For sheer numbers and uniqueness, nothing quite matches up to the California Gymkhana State Finals at Bolado Park. This year’s event begins on Friday and runs through Aug. 1.
For the second straight year, over 300 riders are expected to compete in a sport that features timed obstacle races on horseback. Campers and trailers fill up the expansive Bolado Park parking lot well before the first day of competition, making for a lively scene.
“We fill the park for over a week as far as camping goes,” said Tiffany Martin, a Hollister resident who has competed in all but two of the State Finals show since 1994. “I think we are the biggest event at Bolado Park, and I know our organization brings a lot of revenue to the local community.”
Martin, 38, is the stepdaughter of Roger Odom, who is the co-chairman of the State Show and also the chairperson of the California Gymkhana Association. For the Odoms, gymkhana is truly a family affair. Odom and his wife, Phyllis, who is the general manager of the state show, used to compete regularly.
Their daughter, Amy, 34, is also competing this year and has had tremendous success at this event in the past. In 2001, Martin won a state record three match races. Both of Odom’s daughters have kids of their own competing in this year’s event; Amy has a 4-year-old son named Brayden and Martin has an 11-year-old daughter named Haley.
Although gymkhana is not as popular as rodeo nationally, it has a strong following in California, which is the only state in the U.S. that sanctions the sport. There are 13 events, including figure 8 stake, speed ball, speed barrels, quadrangle, figure 8 flags, keyhole, barrels, single stake, big t, hurry scurry, birangle, pole bending 1, pole bending 2.
Some events favor speed while others favor skill, but the rider and horse must have a combination of both to rise above the competition.
Events such as barrel racing, pole bending and keyhole are often featured in some rodeo events across the nation. Riders are classified into five levels, starting with the slowest (future champions) to the fastest (Triple-A plus). Odom said that 85 percent of the riders at the State Show are female. In addition to the 300-plus competitors, there are approximately 3,000 people who come to the event and stay for the entire eight-day extravaganza. Add that up along with the daily paid attendance, and it’s little wonder it takes an enormous volunteer base to help run the event.
“We have volunteers from several different districts who come help every year,” Odom said. “It takes a large number of people to make this thing work.”
Despite the crowds, the California Gymkhana Association police themselves—meaning they don’t hire outside security to patrol the grounds.
“We make sure there is no underage drinking, and we make sure people are behaving themselves,” Martin said.
Indeed, the State Finals Show is a festive family affair; last year, the event started a Lead Line Division for children to introduce them to the sport. This year, for instance, Brayden will be riding a horse while either Amy or another family member or friend leads him through the event.
“So there are no points per se, but kids get the opportunity to understand the competition before they eventually do it on their own,” Odom said.
Martin can’t wait for the competition to start. In the early 2000s, the Free Lance featured Martin in its sports pages. Over a decade later, plenty of things have changed in Martin’s life, but one thing remains constant: her love for gymkhana.
“It’s going to be fun and something I look forward to every year,” she said. “Amy has made the Hall of Fame (in the sport) and we both competed in the (the recent) Salinas Rodeo in team sorting. We’ve both done gymkhana for over 20 years, and the sport has gotten a lot bigger from when we first started.”
Although each event can be an adventure in itself, nothing gains the crowd’s attention like the night’s match races. Contested at the end of each day’s events, the night matches take the top 16 riders from that day’s competition and puts them in an elimination bracket until a winner cashes in—literally.
A Calcutta auction is held before the State Show, where fans bid on each horse and rider, with all of the money going into a single pool. In the past, the winning rider received 60 percent of the pot, and the winning bidder receiving 40 percent.
Amy and Tiffany have both won numerous match races over the years, including in 2001, when Rodger bet on them to win.
