Whether it was their first time or their 50th, folks attending
the 71st Annual Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo experienced an event
indicative of tradition, family and the San Benito County way of
life.
Whether it was their first time or their 50th, folks attending the 71st Annual Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo experienced an event indicative of tradition, family and the San Benito County way of life.
The weekend event, which had sold more tickets Friday and Saturday than the year before, had several new elements that enticed visitors, said Ed Stephenson, board member for the Saddle Horse Association.
A family barbecue Saturday night that fed more than 700 people and an auction that netted the Association about $9,000 were two highlights of this year’s show, he said.
“The barbecue was a huge success, with good food, good company and very family-oriented,” Stephenson said. “The crowd seems happy and the show is great.”
Hollister residents Marge and Zalo Correa have been coming to the event every year since they moved to the county seven years ago.
While they conceded the county often lacks events that gather large groups of people together, the horse show exemplifies the best qualities of the area during the course of the three days.
“It’s a wonderful part of San Benito, quite frankly,” Zalo Correa said.
Besides seeing old friends, the grand entry, in which all the more than 400 participants parade into the arena and congregate for the singing of the national anthem before each days’ events, is one of the most touching parts of the horse show and rodeo, Marge Correa said.
“It makes you proud to be a San Benito County resident,” she said. “It shows you the roots of what this county’s all about.”
Madera resident Dick Brem, who recently moved from San Juan Bautista, roped in the show in 1947 and now sells Western memorabilia at a vendor booth during the weekend festivities.
While the show is much larger now than it was when Brem saddled up as a participant, other than the “young kids being better ropers than we were,” many aspects are still the same, he said.
“It’s a great gathering to see all the old-time people I don’t see except for here,” Brem said. “I look forward to it every year. As long as I’m above ground, I’ll be coming back.”
Camilla Sandrini traveled with her husband from their home in Bakersfield to visit friends in Hollister and were treated to their first taste of the local tradition.
Without much experience attending rodeos, the live music and exciting events such as the wild horse race and Brahma bull riding caught Sandrini’s attention.
“It’s beautiful weather and it’s got a great ambiance,” she said. “And apparently it’s called a ‘ro-day-o,’ not a rodeo.”
For county resident Darby Ricotti, going to the rodeo is a tradition that has been in her family for generations.
Besides watching the participants compete in her favorite events or frequenting the great booths, the show gives long-time friends the chance to catch up on the things that matter most, Ricotti said.
“It’s all about family and the people you know,” she said. “There’s some people you only see at the fair and the rodeo.”
