This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

As we were sitting here planning our activity schedule for the rest of the summer it occurred to us that we had not checked in with our sister city, The Hampton’s, to see what they were up to this year. As you know we rarely spend any time there, and although we have few to none important ties with our neighbors on the East Coast, it’s always fun to see what the cousins are doing.

Now THEY have got a busy summer planned. You wonder how they find time to attend all these events let alone plan them. Here are just a few we’re sorry we can’t attend. In July alone there is the “Opening Day of Polo for the Monty Waterbury Cup”, “The 26th Annual American Picnic with Grucci Fireworks!”,  “The 28th Annual Garden Tour & Wine Tasting”, we took Aunt Pheeb and Uncle Skid to that one last year. That didn’t work out so well. “Cocktails at Holly Hall”, “The Midsummer Party at the Parish” That was black tie and all of ours were tie-died so we couldn’t get in. And the always rough & tumble anything goes “Annual Hampton Designer Showhouse Gala Preview Party” Man oh man, that’s one you gotta attend. Those guys really know how to throw a party. You pair up a wine sizzler with a watercress sandwich and you’ve got way too much excitement. I for one was glad they had security on hand that night. We were at it to nearly 10 o’clock before saying goodnight.

I know, right, how do you even compete with stuff like that. Then I had a thought, why not check our summer event schedule here in the West. Well, am I glad I did!. We got stuff going on. Out here lots of people keep horses as a part of their everyday life. They ride them, feed them, clean up after them and some even use them for work. So it’s not surprising that we should have organized events celebrating one of the symbols of the West. And by symbol I mean the horse. We call these events Rodeos and they take place all over the West. You can see one in small towns and large cities almost all summer long. It’s kind of like “The Season” as they call it in the Hampton’s and they’re very popular with people who like to drink beer, wear jeans with gigantic buckles and never take their hats off, unless they’re talking to a lady, or some one mentions John Wayne.

For instance, we have “Bring your Saddle Bronc to Work Day” where proud cowboys bring their favorite Saddle Bronc to work and show off some of their jumping skills. The cowboy’s jumping skills that is. The horse has to try and stay under him for 10 seconds or he loses and has to herd sheep for the next week.

We have one of my favorite parties of the year, the annual “Red Chaps at Sunset” event where they put red chaps on a cowboy then ask him to ride a horse that hates the color Red. This can make for some hilarious moments as the two of them work out their differences. It’s a cloud pleaser all right.

We also have big charity events where money is raised for many worthy causes. There is the “Ground Pounder for Mental Health” to name just one, a charitable event where sponsors sponsor a cowboy and his horse and pledge a certain amount of money for every time the horses hooves ‘pound the ground’. All monies raised are used to care for bull riders who have developed cognitive problems, or no longer can remember who they are, or need plastic surgery to remove the hoof print from their faces, or remove chunks of horn they didn’t get out at the clinic. It’s a worthy cause and many bull riders have benefited from their generosity. In fact new ones almost every time they try and ride bulls.

These are just a few of the things going on out here. I plan to visit more of them as the summer goes by and let you know all the terrific events we have. Now you don’t have to travel back to the Hampton’s to have summer fun. Stay right here, go watch Rodeo events, drink beer, and remember to take your hat off if anyone mentions John Wayne.