Just a small section of the by gate count 600 in attendance Riding the river used in the Snowy River Race
For those not horse camping trying to reserve a room needs 2 plus years advance reservations at least. One year they had a gasoline thief and rented a hiway billboard sign with all the description contacts and his picture to warn others, I like that kind of justice.
I HATE slapstick, always have. But I think that people laugh in relief that it has not happened to them.
We love comedy, but, when watching America's Funniest Videos and seeing kids doing things that many would think is funny, but others think they could've been seriously hurt, it definitely isn't funny. But, then again, a lot of today's society think seeing WWF (old) and now WWE is exciting. Never have been a fan of either. But, on the other side of the coin, hearing/watching a Black or Hispanic comedian make fun of their race. George Lopez done that a whole lot on The George Lopez Show. There were a number Black stand-up comics on Last Comic Standing that, to us, were hilarious. The Carmichaels was a tv show where a Black family made fun of blacks and whites. IOW, a person has to have a great "sense of humor", other than to see young kids possibly getting hurt, to watch or hear comedy.
It may be 'survival' mechanism/humor/ relief ? In medical school, and in practice, just like might have been in the battlefield during war or training, some of the "joking" was rather macabre and gross - totally not for mixed company nor minors ever... but thankfully most memory of all that long ago passed away for me.... but at the time, it was like a pressure relief valve, a way to deal with some of the (seemingly) worst things that could happen to a person's body or relatives, friend or foe....
I occasionally read in the local paper or hear on one of our OKC local tv reports about rustling activity out in western Oklahoma and sometime in central Oklahoma. Anywhere an easy buck can be made or someone needs a few groceries on the table, they may take a chance of hauling off a few cows or killing and eating one. Back in the depression era I have even seen a hind quarter show up at my place when the cubbard was bare.
Per topic: I like to hunt coyotes at night and cant count how many times we have noticed trucks and trailers with no lights visible very late at night on remote roads when we were out in pastures hunting, lots of things happening no one ever sees or aware of.
Cattle were hot iron branded on both sides back in the open range days when the cattle from several owners shared the same grazing pastures. At roundup time they were separated and taken back to ranches for winter feeding. This is still done today even though the ranges are fenced, partly because some share allotments and so easy ID can be made from a distance using binoculars or in times of wolf kills the game dept needs to know who the rightful owner is. All over Eastern Oregon, we have allotments that are several thousand acres so hot iron branding is still a common spring event, and usually, several ranches set dates so they can all help each other. It is a real rodeo and community social event. It hurts them briefly as the hide is thick and penetrated just deep enough to make a lasting brand. While branding orphaned calves sound horrible, they will immediately take the bottle you are holding after branding and forget all about it.