BELL COUNTY, Texas — I hope you dusted off your boots and found your hats because the 35th annual Bell County PRCA Rodeo made its way to Belton from February 10th-11th.
People from all over Central Texas have made their way over to the Bell County Expo Center to get an up close look at bull riders showcasing their craft.
"You're hired to do that. You're getting a check to do that and you get to step in and then get away from it," Cliff "Hollywood" Harris, the rodeo clown, said. "Wooh! Let's go to next weekend its pretty fun."
It's a Texas staple and a pure adrenaline rush.
The Bell County rodeo made its way to Central Texas and it was a weekend full of boots, belts and cowboy hats.
You've got livestock, barrel racing, team roping, bull riding, and the fan favorite, mutton busting.
"I'm using my hands and holding on to the fur as hard as I could," Nate Hansen, 7-year-old 1st place mutton busting winner from McGregor, said. "I'm also trying to watch where I'm going."
You suit up, hop the gates and hold on for dear life on the back of a sheep.
"The first time I got in last place because I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing," Hansen said.
And what happened today?
"Well, I just won," Hansen said.
We've got a champion and maybe a future bull rider on our hands.
"My dream is to do it lots and lot of times," Hansen said. "I want to do it and be a bull rider sometime."
But, it takes thick skin to make it to the top.
"It hurt because I was run over by the sheep," Hansen said.
Okay, ouch! But, he's tough and that's when the rodeo clowns come into play.
Whether its bare back or bull riding, they provide the entertainment and most of all, safety.
"There's the guys who do the bull saving and cowboys saving and bull fighting. Then there's also the guys in the barrel telling the jokes, like me," Harris said.
A rodeo may be a show, but it's a difficult and dangerous sport.
"I've held three while they passed from this Earth. I've done this for 36 years. It's no game. These guys, they know what they're doing and they expect to be hurt," Harris said. "When you're so good you get hurt a lot less."
It's dangerous, it's thrilling and it's a whole lot of fun.
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