Young riders try junior rodeo events

It was a hot, sunny day at the Hyannis Junior Rodeo where brothers Weston and Wayge Ferguson, of Clearwater, participated in several events on Sunday, July 10.

Weston Ferguson, a third grader at Summerland, took part in the flag race, calf riding, poles and barrels in the 7-10-year-old boys group.

"I was kind of scared (of calf riding), but I was supposed to hold my hand up like bull riding," explained Weston Ferguson.

The calf rider placed eighth, with a ride of five seconds, just short of the six-second mark needed to qualify for a score.

"I don't remember how I fell off, but I fell off and I was rolling on the ground and rolling around when my hat fell off," Weston Ferguson laughed.

He also got 10th place on poles with his paint horse, Mio. He mentioned he had to keep his horse cool by finding as much shade as possible and giving her water.

This was not Weston's first rodeo though. His journey started with Boots and Saddles Club when he was around the age of five, but he has been around rodeo his whole life.

When asked why he liked rodeo, he responded with, "It's basically because it has western in it, and I'm kind of all western over here."

Looking forward to the future, Weston Ferguson says he is excited to ride a mini bronc, an event where the kids are placed on a pony. He is also excited to do rodeo in junior high and high school, where he can do actual bronc riding.

Wayge Ferguson, a four-year-old, also got to join in on the rodeo fun. He participated in mutton bustin', barrels and poles.

"I ride sheep and then I ride Mio and I ride Mio around the barrels and then I trotted her home!" exclaimed Wayge Ferguson.

Wayge normally has his own horse, Chief, but his horse was being uncooperative, so he also got to ride his brother's eight-year-old horse, Mio. This was Wayge's first rodeo. He placed third in barrels, winning $10.

"It (the rodeo) was fun and hard because I did it wrong on the poles," Wayge Ferguson explained.

The mutton buster is looking forward to riding more sheep in the future, even though his mom, Hilary Ferguson said he didn't enjoy it all that much the first time.

"I really enjoy watching them compete," said Hilary Ferguson. "It's a little nerve racking sometimes, especially this one since this was the first one Wayge was able to do all of his own events. I didn't lead him through or sometimes we got on another horse and lead him through it. This one he did all by himself."

Wayge also mentioned entering the goat tail untie, where the object is to pull a ribbon off the goat's tail in the fastest amount of time.

His favorite part about the rodeo is getting to ride horses and making new friends.

The brothers had support from their parents, grandparents, an aunt and a cousin at the rodeo. The boys' parents both participated in rodeo their whole lives, being an inspiration to the kids.

"My dad does saddle bronc riding, and my mom does team roping and breakaway roping," Weston Ferguson said.

Ashton Ferguson, the boys' father, was a calf rider when he was younger too. Hilary Ferguson participated in barrels and poles during junior rodeos, high school rodeo and college rodeo at Hastings College.

"We've had horses ever since they were born, and I guess, I've had horses since I was born too," replied Hilary Ferguson.

Both boys also participated in the Ericson Junior Rodeo this summer, where they got to try a new event of chasing muddy piglets and pigs around with about 20 other children.

"Wayge got the piglets, but I got the 'big brother pigs'," Weston Ferguson added.

The family tries to hit the closer rodeos, but a family friend contacted them and asked them to come to Hyannis for the day.

Both brothers are excited for more rodeos this summer. The duo will be entered into both the Taylor and Arcadia rodeos this summer. Junior rodeos are like normal rodeos with an entry fee per event. Each event sets its own guidelines at the particular rodeo, and at this one, the youth could only have four entries. Rodeos are separated into girls' and boys' events based on age. Some rodeos set a limit for the number of applicants and cap out to prevent the day from being too long.

Several junior rodeo events are preparing the children for junior high and high school rodeo. Mutton bustin' was only for children 3-6 years old with calf riding for 7-10 year olds. Both needed a six-second ride to be scored, and if there were no qualified rides, placings were based on time.

The rules for flag race included letting the contestant go to either barrel first then receiving no time if a flag was missed or if a barrel or bucket was knocked over. There was no time if the horse was hit with the flag, and the flag had to stay in the bucket until the contestant passed the flagger.

Barrel racing guidelines included no time for a broken pattern and a five-second penalty for each barrel knocked over.

"I just told them to keep their horse moving and to have fun," Hilary Ferguson said.