Well far be it from me to mention that since Cheyenne is only 40 miles away from where he lives now, there isn't going to be a huge cultural shift.
Well, before early Monday morning, we had absolutely no snow showing anywhere, because the temp on Saturday was around 70. On early Monday AM, we got some 3-4 inches of very cold snow. Under the snow was some ice, due to the freezing cold temps. At 7AM yesterday (Monday), it was 12 degrees. Some of the snow melted yesterday afternoon when it was 31 degrees, but this morning at 8AM, it was 15 degrees, but topped out at 54 degrees. We are still happy we moved back to Colorado, because enduring the winter months here is just part of the beautiful summer months that follow. Remember, when we lived here before, 5 1/2 years, we went thru numerous snowstorms and even two major blizzards that pretty much shut down Denver metro/The Front Range. We don't "love" the winters here, but winter here is just a part of living here.
We will go back to Cheyenne when Cheyenne Frontier Days are going on next July. Attend the big parade, free pancake breakfast and the rodeo. Then, and only then, Cheyenne will be fully Western and we will be very happy to be there for that short time. Only to visit. Actually, the eastern part of Ft Collins is pretty darn Western with a great Western nightclub there as well as a good sized livestock auction place. A number of ranchers go to this auction to buy cattle, horses and other livestock. Every time we go there, in full Western attire (however, no flashy shirt or blouse or Lizard Skin boots), we have a great time. We basically look like the Cattle Buyers and ranchers that are there. I know, and am teaching my wife, the different breeds/colors of cattle and how they are sold. She loves it.
I am genuinely hoping that you'll have a great time, and perhaps make some new like-minded friends...
Actually, Holly, except for the Stock Trailer, this is how I would show up at a rodeo. The horse trailer would be a 2-horse trailer. The one shown is actually a combo livestock/horse trailer. Horse can be hauled as well as cattle, hogs and other livestock (not at the same time though).
I had the greatest time during Frontier Days. Hooked up with some Marine Officers and we even comandeered a fire engine and not one person complained. Real party time.
My sister in law goes to one ..she loves it. If I went to church I probably would go to a Cowboy Church.
@Cody Fousnaugh Well, Cody I am not clear what you are looking for. I thought you were an old ranch hand before you straightened me out on another thread. I am not sure if the "cowboy" experience you are looking for exist. I think maybe you are confusing the way someone dresses with who they really are. The problem with Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, is the wealthy people from California and Texas came in many years ago and bought up ranches and drove up prices, taxes, and it has changed the old style real deal cowboy experience. Please please Cody do not take offense, but is it possible you are overlooking the real deal cowboy experience because you have a visual, a stereotype in mind, a false idea of what makes one a real cow person? Today's rodeo has little to do with real ranch life. Today's western clothing is more about fashion than functionality. My grandpa and dad both wore carpenter style jeans with the loops to hold fence pliers. Next time in a hardware store take a look at that malfunction tool. Seriously, that tool alone will tell you a lot. That tool in the jeans tool loop and a multi purpose pocket knife was all they carried. Their boots were logger style lace up. NEVER slip on western style boots. My dad called them Spanish dancing boots and something no real cowboy would wear for everyday work. I always wore lace up boots for work, but sure loved my custom handmade snub toed 2" heel 15" shaft "cowboy" boots for school and going to town. Black bottoms and shaft of lavender with black overlay cutout. I kept them polished to perfection. I even carried polish in my purse. I always wore a homemade multi color over the knee skirt and a button blouse with them and you might have identified me as a cowgirl as I sashayed around town, however I never wore a hat to town. My beat up old stained hat was a ranch tool as were my chaps. Do you know why chaps are worn on working ranches? On the ranch, you would have labeled me a farm or country girl except days working cattle, mainly BRANDING or fence building where hat and chaps were a tool. Never had spurs and my grandpa forbid wearing spurs while riding. He was an old time horse and mule trainer and long before all this happy horse crap about horse whispering hit Hollywood, he knew horses as well as anyone. He broke more horses than most horse people have ridden. Nothing about my dressing said western or cowgirl while doing chores, operating equipment, repairing equipment, feeding cattle, varmint shooting, doing housework, or gardening which I hated! I will continue this later, if any of it interest you, Cody and I might make some suggestions of where you can visit to get the real cowboy experience. My thought of the day for you Cody is, consider you may have been in the presents of real cowboys and never knew it. If you are serious about finding the real cowboy place, I will suggest the John Day area of south central Oregon. Visit it but don't get all gussied western rodeo style, kick a few cow patties and rough them boots up some partner. Stop by the Mitchell cafe and don't let that Harley and its two old riders, an old chick with super short leather shorts and snake tattoos on her legs to cover her varicose veins and braless with ill fitting halter top showing her cleavage defeated by gravity and her bearded scarred face, sleeveless biker jacket, overly tattooed including face, and tight leather pants husband fool you. Those two are real retired cow people that decided to seek the hippie biker lifestyle. A little spontaneous and improvisational cowboy poetry for you. Rodeo Cody by Faye Fox Cody has an old west cowboy name he rides a horse he rushes and ropes he wears a large belt and flashy buckle he competes and has high hopes he hold the reins until he gets white knuckle he's a horseboy, not an old cowboy very different, they are not the same A cowboy only needs to work cattle whether on foot, ATV, or saddle His boots don't brag of alligator defeat they are worn and dirty, but protect his feet His shirt isn't special cut with a Hollywood flair he may use sheep shears to cut his hair Now Cody, you are rodeo skilled with a horse but if you haven't worked bulls and cows whether in the Americas or down in Australia and your experience on a farm with boars and sows doesn't count and neither does the western paraphernalia to real cowboys that work cattle and have no remorse So a horseboy you are and with style ride on don't let this old cowgirl picking to the bone over the necessity to ranch work cattle scoop with mooing, farting, and splattering poop make you feel lesser than the ranch working boys You're all great guys, just love different toys Suggested late spring road trip for Cody and Mrs. F From Loveland, Co. to Mitchell, Or.
@Faye...…..where do you think most of rodeo came from, ranch work. Breaking horses and branding/doctoring cattle. We've been to a ranch rodeo and their events are similar to pro-rodeo, but different as well. There are those rodeo cowboys that do run ranches as well as compete, such as Lewis Field did and now his son does. But, many, in the Top 15, travel all across the U.S. to different high paying rodeos. Winning high paying rodeos is what gets them into the Top 15 and then into the National Finals in Las Vegas. The guys I knew all had regular jobs and went to rodeos on the weekends. When I was in the Sierra Circuit, now known as the California Circuit, there was a rodeo almost ever weekend in So California during the summer months. What we are/have been looking for is someplace where folks wear cowboy hats once in a while, not all the time. My wife will wear her felt or straw cowboy hat to a rodeo or to some other horse-related event and she will be the only woman wearing one! The rodeo queens will of course have one on, but that's pretty much it. There is an event coming up this weekend, Winterfest Stock Horse Show, at an indoor arena here. She will wear it there and we will be there. This event is 4-days, free and displays working cow horses in action. Cutting, sorting and working cattle. As far as the big buckle goes, that can be a World Champion buckle that took a lot of hard-working hours to get at the National Finals rodeo. I wear a rather large buckle of Team Ropers cause that was my event. I never won a rodeo, so this buckle commemorates my years in rodeo as a Team Roper. There are many "wannabe" rodeo guys out there that will buy a Bull Riding buckle, but have no intention of ever riding a bull. As for me, I DID IT!! I bought a "rope horse", the tack, went to a Roping School and on and on. I bought/used "heading" ropes from Classic Rope Company. My first rope was from Rattler Rope Company. There are still places in the U.S. where folks will display that Western feeling, like Cody, Wyoming, Billings, Montana and others. Not all places in America have gone "big city". However, there are big cities that hold a huge rodeo every year, like: Houston, TX, San Francisco, CA, Cheyenne, WY and others. BUT, after the rodeo is done, these cities, like Cheyenne, go back to being just another "big city".
@Cody Fousnaugh Please don't get me wrong, I know the roots of rodeo. One of my great uncles was a world famous cowboy in the 1920's. He was full time rancher and they started their own rodeos for entertainment. It was mainly bronc riding. He was encouraged to go to other big rodeos of the day and did a circuit one year while the women ran the 10.000 acre ranch. In those days all the competitors were working ranch hands. Rodeo changed and big money get involved, so non ranch hands got involved and it became a lifestyle, a sport, and the clothing designers got into the business and it all became less about skills gained on a ranch and more about structured events requiring hours, days, and weeks of practicing the same thing. The ranch hands that had little time for things like arena roping, riding horses trained purposely to buck, bulls trained to twist and leap, and barrel racing, had to make a decision. They could still live on a ranch, but the daily routine would have to be done by hired non rodeo hands. I know many barrel racers that have never been around cattle. They live on horse acreages and practice their skills almost every day. These amazing ladies are wonderful to watch, but useless on a cattle drive in the mountains. No working ranch has barrels out in the field with the cattle that cowgirls donned in fancy high heel boots, skin tight jeans, low cut tank tops, and colored cowboy hats are seen racing and weaving in and out the cattle as close to the barrel as possible, while rounding up the cattle in record time. The shows of cattle sorting, etc., are nice, but not used much on big cattle ranches as there is better more efficient ways of doing it. I enjoy the working cattle dogs competitions the most. Those pups are doing what they love to do. I am not criticizing or even poking fun at you, just trying to find out what you are looking for. The western store ladies dressed like city boutique women in Cheyenne was a disappointment to you. This gives me the idea that had they been dressed more "cowgirl" then you would have had a different feeling about the place. Consider that online western stores have all but destroyed the western stores where women and men had rather sell clothes than work on a ranch. I understand about Loveland and why that was a disappointment. It was a disappointment to me over 45 years ago. The influx of California "hippie" types all but destroyed the old west feel of the entire state of Colorado. I read that your wife still wants to work and I am not sure what she does, but that may make finding the right place more difficult. Am I correct that you want more the rodeo atmosphere than the real working ranch? You also want near a place for boating. Modern technology has changed everything so many mid to small towns have changed and even real working ranch people have made changes. 25 years ago I was invited down to a roundup on BLM land. When I got to the ranch I was shown my ATV. Six of us dressed in jeans, sweatshirts, lace up hiking style boots, and wearing ball caps, rounded up 800 head with assistance from two Australian Shepherds. The horses stayed home and enjoyed their pasture. I asked why they didn't use horses anymore and the answer was most of the horses they saved for rodeo and the ATV's were much faster and less work.
Believe me, there is still a "Western" feel to the state of Colorado, like in Strasburg and some other small towns on the eastern plains. Also, on the eastern side of Ft. Collins, there is a livestock auction called Centennial Livestock Auction. Buyers, Sellers and visitors, like us, go to that auction all the time. Actually, I have both Ariat lace up hiking shoes and Ariat lace up roper boots. My wife has the same type of lace up roper boots that I do, but in her size. There are still ranches that do roundups on horseback and some of them are guest ranches. However, I did see a documentary once where a rancher was using a helicopter and a few ATV's for his roundup. One thing is for sure, @Faye, the Western way of life, IOW ranching lifestyle isn't totally dead yet. There are still full-blown cow-calf operations and full-blown beef cattle operations as well. The rodeo industry is still running strong, even though there are those that would like to shut it down. Then again, there are those that would like to stop people, including kids, from fishing. Actually, we don't want totally a rodeo or ranching atmosphere, just an area where people wear cowboy hats sometimes. I think I've already stated that.