Every year in late July, Bolado Park turns into a small city, its expansive dirt parking lot filled with hundreds of motor homes.
Think of a NASCAR event—albeit, on a much smaller scale of course—and that’s what you have with the California Gymkhana State Show. Things officially kick off with the grand entry parade at 8 a.m. Sunday, and the event runs through Aug. 2. However, some of the competitors and their family members and friends—many of whom come from places as far away as San Diego and Redding—bring their motor homes to Bolado Park on July 21, the first eligible day to do so.
Each day of competition is filled with plenty of events, starting at 8 a.m. and ending around 4 p.m. This year’s Gymkhana State Show promises to be the biggest since the event’s inception in 1972, with 328 riders scheduled for competition.
“We anticipate 3,000 people being there for the entire week,” said Roger Odom, who is the co-chairman of the State Show and also the chairperson of the California Gymkhana Association.
Gymkhana is a timed obstacle race on horseback, featuring a total of 13 events: 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. A winning gymkhana horse must have speed and the ability to cut on a moment’s notice.
The horse must also be responsive to the rider’s commands. In the big t race, for example, the rider and horse must weave three poles and turn two barrels that are 40 feet apart before weaving the same three poles on the ride back to the start/finish line.
Riders are classified into five levels, starting with the slowest (future champions) to the fastest (AAA-plus). Odom said that 85 percent of the riders at the State Show are female.
“Most of the riders are girls, and what happens is when they get older they find boys and a lot of them quit,” Odom said. “Once they get married and have kids, they’ll introduce their kids to the sport, and on and on. Gymkhana is a sport that is passed down from generation to generation.”
There are 30 Gymkhana districts in California, from as far north as Redding and as far south as San Diego. California happens to be the only state in the nation in which Gymkhana is a state-sanctioned sport.
With no professional Gymkhana league, the State Show takes precedence as the sport’s biggest event. Odom said everyone involved with the State Show—from organizers to competitors—is unsure on how well the new soil at Bolado Park is going to hold up.
“When you have a number of riders riding the same ground over and over, things can happen,” Odom said. “The most important thing for us is the ground is not only safe but fast.”
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. The winning rider gets 60 percent of the pot, with the winning bidder receiving 40 percent.
So one can imagine just how exciting things can get as the round-of-16 competition gets whittled down to eight, then four, then the final two.
For the Odoms, Gymkhana is a true family affair. Odom’s wife, Phyllis, is the de facto general manager of the State Show, registering everyone on where they will camp and making sure all of the competitors have their paperwork in good order.
Odom’s daughter, Amy, actually paid her college tuition by competing in rodeos, and Odom’s granddaughter, Haley Ludewig, a Hollister resident, will be competing in all 13 events in her division.
Although the Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo has a firm place as one of the most popular events in San Benito County behind the Motorcycle Rally and the County Fair, the Gymkhana State Show has a huge following as well.
“It’s a great atmosphere, and you’ll never understand just how interesting this sport is unless you give it a chance and see it live,” Odom said.
