There might be a bigger weekend of old-west culture about 30
miles to the southwest, but the California Rodeo in Salinas can’t
touch the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo in at least
one aspect: Community spirit.
There might be a bigger weekend of old-west culture about 30 miles to the southwest, but the California Rodeo in Salinas can’t touch the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo in at least one aspect: Community spirit.
One-fourth the population of the county annually lines San Benito Street to view the parade that kicks off the Saddle Horse Show on Thursday evening. If that same ratio of citizenry attended a Super Bowl, it’d have to be played in a stadium the size of a small planet. Or maybe the 75 acres of Bolado Park would better suit such a football crowd. It’s been just fine for San Benito County cowboys and cowgirls – both full-time and once-a-year varieties – since the first Saddle Horse Show in 1929.
The three-day event – four, if you count Thursday’s parade – is as much a part of SBC as the San Andreas Fault – but a lot easier to get along with. It’s about kids pulling wagons and home-grown competitors ridin’ and ropin’ for ribbons and buckles – not a six-figure purse. And it’s just plain fun.
Put on your Stetson and we’ll see you there.
The horse show and rodeo begins Friday and runs through Sunday at Bolado Park.
