Ranch rodeos started when working cattlemen and women would meet up at a neighbor's field for informal competitions like racing draft horses with plows.
Traditional rodeos feature bull and bronc riding, barrel racing and steer wrestling, and a ranch rodeo is for working cowboys and cowgirls to show off their horsemanship and other working skills through competitive events like trailer loading, team branding and bed roll races.
They’re usually organized by participants, and on this episode of Expressive Idaho, producer Arlie Sommer met up with Chase Carter and his family at the 2024 Blackfoot Ranch Rodeo. Along with raising Angus beef, Carter has been hand-making western saddles for more than two decades. Now, he’s passing on his craft to his son, Bronson.
Expressive Idaho is produced by Arlie Sommer, and edited by Sáša Woodruff. Historic recordings were featured of fiddler Kevin Fallon, from the Library of Congress.
Expressive Idaho is produced in partnership with the Idaho Commission on the Arts’ Folk and Traditional Arts Program with funding support from Dr. Suzanne Allen, MD, Jennifer Dickey and Andy Huang. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
