Fans get early look at competition on Friday, July 7
Want to get a sneak preview of the action at the 50th Cheney Rodeo?
Sneak away for a long lunch or an early exit from work on Friday, July 7 for an event called “Slack” which starts at 1 p.m. Admission is $5 and gates open at 12:30 pm.
“We have had Slack of some sort as long as I have been involved,” Rick Edwards of the sponsoring Cheney Events Association wrote in an email.
Slack is a rodeo term Edwards explained. “It is when the contestants that cannot fit into the regular performance, or in rodeo terms, ‘perfs,’ participate for the purse.” Cheney’s slack event will feature 17 bronc riders and 24 barrel racers, Edwards said.
Because of time constraints and/or stock limitations — the stock contractor cannot buck his horses repetitively — not all contestants are included in the three shows, Friday, night, Saturday night and the Sunday matinee.
The “perfs” balance the maximum number of contestants of the seven rodeo events that include barrel racing, bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping into the time allocated and/or for stock available. What cannot fit in are placed in the Friday matinee.
“It’s pretty bare bones,” Edwards said. The announcer does not address the spectators, he only relays scores. No barrelman is used and not all seven events are represented. Bull riding and bareback are rarely represented in Slack.
There are no tickets sold and there will be no till to break down larger bills so try to bring exact change Edwards suggests.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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