Young Guns youth to compete in Crooked River Roundup for second year in a row
Published 5:45 am Tuesday, June 13, 2023
- Tyler Silva, 12, on 16-year-old Penny, left, and his brother Robert Silva Jr., 15, on 8-year-old Trigger, practice team roping Wednesday afternoon in an arena on their family ranch in Terrebonne. Both horses are All American Quarter Horses raised on the Silva family ranch.
For the second year in a row, youth contestants will participate at the Crooked River Roundup in a special event called Young Guns.
Contestants aged 6 through 18 will compete in bareback, saddle bronc, breakaway roping, team roping, bull riding and barrel racing. The roundup takes place June 22 through 24.
“These kids at the rodeo, they go to their junior rodeos and what-have-you, but they never really get a big spotlight,” said Kasey Every, association secretary for the Central Oregon Pee Wee Rodeo Association.
“Fans love local, and fans love kids, and so it was a great fit for the young local talent to be showcased at a huge event.”
Last year, Every worked with Jason Snider, rodeo chair for the Crooked River Roundup, in a collaboration between the two organizations to get the kids into larger scale events for the first time.
There isn’t another pro rodeo doing anything like this, she said.
The six events are broken into timed and rough-stock events. Timed events include breakaway, team roping and barrel racing.
Rough-stock events take place on animals that buck — bull riding, bareback riding and saddle bronc riding, the latter two of which mean riding a bucking horse either with a saddle or without.
Timed events will include nine contestants, who each qualified with the best scores based on four rodeos in April and May, from the Central Oregon Pee Wee Rodeo Association. The events will not include the 3-to5-year old age group, so contestants will be ages 6 through 14. Rough-stock event contestants were selected by the Crooked River Roundup board and Oregon High School Rodeo, and will be ages 14 to 18.
“Last year, it was the fan-favorite event,” said Every, who noted the enthusiasm was part of why she and Snider decided to bring it back this year.
“The crowd went crazy when these kids would compete.”
Young Guns contestants come from all over Oregon, and will compete alongside professional contestants. Different kids will compete every night.
“They gain the exposure of performing on a huge stage and memories that’ll last a lifetime,” Every said.
The Young Guns feature will take place during the performances and will begin at 7 p.m. June 22 and will likely run until 10 p.m., Every said. The event’s last day is June 24.
“I think it’s really incredible that the Crooked River Roundup board brings this to their pro rodeo,” Every said.
