As the old adage goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
One needed only to view the fans braving the warm weather for the 67th installment of the Elks Rodeo as proof the sport is still alive and kicking in Santa Maria.
Despite less media exposure and a grim economic climate, thousands of rodeo faithful, decked out in western wear, filed into the Elks/Unocal Events Center all weekend long to witness bareback horse riding, steer wrestling, and Xtreme bullriding.
Though actual figures weren’t immediately available, organizers said attendance was up significantly from last year.
“With the economy being what it is, we don’t have a lot of money,” said rodeo organizer Keith Barks. “Our customers don’t have a lot of money, so we couldn’t put out a lot of money for ads.”
To keep the crowds coming in, Elks Lodge 1538 slashed ticket prices nearly in half for most events. Barks, president of Elks Recreation for the past six years, was pleased with the turnout and called the competition as relevant today as ever.
“Rodeo is and was an American sport,” Barks said. “This is a tradition that’s gone back over 80 years. This is a ranching and farming community, and [the rodeo is] its history.”
About 40 riders and bulls from all over the Western United States participated in the rodeo, an event with roots firmly in the traditional ranching lifestyle.
According to Rick Smith, a member of the rodeo’s “rope shoot” crew, continuing the tradition is especially important in a community started by ranchers and still highly dependent on agriculture.
“The Santa Maria Elks Rodeo is really the big event for Santa Maria,” Smith said. “It’s still here. Even with the economy, people are still coming out and enjoying themselves and having a good time.”
Not all rodeo attendees were there for enjoyment, however, and some would like to see the Elks find alternative ways to raise money.
Peggy Koteen, director of the activist group Animal Emancipation of SLO County, led a handful of protestors at the Event Center’s main gate. For more than a decade, Koteen has picketed against the Elks’ and other local rodeos.
Equating the sport with cockfighting, Koteen said she’s seen animal abuse firsthand at rodeos, including steers with broken horns and bucking horses with open wounds on their flanks.
“It’s not very sporting to torment animals,” she said. “We don’t think there should be cruelty to animals, but particularly when it’s blatantly unnecessary. It’s a human being trying to show off, and in the process animals get hurt, harmed, or killed.”
Fellow protestor Caroline Israel, an animal activist from Arkansas, said she’d like to see the rodeo shut down completely.
“Most of us were raised eating animals, watching animals at circuses, and wearing animals, and weren’t raised to think they have feelings too,” Israel said. “They feel pain and pleasure, and they have lives separate from their utility to us.”
The group’s protests were ignored by some attendees and derided by others, but Israel said it was worth it to make others aware of rodeo’s dark side.
“I think people feel resentful because we are putting something in their face that they don’t really want to look at,” Israel said. “After all, they enjoy coming out here and I understand that. It’s not fun giving up something you like.”
Koteen and others objected most vociferously to the rodeo’s calf-roping event, for which calves are lassoed, thrown to the ground, and tied up. The event’s timed structure, Koteen said, leads handlers to be rougher on the animals than they would be on a ranch.
“Safety measures don’t do it, because the people who are supposed to be overseeing the safety have blinders on to it,” she said. “They just have to end rodeo, at least rodeo that uses animals.”
Koteen also accused the rodeo cowboys of using “hotshots,” electric shocks used to get horses and bulls to buck.
A self-professed animal lover, rodeo president Barks denied the use of electric shocks at the event, and said the cowboys take great care to make sure livestock aren’t overcrowded or mistreated.
“If you find a hotshot on these 107 acres, I want to know who’s got it,” he said. “That was back in the old days, and it doesn’t happen anymore. Not here or anywhere.
“These critters, whether they be bulls, horses or whatever, are well taken care of,” Barks added. “They’re well fed. They only have to work eight seconds a day. That’s not a bad average.”
Overall, according to Barks, rodeo injuries are uncommon, and occur more often to cowboys than animals. While there were some bumps and bruises found among the riders, no major injuries to riders or animals were reported during the weekend. Smith, the event’s resident firefighter, said he didn’t see any safety issues.
“The precautions that we use are to the highest standards,” he said. “We use wraps so the ropes aren’t tied heavy around the neck or around the head. We take all precautions so these cattle can come back.
“Here in Santa Maria, we haven’t had an issue for many years,” he added. “Things are going to happen, there’s nothing we can do about that, but we take every precaution to make sure the animals are safe and the cowboys and cowgirls are safe.”
Each year, the Elks Club brings in thousands of local schoolchildren to witness their first rodeo. According to Smith, the event is indicative of what’s done on a daily basis on ranches throughout Santa Barbara County, and as a rodeo participant for 30 years, he said the event must evolve to keep up with times.
“The demographics of our community have changed,” Smith said. “It’s gone to more of the heritage of our community. I wouldn’t say it’s non-Western, but we need to change a little bit of what it’s all about.”
As of now, Smith said there are no major alterations planned for the rodeo. He said the state of the sport will remain strong in Santa Maria, as older generations pass the tradition down to the youth.
“I think it’s going to be an event that’s going to go on. It’s going to run its course,” Smith said. “There’s going to be some rough times, like right now, with the way the economy is going.
“But we’ve been in the business for a lot of years,” he said. “And it’s something that we’ll continue throughout our lifetimes.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas will let you lasso him. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 10-17, 2010.