Lucky E Rodeo Company of Broadalbin, New York, returned to the Centre County Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, for the second annual Happy Valley Rodeo from Friday, September 13, to Saturday, September 14.

Penn State’s Delta Theta Sigma hosted the rodeo for its second year, and over 100 cowboys and cowgirls, hailing from all over Pennsylvania, registered to compete in the weekend’s challenging events. 

Throughout the rodeo, the crowd was energized thanks to the rodeo clown, Hollywood Harris, and his dog, Larry.

Night one kicked off with a charity ride for a non-profit organization in Montana: Heroes and Horses. This organization’s mission is to “un-program the programmed.” It offers combat veterans untraditional solutions “to redefine their purpose, rediscover their inner strength, and maximize their potential by taking ownership of their lives for the first time since leaving service,” as stated on its website.

The Heroes and Horses bronc rider rode to raise money for the organization. For every second he stayed on the bronc, $100 was donated to Heroes and Horses. Additionally, Happy Valley Rodeo’s donation was matched by Kimes Ranch and Samson Manufacturing.

Following the charity bronc ride, the rest of the bronc riders competed, but only two earned qualifying times on the first night.

Among the riders were multiple participants highly ranked in the International Professional Rodeo Association and the American Professional Rodeo Association.

In addition to bronc riders, team roping requires cooperation and coordination between two ropers and their horses. The first roper, the header, must catch the steer by its horns or neck and guide the steer around so the second roper, the heeler, can rope the steer’s hind legs. Qualifying times averaged around six seconds, and the winning team of night one clocked a time of 5.5 seconds with no penalties.

For a break from the rodeo events and a way to involve the crowd in the action, the rodeo clown invited kids under six into the arena for a boot and shoe race.

The first cowgirl event was next: breakaway roping. In this event, a calf is released with a headstart, and the cowgirl must rope the calf to stop the clock. The qualifying times averaged around three seconds, and the winner of night one clocked in at 2.2 seconds.

Comparable to breakaway roping was tie-down roping. The difference is the cowboy must dismount his horse once they rope the calf and tie up three of the calf’s legs. The restraint must hold for at least six seconds to qualify, and the six seconds are not included in the total time. The qualifying times averaged around 12 seconds. The winner of night one had a time of 10.8.

Next up, the rodeo clown invited some Delta Theta Sigma members into the arena for a fruit roll-up race.

Steer wrestling was the next event. It was another partner event, but only the wrestler was judged. One horse-mounted rider tries to direct the steer to a position where the second horse-mounted rider, the wrestler, can ride right up next to the steer. The wrestler then drops down from their horse onto the steer, grabbing its horns in an attempt to get the steer to fall to the ground. The average of the qualifying times was about six seconds, not including penalties. The winner of this event on night one got a horn to the face but took down the steer in 5.5 seconds.

The rodeo clown then invited any crowd members over the age of 18 into the arena to compete in a calf scramble. Close to 50 adults hopped over the fence to participate in trying to grab the ribbon tied around the calf’s neck. They weren’t allowed to tackle the calf but could tackle each other, leading to quite the chaos.

The final cowgirl event was next — barrel racing. The cowgirls must ride around each of the three barrels placed in a triangular pattern. This was another penalty-ridden event, and if a barrel is knocked over, a five-second penalty is added to the time. The average of the qualifying times was around 14.5 seconds, not including penalties. The winner of the event on night one finished in a little over 14 seconds. 

The final event was bull riding, which is, according to the announcer “the world’s deadliest extreme sport.” Riders must hold onto a rope with one hand for at least eight seconds to qualify while the bull tries to buck him off. 

All of the bull riders, on both nights, had a rough time. Only one qualified on night two after being disqualified on night one for his free hand touching the bull.

Bull riding tends to be thought of as animal cruelty, but the rodeo clown took time to explain to the crowd that the strap used doesn’t hurt them. The bucking ability of the bulls is generally in their genes, and the use of the flank strap, tightened on the bull where a human’s belt would go, solely provides pressure to encourage the bucking but is painless.

Once the riders fell off, the bullfighters distracted the bull while the rider got up and out of the arena, giving the pick-up men time to release the strap to stop the bucking bull.

Thanks to many sponsors, the rodeo was well-funded, and because of several Pennsylvania-based businesses, there was a “vendor village” for attendees to get food and Western merchandise.