Muddling Along

You never saw so much mud. Steer wrestlers skied on it, wallowed in it, and after their runs they were slathered from head to toe. They looked like they were preparing for jungle commando duty. (Your camouflage has a distinct odor of cow poop, soldier.) The rough-stock riders came back to the ready area bubbled in brown. Their chaps are singular badges of honor so forgive the occasional dainty lift after a ride to try to keep them semi-clean.


Scott Montague returned after his championship bareback ride to pick up his custom-made hat (the work of his brother), dump the watery mud from within, and bench the caked sombrero. “I think she’s a goner,” said Scott. “I’ll give it back to my brother. Maybe he can do something with it. Or we’ll put it on e-bay.”

Cheyenne Frontier Days arena is big and long. It has a history like no other. Pro cowboys and cowgirls live to make the final Sunday. The last three days of this years “Daddy” were damp. Make that wet. No, swamped. No one minds the rain, mind you. This is ranch country and the land’s been parched for many years. Give us rain. And for shooters – still and video – mud flying makes for some unbelievable pictures. Sure a tripod might get blotched and a few shirts destined for the dry cleaner in the sky. But what pictures! Here’s a taste for you from photographer Rick Carpenter and our own video-meister Mike McCrimmon:

Click here to see all CFD Mud Flying Images and Video