Stamina, steeled fortitude and a moment of reflection at the Marysville Stampede
Reno Rosser leaned down to check a saddle-strap fixed to a horse growing restless under the gangplanks. The leather hurricane deck on the animal’s back was set. Rosser moved by some blue bars to the next rodeo chute. A moment later, the bronc he’d been handling – a hickory-dark bucker with a black mane named Flash Flood – started getting truly riled up in her position. The mare threatened to jump, her sudden movements throwing slamming tremors through a maze of iron pens.
And that was before Browns Valley cowboy Jasper Frost even climbed on top of her.
Frost had buffed up to this particular horse before at another California rodeo.
“He was on the losing end of that first encounter” announcer Anthony Lucia warned the crowd as Frost settled into the saddle. “We are about to see if it’s any different tonight.”
As if wanting to feed the tension in Cotton Rosser Arena, Flash Flood sent another loud, crashing threat through the long, metal holding apparatus. Planks quaked under the boots of several competitors. The horse appeared itching to break free. Rosser and his flankmen got ready.
Frost steadied himself.
The gate came open and Flash Flood was already sailing upward.
The pickup riders tracked them as the bronc kicked her rear legs high over a lashing tail of dust.
Frost held with her for the landing.
Flash Flood then went flashing forward, one upward launch after another as she surged ahead.
But unlike the first time they met, this time she didn’t throw Frost. He withstood ten full bucks from his opponent and made it to the buzzer.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
“Same horse, different result!” Lucia boomed into the microphone.
When Frost was pulled clear, the announcer confirmed he’d just scored 75 points in the gambit.
The Marysville Stampede continues to be a PRCA-sanctioned event that lets riders like Frost advance in their standings when they show their best. On Saturday, the grassy earthen bowl that makes up Cotton Rosser Arena was filled with locals waiting for such moments. Up to that point, the growing audience had watched mutton bustin’, steer wrestling, team roping and several riding displays by the Painted Ladies Drill Team. After the saddle bronc competition ended, the action continued with tie-down roping for steer before the women’s barrel racing started.
Finally, it was time for the bulls.
A total of five riders had stepped up for the rodeo’s most risky event that evening. One of them was Colby Demo of Tehama County, who arguably faced Saturday’s biggest challenge. That’s because he’d drawn a bull named Cat Nap – a kind of walking toro-tornado that no cowboy had yet taken to 8 seconds and a qualification.
Deceptively named, Cat Nap is anything but quiet. This white-and-black patched colossus has thick horns and a knack for getting his massive tonnage genuinely airborne.
Demo had reason for confidence, though. He won the Marysville Stampede’s title in 2014 and 2018 and is currently ranked number 2 in the PRCA’s California circuit. He looked ready for the contest.
When the gate broke open, Latin trumpets were blaring over stadium speakers as Cat Nap heaved out in a forceful vault. Demo kept close to his back. The bull turned, swinging his hind legs into a sky-bound kick. In an instant, he was steaming ahead, building into a blur of bucks that fired one way and then another.
The rider stayed on.
Shifting to tight, violent turns, Cat Nap hurled his front weight downward, launching his back hooves even higher.
Demo kept latched to him – and by the next leap the buzzer was sounding as the crowd went wild.
“Colby Demo just rode the un-ridable!” Lucia shouted over his mic.
Demo and Frost provided some of Saturday’s highlight reels, but the event’s emotional heart beat mid-way when former Marysville city councilman Dom Belza walked onto the arena floor to remember his recently departed 11-year-old daughter, Riley Rose, as the Golden Circle Champion belt was awarded to another child who’s fighting pediatric cancer. This was the first year that the Marysville Stampede got involved with fundraising to help children battling for their futures in local hospitals. The Belza family made a sizable donation to the effort, which was bolstered by an outpouring of community members who showed up for a benefit dinner earlier in the week, one that was hosted by the Friends of the Marysville Stampede. Belza and his family looked on as the championship buckle was awarded to 4-year-old David Harvey of Marysville, who’s shown bravery as he pushes through his own challenge with childhood cancer.
It was a moment of poignancy and collective resolve that punctuated an otherwise action-packed afternoon of fun and spectacle.
By the next morning, Rosser was looking forward to showcasing even more top-tier rodeo talent.
“Some of America’s top cowboys for the first time will be performing here in Marysville,” he told the Appeal-Democrat after sun-up. “Tim O’Connell and Clayton Bigelow are both bareback world champions, and National Finals Rodeo competitors like Chase Brooks will be there, too.”
When the afternoon arrived, the crowds were back, the weather was cooler and the sound of families enjoying local traditions energized the air in ways that won’t be forgotten.
