Ride 'em, rope 'em

Many of Northern California's top young cowboys and cowgirls gathered at the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley on Saturday to take part in the Tri-County Junior/Amateur Rodeo.

Around 200 contestants ranging in age from 6 to 70 are taking part in the two-day event, competing in traditional events such as steer wrestling and bull riding as well as the more obscure steer daubing and sheep riding.

The junior rodeo is open to participants ages 6 to 13, while the amateur rodeo is made up of contestants age 14 and older who have not won more than $5,000 in a single season.

Several Mid-Valley cowboys took to the arena on Saturday, including Wheatland native Chant DeForest, who also shines on the gridiron as the quarterback at Marysville High.

"I've been concentrating on football mostly, so I haven't got to practice that much," said DeForest, who competed in both team and tie-down roping on the rodeo's first day. "Two events is all I can do right now."

While DeForest may not have turned in his best times on Saturday, it could have been expected. The junior signal caller didn't get back into town until late Friday night after tossing a touchdown pass to help lead the Indians to a 29-8 Golden Empire League victory over Golden Sierra in Garden Valley.

And although the sports may be from completely different ends of the spectrum, DeForest can see some similarities between the two.

"You can't get too down on yourself," DeForest explained, noting the importance of keeping one's composure. "You have to be able to keep your head, especially as a quarterback."

As if playing both Cowboy and Indian weren't enough, DeForest has the added responsibility of being the District 3 High School Rodeo state representative, which requires him to attend functions one weekend each month. And he has his studies to keep up.

"I haven't been to the movie theater in a long time because I'm always going somewhere on weekends," DeForest said. "It's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it."

DeForest's brother, C.J., fared slightly better than his sibling on Saturday and enters today leading the tie-down roping competition by posting the fastest time of 11.338 seconds.

Live Oak's Josh Garner, the two-time District 3 all-around champion, overcame a skittish horse to blow away the competition with a text book performance in steer wrestling.

"He gets hyped up just like all of us," Garner said of his horse, which gave him some problems in the chute just before he exited. "It felt good, that's for sure."

Garner will compete in team roping today and his roping partner, Austin Tyler of Lincoln, will challenge his leading time in steer wrestling.

The two have become friendly rivals as well as teammates even though Tyler may not look the part of your typical cowboy with his baggy jeans, long hair and baseball cap worn backwards.

The rodeo continues today at noon, with slack, or overflow events beginning at 9 a.m. A cowboy church will begin at 8 a.m. The event is free for spectators.

Contact sports Andy Arrenquin at 749-4796 or aarenquin@appeal-democrt.com