Excitement high at Rodeo de Santa Fe's opening night

Jun. 19—The first crowd-pleaser of the Rodeo de Santa Fe's opening night came early as 22 kids as young as 4 somersaulted off the backs of sheep twice their size during the popular mutton-busting event.

Organizers swept kid after kid off the ground for a high-five as crowds continued to fill the grandstands — with kettle corn, fried foods and drinks in hand — in anticipation of the real show kicking off soon after.

Each night of the four-day Rodeo de Santa Fe, which started Wednesday and will continue through Saturday, contestants will compete in "your standard rodeo events" including bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, team roping, tie down roping, steer wrestling, women's barrel racing and women's breakaway roping, said rodeo president Jim Butler.

The rodeo, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, is expected to draw crowds in the thousands to watch between 300 to 400 contestants from across North America, some of whom are world champions in their events, Butler said.

The Rodeo de Santa Fe is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, meaning all contestants are professional athletes angling to make it to December's National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nev.

The bucking horses and bulls at the rodeo are also "premier athletes" bred for the sport, said volunteer coordinator Lorri Sweat.

That's crucial because judges can award cowboys on a bucking horse or bull up to 100 points for their maximum eight-second ride, half of which comes from how hard the animal bucks.

All the stock for the rodeo — bucking horses and bulls, steers and calves — have come from the southern Colorado-based Kirsten Vold Rodeo Company, one of the largest and well-known stock contracting companies in the country, organizers said.

Kirsten Vold took over the company from her father, and the family has brought a few hundred animals down to the Rodeo de Santa Fe for 54 years now, she said.

Vold, who travels across the country to rodeos year-round, said it's an honor to be part of the Rodeo de Santa Fe. Reaching a 75th anniversary, she said, is "very unique" and a "huge accomplishment" for a professional rodeo.

"Your town is full of rich cowboy and cowgirl culture, history and tradition," rodeo announcer Garrett Yerigan echoed on Wednesday, eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd.

What draws people to the local rodeo is "the intensity of the competition and extreme fun of seeing so many people having a good time," Sweat said.

Crowds at the 2023 rodeo were the largest Butler, whose grandfather was one of the "founding fathers" of the Rodeo de Santa Fe, can recall in recent memory. The rodeo had to stop selling tickets on Friday and Saturday nights of the 2023 rodeo, which became standing room only after roughly 3,500 people entered the event, he added.

"This year, ticket sales are up, so I don't expect anything shy of having another fantastic year," Butler said before the rodeo's opening night Wednesday.

Excitement among fans was high out of the gate Wednesday for the first competitive event, bareback riding: The first cowboy, 24-year-old Evan Betony of Tonalea, Ariz., flew into the ring on the bucking horse Grubby Spoon and garnered the round's highest points, 84 out of 100.

Betony, a professional rodeo athlete for five years, "just carried on" the tradition of the sport from his father and uncles, he said after the ride.

It doesn't pay well — athletes only earn money if they place — but the excitement of fans keeps him going, Betony said.

"I got a son of my own," Betony said with a smile, "and he sees me as a superhero."