The 9th annual Tim Horton's Little Britches rodeo has wrangled its way back to the Nukko Lake Arena.
This Saturday and Sunday, fans of roping, riding and rustling are encouraged to come out and watch kids from ages six to 15 compete in steer riding, pole bending, barrel races, breakaway roping and goat tying.
"We have just about all the rodeo events expect for sheep riding. Little Britches doesn't do sheep riding because the sheep are hard to get," said Terri Mindel, treasurer of the Lakes Community Horse Club, who are hosting the event for the ninth year.
"There's a new event that they brought in this year called steer dogging. It's kind of like steer wrestling except it's modified for the little kids to teach them the ground work to learn how to [eventually] steer wrestle," said Mindel.
Sixty-eight contestants are competing this year from Dawson Creek to Langley, with more than 20 local kids vying for the top prize.
"We are hoping that more people come out to watch this year, other than parents. It really depends on the weather," said Mindel.
The animals used in the rodeo are mostly local too.
"Ranchers around here are really good and let us have their stock for free," said Mindel.
During every Little Britches contest, participants earn points which are tallied at the end of the year to determine the overall winner.
"It started off because some people in the horse club had kids that were doing Little Britches, and of course all the other Little Britches rodeos are way further south, so they wanted an opportunity for their kids to operate locally," said Mindel.
The kids that participate in Little Britches quite often continue on through the circuit from the high school level, to amateur and eventually pro.
"Some of the [participants] you see at the Calgary Stampede, national rodeos and the Canadian Finals Rodeo probably went through Little Britches," said Mindel.
The events on Saturday and Sunday are both rodeos, "because we don't have any rodeos here in the north, we try and do it so [the riders] can at least get two a year," said Mindel.
During Saturday's event, kids will be competing for prizes such as a saddle provided by Tim Horton's, with winners earning cash prizes.
The next rodeo takes place in Clinton on Aug. 27 to 28.
Nukko Lake Arena doors open at 10 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday.
For more information contact the Lakes Community Horse Club at 250-967-0128.
