Liz Twan photos
Melisa Rosette of Springhouse, holding the cowboy boots, can afford to laugh because she knows that she doesn’t have to race in her stocking-feet across the muddy rodeo arena to re-claim her boots, unlike the contestants in this heat of the ranch saddle horse race had to.
She volunteered at the Stampede (in the catch-pen, taking ropes off cattle) and at the Ranch Challenge. She has (in her arms) all the cowboys’ boots belonging to the contestants in heat one of the Ranch Saddle Horse Race which she promptly scattered all over on the opposite side of the arena.
When the signal to start came, the contestants had to race through the mud and find and put on their boots before running over to pass a rope to their teammate who then had to catch his horse and saddle it up.
The first team saddled up and across the finish line was the winner. Chilco Ranch won the first day (Ranch Saddle Horse Race Champions) and the D Lazy S Ranch won the second day.