Saddle up

Eight-second rides and a month of events mean it is rodeo time in Clovis.

By Gabriel Alexander / Independent Staff Writer Monday, Mar. 31, 2008

In April, the city of Clovis becomes the set of a Western film.

The meanest bulls and wildest broncos are herded into town for the annual Clovis Rodeo, which is always held the last weekend in April. Horses trot down Clovis Avenue. Traveling cowboys play poker and guzzle beers in Old Town Clovis bars.

Some even have torn ears and gold teeth because of nasty falls in the arena.

One of the top 50 rodeos in the nation, the Clovis Rodeo attracts the best athletes both human and animal.

Descendants of champion bulls with names like "Lying Eyes" and "Rooster Foot" compete against the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's toughest men.

"It's judged as one of the top rodeos in the country," says Bill Hedrick, owner of Hedrick's Chevrolet in Clovis. "It's not a backyard deal. We get the best cowboys in the country and we get the best livestock in the country." Hedrick, who is on the Clovis Rodeo's board of directors, has been going to the rodeo since he was a child. Every year, he buys a new pair of Wranglers or boots and attends each rodeo event.

That's no small feat. Rodeo lasts all month in Clovis.

First there's the "ranch rodeo," an informal rodeo of local ranchers the first Saturday in April. Four-person teams demonstrate normal ranch activities in the arena and win prizes such as a saddle or denim jacket. Teams rope cattle, maneuver horses and separate cows from the herd.

Debbie Tweedy of Sanger is on a team of four women who compete in the ranch rodeo every year. "It's basically farmers and ranchers getting together and doing things you'd actually do on a ranch," Tweedy says.

Tweedy, the vice president of Fresno Madera Farm Credit, is the only member of her team who lives on a cattle ranch. One member owns an automotive repair shop, another member is the chief financial officer for a fruit broker and the last member is an office manager.

"We're not the best at it, but we have lots of fun," Tweedy says.

On April 12, local ranchers compete again during the jackpot team roping. The winner is the two-person team that ropes three steers in the fastest time. They take home a jackpot of entry fees.

Other activities in April include the annual Clovis Rodeo Parade, a golf tournament, Western art show, dance, blood drive and rodeo queen competition.

Every year the Clovis Rodeo selects a rodeo queen from a group of young women who can ride a horse, model Western wear and answer questions about the sport of rodeo. The winner receives a silver buckle, crown and college scholarships. The main attraction is the four-day weekend at the end of the month.

On Thursday, the Professional Bull Riders tour comes to town for a night of bull riding.

On Friday, the Clovis Rodeo kicks off three days of arena action with about $300,000 distributed in prize money. Each day cowboys and cowgirls compete in seven events — bull riding, saddle-bronc riding, bareback riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping. They earn points that help qualify them for a spot at the National Finals Rodeo in December. The Clovis Rodeo is one of 50 rodeos across the United States that qualify contestants for the annual finals in Las Vegas.

The local rodeo — now in its 94th year — began in the early 1900s when local ranchers gathered for an annual picnic and had wheelbarrow races, a parade and small rodeo.

"One ranch had a horse that couldn't be rode and another ranch had a cowboy who couldn't be throwed," says Mark Thompson, president of the Clovis Rodeo board of directors. "Someone put up 10 bucks and they had a rodeo."

Today more than 20,000 people attend the Clovis Rodeo and watch 300 to 400 cowboys from across the United States. The hotels are booked during rodeo weekend and the restaurants are packed.

"There's no way there's a vacant room by the time Friday rolls around,"says Shawn Miller, the city's business development manager.

Last year Miller brought a group of foreign travel writers to the Clovis Rodeo. He had to book their room four months in advance.

The writers were enthralled by the Old Town bars, the bull riding and the famous tri tip sandwiches sold outside the rodeo arena.

"It was interesting because they had never seen anything like the rodeo before," Miller says. "We take this kind of stuff for granted — the whole cowboy thing — but for them, this is what they've seen only in movies."