Another sellout Silver Spurs Rodeo concludes
Out for a Sunday ride: Silver Spurs Rodeo Big Boss Kaye Whaley performs in the riding club’s Quadrille Sunday. (Photo/Katie Williams)
And the herd rode on.
As fast as it arrived, the 156th Silver Spurs Rodeo, part of the 82nd Osceola County Fair and Livestock Show, gave rodeo fans from near and far its annual adrenaline shot of high-intensity rodeo action and entertainment for four packed nights, from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon.
With the Friday and Saturday night performances selling out, and thousands more tuning in across the country on The Cowboy Channel, the Silver Spurs lived up to its moniker as the “Biggest Rodeo East of the Mississippi (River).” Over $188,000 in prize money was paid out across the field of hundreds of the finest Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) cowboys who came from as far away as Idaho, Utah and Saskatchewan in Canada.
In addition, the Silver Spurs Riding Club continued its generous support of area charities. At each of the four rodeo performances, the Spurs made $10,000 contributions to the Osceola County School District’s Smart Bus and annual Education Awards, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and The Midwife Bus for its contributions to maternal health care, along with another contribution to the Orlando Health Cancer Institute Arts in Medicine program during the Feb. 14 Monster Bulls.
Rodeo Big Boss Kaye Whaley also played the role of performer and rode in the rodeo Quadrille—then jumped off her horse to roam around the arena—to see the rodeo from a firsthand perspective.
She wasn’t the only one who had that kind of fun. The St. Cloud Police Department’s S.W.A.T. and K-9 departments gave performances, including Police Chief Doug Goerke’s repelling into the arena from the rafters on Saturday night.
As for the cowboys, 20-year-old bull and bareback rider Wacey Schalla from Arapaho, Okla., took home the All-Around Cowboy honors. The barrel racers treated the crowd to an incredible competition Sunday, as it took a run of 16.11 seconds to finish in the money and first to seventh place was separated by a scant .13 seconds.
The event winners were:
Bareback riding: Keenan Hayes, Hayden, Colo., 87 points on Generations Pro Rodeo’s Doughboy, $5,147;
Steer wrestling: (tie) Stetson Jorgensen, Blackfoot, Idaho, and Gavin Soileau, Bunkie, La., 3.7 seconds, $3,873 each;
Team roping: Jr. Dees, Orange, Tex./Landen Glenn, McAlester, Okla., 4.1 seconds, $4,119 each;
Saddle bronc: (tie) Bryett Larsen, Park Valley, Utah, on Generations Pro Rodeo’s Tequila Sunrise, and James Perrin, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, on Generations Pro Rodeo’s Shamus, 86 points, $4,334 each;
Tie-down roping: Cole Clemons, Okeechobee, Fla., 8.4 seconds, $4,688;
Barrel racing: Margo Crowther, North Fort Myers, 15.84 seconds, $5,776 on “Sissy”;
Bull riding: Mason Moody, Letcher, S.D., 90 points on Big Rafter Rodeo’s Sorry Sam, $4,991.
So what’s next? Well, the 157th rodeo of course! The "Red, White & Rodeo!" event takes place June 5-6, continuing a tradition that is unmatched in Osceola County and unique to the rest of Central Florida. Tickets will go on sale in March.
