests. I pack the dogs up and head out for hours across flat and sometimes desolate roads to one-stoplight towns with dog shows. From the rodeo competitors' blogs, it does not sound dissimilar to the gypsy lifestyle of the competitive cowboy. The principal difference would be cowboys win hundreds or thousands of dollars. When I win at the dog show, I get points, ribbons and lighter pocket book for the effort.

My only nerves exist in unexplainable expectation. I am not a cowgirl. I wear Tevas and ratty blue jeans when no one is looking. The feminist in me quietly despises it when someone calls me "little lady". The album in my CD player right now is Paul Oakenfold's "Bunkka". I didn't know who LeeAnn Womack was at the annual Cowboy Ball back in July. I am part computer geek and part bohemian. This is not a point of snobbery on my part, just an admission I've pretty much been circling a different cultural airport for the majority of my adult life.

There seems to be a fashion consciousness around rodeo that transcends readily observable details. Like the women at the dog show wearing Armani suits with tennis shoes, subtle hints of "this belt" and "those boots" might define me before a simple "hello" and smile to those I meet. Then again, these are only assumptions, and I am inviting reality to replace them with far more interesting truths and details.

Bull riding is the performance I am looking forward to watching the most. There are fantastic photos coming across my desk, almost weekly. The unbridled insanity of a person willing to jump on bull's back is something to anticipate witnessing in person. I am sure most who are reading this are silently snickering as they've been to many rodeos, and seen hundreds of performances. This will be my first rodeo.

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