Goin' Buck Wild

    Rodeo clowns, bull riders, barrel racers and fans gathered at the William Cherry Agricultural Expo Center last Friday and Saturday to attend the Bull Blowout.
    Held by Parsons and Milam Roughstock Contractors and Promoters from Buchanan, Tenn., the Bull Blowout featured competitive events from mutton busting to bull riding.
    Penny Parsons, co-owner of Roughstock Contractors and Promoters from Buchanan, Tenn., said mutton busting is an event in which children ride on sheep and goats around the arena.
    Parsons said the Bull Blowout also featured a calf scramble. Parsons said this is a race for children to grab tags off the ends of running calves.
    As a rodeo and livestock promoter, Parsons said she enjoys planning and organizing the Bull Blowout every year.
    “I’ve always enjoyed riding horses and dealing with livestock,” Parsons said. “I’ve always enjoyed rodeos.”
    With sheep, calves and bulls, Parsons said this year’s event had a high attendance.
    “It was a very good turnout as far as the audience and the contestants,” Parsons said. “It was a really great show.”
    Parsons said about 1,300 to 1,400 people attended the Bull Blowout Friday and Saturday.
    Kayla Stevenson, senior from Princeton, Ky., said the Bull Blowout was a new experience for her.
    “I always watched them on TV, but it was my first rodeo,” Stevenson said. “I was asking a lot of questions. I learned a lot about it.”
    Stevenson said her favorite event was barrel racing.
    “It’s going to be a thing we go to,” Stevenson said about attending the event with her friend Laura Salisbury, senior from Murray. “We’re going to another one, for sure.”
    “I had a lot of fun,” Salisbury said. “It was fun to go again, I used to go when I was younger.”
    With participants as young as two-years-old, the Bull Blowout entertained people of all ages.
    Salisbury said the rodeo clown amused her with his dry humor.
    “The little clown guy was hilarious,” Salisbury said.
    Though the rodeo clown was entertaining, Salisbury said the bull riding was her favorite event.
    “You can imagine the adrenaline rush you get from doing events like that,” Salisbury said. “It’s exciting to me.”
    Contact Phelps at robinj.phelps@murraystate.edu.

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