Ready To Wrangle Pigs, Bulls, Horses Pit Skills Against Participants In Gu Rodeo

Waiting for the gate to open, Brian Casey wondered how long he’d be able to stay on the bucking, steaming bull.

Casey rode the massive, horned monster long enough to be thrown into a giant mud puddle on the far side of the arena at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.

“It’s the best rush I’ve had in my life,” the rodeo first-timer said.

Dirt plugged Casey’s nostrils and ears. The jeans worn by the Gonzaga University sophomore from Canby, Ore., were soaked through, and his boots were squishy with muddy goo.

“It’s awesome,” he said.

Casey was one of 100 riders who competed in GU’s 15th annual rodeo Sunday afternoon. More than 400 people attended the competition, which was open to the public as part of the university’s Aprilfest spirit week.

The pig chase captured the attention of Richard Hebert, 9. The boy had never been to a rodeo before and couldn’t take his eyes off the pigs and cowboys.

“There was this man, he was 14 or 15 years old, and he was wrestling a pig, trying to get it in a big barrel,” said the giggling Grant Elementary third-grader.

“Oh man, he had mud all over - in his face and in his hair.”

Richard’s mother, Tabitha Anstine, 30, brought her sister Cheryl Anstine, 27, to the show.

“I love the physicalness of it, watching the men try to control the horse or bull and stay on,” Tabitha Anstine said.

Her sister agreed. “It takes a lot of skill and a lot of guts to do that stuff,” she said.

But one bull had little chance of throwing its rider off. That’s because 14-year-old Corey Gray was in command, staying on for the full eight seconds.

Corey, who’s been riding since he was 5, kept his left hand high in the air and never lost his balance.

“The toughest part is the mental part,” said the Cheney Middle School eighth-grader. He meditates the night before he rides, and moments before he gets on a bronco or bull.

“If it’s in your mind that you’re gonna ride, then you will,” he said.

“I just stay on jump for jump, and if (the bull) does something, I just ride along with him.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos