Around 20 people gathered Sunday morning to take in an animal athlete tour at the Williams Lake Stampede.
Delivered by Roy Call of C+ Rodeos near Williams Lake, the tour is meant to let people know how the animals are handled and treated during a rodeo.
“I’ve been at this for 35 years,” Call said as he stood in front of the fencing where two rough stock bulls awaited the day’s events. “In the beginning when people came to rodeos many of them were from the ranching community and knew the context.”
Today, Call said that context gap is huge.
“This tour, which we give on Saturday and Sunday each year at the rodeo, is a chance for us to talk about what, why and how we do it. For example team roping is an event we use every day on the ranch.”
Call told the tour goers this time of the year is known as “Cowboy Christmas,” because between June 27 and July 4 there are more than 40 rodeos events going on in North America.
He described how some cowboys will travel to several different rodeos during that time frame.
“Cowboys don’t compete against each other,” he said. “They compete against the animals and they really help each other out. If there’s an extra seat in a vehicle or on a plane and a cowboy needs to get somewhere, you just don’t say ‘no’.”
During his talk about bull riding, he said cowboys don’t get to pick the bull they will ride, but you can bet with social media they are keen to see any video footage of a particular bull’s performance so they might know what to expect.
Here are a few excerpts from Call’s tour Sunday morning.