A herd of animals and people flocked into the annual Southern Extreme Bull Riders Association Bulls & Barrels Rodeo at the Teets Farm in Lost River on August 30 to enjoy amazing enjoy amazing rides and festivities.{private]
The bull riding champion was Brandon Chambers from Gates, N.C. and the barrel racing champion was Heather Laverty from Augusta, W.Va.
One of the favorite traditions at the beginning of the rodeo comes in the form of a hayride pulled by a John Deere tractor taking young and old alike from the parking fields to the venue site.
Coming up the hillside, folks could see the children playing gleefully in the corn kernel box [sandbox] with various trucks and loaders to move the corn around.
People lined up to get their picture taken in specially designed cutouts with farm themes as they waited for the arena festivities to commence.
One cow was penned up next to the concessions stand having a delightful time nibbling on an ear of corn. This bovine wasn’t on the menu, but the Teets family had a full menu which included steak sandwiches, cheeseburgers and ice cream.
In another area, kids were riding a mechanical bull as others tried to lasso a wooden animal.
There were four rounds of mutton busting as the children filled up the spots quickly for their chance to ride the sheep across the ring and some flew right off their trusted companions.
The bull riders were back performing after a hiatus and the bulls were more than prepared to buck those riders clear off in a matter of seconds. There were a handful of the rodeo veterans managing to complete the full eight seconds on top of these beasts.
Part of the entertainment was the crazy names given to the bulls, and riders from seven different states tried to master those monikers and kept the calling going during the leaping rides.
The SEBRA Bulls & Barrels Teets Farm Rodeo session kicked off with Hunter Baker from Cattaraugus, N.Y. on top of “The Roan Ranger” and couldn’t complete the ride.
The first rider to earn points was Darren Woollett from Boyers, Pa. getting his money’s worth with “Wade Cribs”.
The third rider of the evening was Michael Phillips from Waynesburg, Pa. who had the bull named “Lucken Back” who made the swivels to buck off Phillips.
Coming up in the fourth gate was the first of two bull riders from West Virginia as Brayden Knight hailing from Jumping Branch tried to keep a grip on “Slippery When Wet”.
The next six bull riders in the opening round were: Joe Hostetler from Homer City, Pa. on “Lefty”; Austin Beaty from Moneta, Va. on “Panco”; Eli Yoder from Carroltown, Pa. on “Walk Worthy; Devon Weaver from St. Michael, Pa. on “Loveshack”; Sam Black from Phenix, Va. on “Hippy Sweat” and Gave Gay from Staley, N.C. was on “Bo”.
During the intermission, there was the mutton busting finals, a live music concert, steer branding with paint and barrel racing.
The barrel racing competitors were from West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Children lined up along the fence to pet the horses prior to the barrel racing event as the riders stopped to chat with the young ones and share stories.
Laverty (Augusta, W.Va.) had the best ride of the evening, followed by Cherie Etchebarne from Linville, Va. and Billie Jo Sims from Haymarket, Va. took third place overall.
The barrel racing started with Ally Glick from Bridgewater, Va. and the horse stumbled on the first barrel turn area as the ground was still very soft from the previous day’s downpour.
A couple other horses tripped up in the same vicinity with one falling to its side with the rider falling off, but both the rider and the horse were okay and came back later to complete the barrel racing session.
Callie Neiderhiser was the second barrel racer of the show hailing from Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
Mersates Sims, from Standardsville, Va. joined her sisters Tiffiney and Billie Jo Sims (Haymarket) in the barrel racing show and paired up to ride along in the warmup segment.
The second barrel racer from Pennsylvania was Morgan Reese from the town of Export.
After Etchebarne, Billie Jo Sims, Laverty and Sims sped across the arena, it was Madison Iager’s turn from Woodbine, Md.
Three of the last four barrel races were from the Mountain State: Jodi Mayberry (Organ Cave), Katie Martin (Beckley) and Kayla Lantz (Seneca Rocks).
The second to last barrel racing rider was Brouagan Sheets from Staunton, Va. coming just before Lantz finishing up the show.
Returning to the second round the rodeo, the bull riders were ready to hang on for as long as possible.
First up in the chute was J.C. Tennant from Waynesburg, Pa. taking ride on “Rukus”.
Chance Holland was the next bull rider from Lexington, Va. paired on top of “SnapChat”.
The third rodeo contestant was Michael Lane from North Tazwell, Va. going on “Gringo”.
The second Mountain State representative for the bull riders was Zac Shriver from Blacksville with a beating ride on “Flatliner”.
Brandon Chambers from Gates, N.C. took a full ride on top of “Recoil” to earn a spot in the championship round.
Phillips returned to riding on top of the bull named “Hammer Down” and Phillips got hammered down.
“Ambush” was the next bull ridden by Brandon McDowell from Hopwood, Pa.
Jamie Willrode on top of “Shazam” and Beaty came back for another ride on “RoadRage”.
Matt Allgood from Saline, Mich. capped off the second section on top of “Chief”.
The third session featured Woollett in his second entry riding on “Black Berry Smoke”, Clay Kaufman from New Alexandria, Pa. was on “Scally Wags”, Briar Schultheisz from Waterford, Ohio rattled on top of “Rock Salt & Nails” and Zane Armentrout from Greenville, Va. finished out the round riding a bull named “Blank Space”.
Brandon Chambers won the Bulls & Barrels Rodeo championship belt buckle with a final ride on top of “Hookarus”.
Coming in second place was Gage Gay with a ride on “NighShift”, followed by Woollett on top of “Two Prophets”.
Beatty took fourth place with a final ride on a bull named “DirtNap”. Phillips placed fifth on top of “Lead Feather” and Lane took sixth overall with a ride on “Smoke Show”.
The rodeo was exciting for the entire crowd and the silly names of the bulls kept the laughter and fun going throughout the night.[/private]
