The intriguing smell of horse manure and chewing tobacco emanated inside the John M. Parker Coliseum on Thursday as the Block and Bridle student organization’s annual rodeo bucked off to a good start.More than 100 people attended and more than 50 amateur and professional cowboys and cowgirls competed in the Block and Bridle rodeo, which was first established in 1932, and proved to be a popular tradition.”It’s something special to be a part of,” said Brittany Bourg, Block and Bridle president and agriculture business senior. “This coliseum was built for this club to have this rodeo. We’re honored to carry on the tradition here.”Bethany Elder, rodeo manager and animal sciences senior, said this is the third year the rodeo has been split with an open rodeo on the first night and the student rodeo on the second night.”[In the open rodeo,] you’re competing for money, and in the student rodeo you’re competing for prizes,” Elder said.Jason Morgan, a 20-year-old bull rider from Baton Rouge, said he started riding bulls and horses when he was 4 years old.”I’ve been on practice bulls three times a week,” Morgan said. “I go to as many rodeos as I can.”Morgan said he likes to find out what bull he’s riding ahead of time to see if they’ll buck in a straight line or turn and spin.”I have a feel for it,” he said. “I get on a bunch of bulls. These bulls are born to buck just like race horses are born to race.”Elder said the rodeo was originally held in the Reilly Theatre or the Swine Palace. She said State Lumber on Highland Road used to donate materials to Block and Bridle for the rodeo each year. She said the club’s members would assemble and dissemble the buck and shoot every time, which is a large task for students.Elder said when former Governor John Parker came to the Block and Bridle Rodeo and saw what the students were building, he decided they needed a permanent rodeo arena, so he built the John M. Parker Coliseum in the 1930s.”It has so much history behind it,” she said. “It ties in the sentimental value to the University.”Block and Bridle will donate 10 percent of proceeds to the Braveheart Children in Need charity.
Students can register between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to compete in the rodeo today. Events will include bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing and wild cow milking.”Whoever participates [tonight] is a full-time LSU student,” said Amanda Royer, animal science junior and Block and Bridle member. “It’s always very interesting and entertaining.”Royer said unlike the professionals in the open rodeo, the students who participate in the student rodeo wear T-shirts and running shoes instead of cowboy shirts and boots.Jeffrey Ramagos, a 16-year-old bronc and bull rider from Zachary, La., said bucking bulls and horses gives him an adrenaline rush.”I’m competing to compete,” Ramagos said. “It’s not about the money. I came here to beat down a horse, ride a bull and go to town.”—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]