Page 185 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2024 SPAIN

I met the young men and women who
are the throbbing lifeblood of today’s Cody
Nite. I met a few from the generation who
were yesterday’s stars, some with replaced
knees, hips, shoulders – but still part of the
action. Most promising of all, I met the fu-
ture: wide-eyed youngsters, full of starlight
dreams, who long to fill the boots of their
parents and grandparents.
I watched hope-filled athletes on horse-
back practice epic lasso skills – preparing
to rope calves that would soon bolt from an
arena stall. I watched their sisters coax
beloved horses through intricate twists and
turns on a dusty parking lot dance floor –
preparing for upcoming barrel races.
I smelled fear eking through a protec-
tive shield of single-minded determination
as one young man tucked his leather-
gloved hand beneath the braided rope
wrapped around the barrel chest of a
snorting, stomping bull whose back he’d
eased himself onto – and hoped to ride –
for eight long seconds.
I saw a gaggle of men, cowboys in their
early 20s mostly, huddled together, arms
entwined around one another. Their group
hug offered mutual support, encourage-
ment, maybe a prayer or two. They were
rodeo family.
In a dim corner, I found Kanin Asay ad-
justing a brace on the arm of his 12-year-
old son, Kasen. The boy was fresh off a
bumpy Cody Nite Rodeo ride - a walloping
8-second pounding on a bucking steer.
I worried that the boy had been hurt.
No, Kasen assured me. “I wear this to re-
mind myself to keep my arm out there
when I’m riding.”

The Cody Nite Rodeo is the ultimate
field of dreams - a great place for
wannabe rodeo champs to get the
experience needed to mount successful
rodeo careers. In its 85-year history, the
rodeo has produced at least 50 world
rodeo champions.
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