Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Baca Rodeo goes out with rip-snortin', wild-riding, bronc-bustin', Western style

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Belen It was the final clash of the titans for Belen rodeo fans this past weekend as Casper Baca closed out his 32nd annual Rough Stock Series. After eight straight weekends of running, bucking, twisting and turning, the series — billed as the largest rough stock rodeo event in the U.S.A. — ended with dozens of cowboys testing their mettle against some of the best rough stock in the country.

Rough stock, put simply, is just that. There isn't much civilized about these broncs and bulls - they have been born and bred to do one thing. Throw a cowboy. While some may make it to eight seconds, many more don't.

And after 32 years of hosting and organizing the series, Baca is pleased with the efforts and hoping to come back for another year. "Of the 32 years, we've probably done 25 of those in Belen," he said.

As with all things, time marches on and change becomes the name of the game. During his time as a cowboy himself and now a rodeo contractor, Baca has seen the changes time has wrought on the sport he respects.

Baca said the most drastic change he has seen is the cost. "It is going up - everything from hay to fuel to advertising," he said. "I'd say the costs have more than tripled, but we are going to keep on beating that drum. Hopefully there will be a 33rd annual ..."

One thing that could also hurt the financial viability of the series is Baca's bold decision to not accept tobacco sponsorship for his rough stock series. Last week, he signed a pledge not to accept tobacco sponsorship, making him the fist livestock contractor in the state to do so, according to State Department of Health officials.

That decision could hurt the series, Baca said. "It depends on the area and how big of a sponsor tobacco is in that area," he said. The New Mexico Department of Health and the Buck Tobacco campaign are helping to sponsor Baca's events and absorb some of the costs. But Baca calls it a good trade. "The good it will do is worth the money," he said.

Baca acknowledges that rising costs aren't just a problem for rodeo contractors - the spectators sometimes have to make the choice between seeing the cowboys ride and a tank of gas.

"Sometimes it's as good as it used to be, others it's not," Baca said. "We try to keep the gate prices down. We used to be able to tell people that they could get in for the same price as 10 gallons of gas. Now, it's more like two or three gallons. I know expenses like that might keep people from coming out as often as they used to."

For a long time, an average rodeo was a night of riding, roping and wrestling. Now Baca said he has seen rodeo events becoming much more specific. "We're seeing rodeos that are dedicated just to bull riding, bareback or saddle bronc, barrel racing and team roping," he said. "I think that comes from being in a positive situation."

The sport is also seeing more specific breeding stock, Baca said. "In some ways it's almost worse than (horse) racing," he says with a laugh. "Some of these animals are sold on paper for thousands of dollars, and they're still in the tube."

While some may prefer the possible perfection of science, Baca has a more trial-and-error approach to the whole concept. "I prefer to buy proven stock," he said. "I've dabbled a little in the breeding, but a lot of guys, that's all they do, that's where their attention mainly is. I'd have to say they don't rodeo as hard as I do. I've always gotta keep at least one iron hot."

With several decades of rodeoing under his belt buckle, Baca remembers when he first started riding and the lack of safety equipment. "Back when I was riding, there were no vests or helmets or mouth guards," he said. "Back in those days if you asked for those, well, you'd probably be called a sissy."

Safety equipment is something Baca says is certainly needed, especially for young competitors. "In some associations, you can't even ride without safety equipment," he said.

But even with safety equipment and speedy pick-ups, things still go wrong and people do die. "For a long, long time I never heard of or knew anybody who died. But in the last five or 10 years, quite a few guys have died," Baca said. "I don't know why that changed.

"This is a dangerous sport. It's not a matter of if you'll get hurt; it's when and how bad. Every time you get on an animal, you're increasing the chance that you'll get hurt."

And that chance is what unfortunately brings many spectators to the stands. "After a while of watching them spin and jump, it's kind of boring, but then you have a good wreck and it gets everyone excited," he said.

The most dangerous of the rodeo sports, bull riding, has grown in leaps and bounds, Baca said. "They're the rock stars. Everybody wants to compete," he said.

But danger aside, Baca has seen many cowboys make their way up through the ranks of bull riding. "During the course of the series, I've seen a lot of guys who started out riding sheep and calves go on to be PBR (Professional Bull Riders) finalists," he said. "To see them go on to win hundreds of thousands of dollars and be world champions, we're proud to be a part of that."

Looking into the future, Baca said that over the next 10 years he can see just about everything being a specific event. And mamas aren't letting their babies grow up to be cowboys anymore.

"There are not as many cowboys as there used to be," he said. "Once if you asked 10 boys what they wanted to be when they grew up, at least nine of them would say cowboys. Now maybe half of them would say that. Nowadays with 4-H and FFA changing and agriculture and the cowboy life changing, we're seeing fewer cowboys.

When his series first started, Baca said, it wasn't uncommon to have 100 to 150 bull riders sign up. "We'd have to turn riders away," he said. "Now we're lucky to get 75 sign up."

With the cowboy way possibly on the way out, Baca worries that rodeos will become hired entertainment for an evening, without any local cowboys riding. "We might start seeing events like the old Wild Bill Days where you hire someone to come in," he said quietly. "I just don't know about that."

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