Osceola County Fair and Rodeo

Friday, we went to the Osceola County Fair, which is not as good as the Port Hope Fair!  Luckily, since we first bought tickets for the rodeo at night, they gave us free tickets to get into the fair.  It has a HUGE midway, but not a whole lot of anything else.  I sure loved the pro rodeo later, though! 

 Here I am tackling these two bulls!

 And this is Sally, the camel - pretty, isn't she? 

 Guess I never really looked at the back end of a zebra - even the tail is striped! 

What a beautiful bird is this parrot!  Amazing how the colours overlap each other.  I love how God made such wonderfully colourful creatures such as this and the zebra! 

I was able to go inside a big cage filled with dozens of budgies.  Apparently I could have purchased some food to take in, but I didn't.  They all flew right at me until they figured out that I didn't have anything for them.  

This is "Papa Wheelie".  Cool name, eh? 

 This car was the result of someone's choice to text while driving.  The sign says "If you're texting, You're not driving". 

There was a man sitting in a booth with a few of these cute little animals.  The sign said "Sugar Gliders, the Perfect Pocket Pet".  Anna and Rylee, could you look these up and see what kind of animal they are?  They sure are cute!  And the man had them in his shirt pockets. 

 This lovely creature is someone's "pet"  It was in a glass terrarium, and was actually resting its head on a pillow, and was covered by a blanket. 

 Once again, I was able to go into a screened area with butterflies.  This is the prettiest of the ones that I saw.  Anna and Rylee, see if you can find out what kind it is. 

 I loved this pink police motorcycle which is to bring awareness to breast cancer.  The officers who were there assured me it is on the streets every day. 

 This weird-looking chicken looks MAD!  Glad he was behind bars! 

Several of the cages with chickens in them had eggs in them.  I was wishing I could collect them and take them home! 

 Beautiful orange blossoms in a citrus display area. 

 I didn't know that peaches are grown in Florida.  I wonder if peaches, like citrus, have blossoms on the tree at the same time as the fruit when they grow in a warm climate like this.  ??? 

 This was a fun show, and we were made "honourary cousins" to the Sweenies, who claim to be swamp-billies, rather than hill-billies, since they live in Florida, where there are no hills. 

This sweet little rabbit was sipping from his water bottle. 

We watched a lumberjack show called the "Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show"  Anna and Rylee, see if you can find out who Paul Bunyan was.  

 There was a mechanical bull that you could pay to ride.  This little girl did really well.  You can tell that she has probably been to a lot of rodeos.

 Have you ever watched pig races?  Believe it or not, the treat that they are running for is Oreos! 

 Pot bellied pigs do NOT run!  They lumbered around the track, with their bellies dragging on the ground! 

I think this is the funniest looking chicken I have ever seen.  At first, we thought it was losing its feathers around the neck, then we noticed the name is " Naked-necked Chicken" - weird! 

 And now to the rodeo!  It is a professional rodeo, and went on at the "Silver Spurs Arena"  for 3 days and nights.  Always at the beginning of the rodeo, the Florida Rodeo Queen rides out with a flag, the emcee prays for the safety of the contestants and the animals, and then they sing their national anthem.  I'm always amazed by the praying part! 

 Have you ever heard of the "Dueling Violins", where the devil challenges the professional to a duel? 

Well, they played the song, but it was the "Devil" versus a cowboy showing their skills with lariats.  Fire, fireworks, and all!  Exciting, and well-done!  

My very favorite part of the rodeo is the bull-riding!  There were several Canadian boys there as well. 

 Another event is called steer wrestling.

 This is another one I like watching - Bareback riding.  This is Kody Lamb from Sherwood Park, Alberta.

 And this is Kyle Bowers from Drayton Valley, Alberta.

 This is called Tie Down Roping - also fun to watch. 

 Saddle Bronc Riding is different from the Bareback Riding in that these horses have saddles and bridles, and the others didn't. 

Everyone had a good laugh about this!  The horse stepped out when the gate was opened, and just stood there! 

 
Of course, the cowboy got to have a re-ride, and he won with his re-ride.  He was a Canadian called Clay Elliot, from Nanton, Alberta. 

 The rodeo clown, who claimed to have no knowledge of motorcycles, took this "Wild Child's"  motorcycle for a spin, and of course, she was quite upset. 

 She stomped out of the arena, and the clown proceeded to ride the bike around the arena, and over the truck and trailer!  Hmmm, methinks it was planned! 

 Girls, I think you would both have been involved in this activity!  All the kids in the audience between 7 and 10 were invited to take part in the "calf scramble".  They turned loose 3 calves with ribbons tied on their tails, and the kids that got the ribbons off their tails got prizes.  What a scramble!  Friday was called "Rodeo Day", which is a holiday in Osceola County!  Go figure!  No wonder there were so many kids at the fair and the rodeo! 

 Anna, I know that YOU know what a zamboni is, so maybe you can make sure Rylee knows as well.  I guess that's what you would call this tractor in a rodeo arena!

 Finally, we have something that the cow-GIRLS can participate in!  The barrel racing. 

These horses really go fast, and you can tell that they love it - they know just what to do!  And while they are waiting, they are just prancing, so eager to go!  


Well, that's it for today.  Good luck, Anna and Rylee finding the answers to my questions.  See you next week.  Have a good one!