Bull-riding, calf-roping and other activities will return to the George Ingalls Equestrian Center in Norco Friday for the 2024 Norco Mounted Posse-Professional Rodeo Cowboys’ Association rodeo.
Festivities are slated to begin at 5 p.m. Friday with an introduction to this year’s rodeo queens, followed by drill team performances and several hours of ring competition, according to organizers.
The three-night event will boast a series of contests for both professionals and amateurs, including a bareback riding contest, steer-wrestling, barrel racing, mutton-busting and — the highlight — bull-riding.
On Saturday, the rodeo will continue from 5-9 p.m., followed by a “Rodeo Dance Party” and barbecue, featuring live musical entertainment.
On Sunday, an open cowboy church service is scheduled for 10 a.m., and gates open for the final rounds of roping and wrestling at 3:30 p.m., beginning with a Challenged Children’s Rodeo for special needs kids.
Animal rights advocates will demonstrate outside the rodeo Saturday evening, protesting what they call the inherent cruelty of events such as bull riding, calf-roping and “mutton-busting,” which involves children riding sheep for as long as they can stay on the animals’ backs. The activists say calf roping — in which baby cows are forcibly tackled to the ground and hog-tied — is exceptionally cruel.
“Rodeos are violent events,” PETA captive animal case specialist Gemma Vaughan said in a statement provided to City News Service.
“With the use of cruel electric prods, flank or bucking straps, and spurs — all of which burn, wound, or dig into the animals’ skin and sensitive tissue — rodeos take normally tame, docile animals and terrorize and provoke them into displaying behavior that makes them seem fierce and aggressive. Animals sustain agonizing and even fatal injuries, including broken ribs, backs, and legs; punctured lungs; internal organ bruising; and snapped necks.
“Just last year, a horse was euthanized after breaking a leg at the Norco Mounted Posse PRCA Rodeo,” Vaughan added. “We urge the public to avoid these spectacles of suffering as if lives depend on it, because they do.”
The PRCA issued the following statement to CNS:
“As a sanctioning body for professional rodeo, PRCA takes animal safety and welfare seriously. We regulate and monitor rodeo competitors and stock contractors, and we expect them as well as PRCA sanctioned rodeos to adhere to more than 60 rules designed to prevent animal injuries. These rules include a ban on the use of electric prods and guidelines for flank strap materials that are meant to cue a horse to buck, not to cause pain. Rule violations are subject to fines or other penalties, and we require trained veterinarians to be in the arena at all sanctioned rodeo performances.
“Rodeo is an intrinsic part of Western culture. We are proud of that heritage and proud of all the steps we take to make animal welfare a top priority for PRCA.”
Tickets are $25 for admission to the rodeo on Friday, though kids under 3 years old will be admitted free, with additional discounts for seniors and active-duty military personnel. For Saturday, admission is $35, and for Sunday, admission is $20.
The Norco Mounted Posse-PRCA Rodeo returned in 2022 following a two-year hiatus. The event was suspended in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-related lockdowns.
More information is available at norcomountedposseprcarodeo.com/.