Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo (36 images)

Yesterday evening, I attended the last day of the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo with an old friend. It's a terrific rodeo in an outdoor arena (that we photographers appreciate). The weather was pretty damn hot early on. But a cloud cover cooled things off. Rain came later during the event, which cooled things off even more!

This rodeo features a competition event just before the actual rodeo begins: Mounted shooting. The object of the sport is to shoot ten balloon targets while riding through a variety of challenging courses using specially loaded blank cartridges fired from Old West-style single-action revolvers. It is a high-speed, timed spectator sport in which the competitor who rides the fastest with the fewest missed targets wins. The typical event requires two single-action revolvers, each loaded with five blank cartridges. Ten targets are arranged in a horseback riding arena. A second event starts with a revolver, then switches to a rifle. It is loads of fun for the spectators!

I also captured some action shots of the bareback riding and a few of the team roping before I put my camera away to protect it from the rain.