Post by pegleg on Feb 16, 2010 9:09:56 GMT -6
Back when I was a kid I always wanted to be a rodeo cowboy. My family on my Dads side where in the cow & horse business in Miami,Fla. That was back when Miami was still pretty wild out at the edge of town. It was still pine barrens swamps and cattle ranches in those days. My Dad was a pilot and moved us from Fla. to Pennsylvania in the mid 50's. Not exactly rodeoin country. One spring day Mom to sent me to the grocery store and there on the front window was a poster about the York,Pa. fair. There was gonna be a wild west show and rodeo there that weekend. Well to make a long story a bit shorter, I hatched a plan to go to the fair. I bummed a ride to the fair grounds with a friend and looked up the owner of the wild west show Cherokee Hamlin. I lied about my age and he hired me to travel with em as a rough stock rider.
I was hangin around with the other cowboys at the arena and a feller walked up and said he needed some drivers for the Ostrich races that afternoon. He explained that the Ostriches would be pullin sulkies like they used in the trotter horse races and there would be handlers to start the race and catch the birds at the finish line. He was payin $20 bucks so a couple of us decided it was easy money and we signed on.
Came time for the Ostrich races to start so we walked over to the trotter track there at the fair grounds. This was the first time I had seen an Ostrich up close,(those are big dang birds). I loaded up in my sulky and the handler handed me a broom. He says if you wanna go right hold the broom on the left side of the birds head and to go left hold it on the right side of his head. I said how do I get him to stop? He just grinned and said we'll catch em when you cross the finish line. I figured, Oh well what could go wrong. There was four of us lined up and the starter fired his pistol and off we went. We where runnin in a tight bunch and I was on the outside rail havein a ball laughin and hollerin at my ostrich to giddy-up. We where comein up the back stretch and I saw there was a gap in the rail with a cop and a bunch people standin in the opening. Well, the bird saw the gap and ran right towards it. The cop threw his hands up to shoo the ostrich back toward the center of the track but it didn't faze this crazy bird. We went thru the gap into the parkin lot full speed ahead. By that time I was swingin my broom at the birds head tryin to break his neck. Somehow we made it between a bunch of cars and turned left towards the back gate of the fair grounds. We where almost to the ticket booth and I was screamin for the ticket seller to close the gate. He just stepped back and watched us go by and make a right turn on the main drag into town. By this time I had lost my broom and I was just hangin on for dear life. Two cop cars caught up to me and one pulled ahead with his siren & lights on to clear traffic. The other cop got next to us and eased over to run the bird off the road. We where still goin at a pretty good clip when a no parking sign loomed ahead and got hooked on the wheel of the sulky. That brought us to a sudden stop. I flew right over top of the ostrich and skidded to a stop on the sidewalk. A few minutes later the ostrich handler showed up and walked the bird back to the fair grounds. I rode back with the cop after he got most of my wounds patched up with his first aid kid. The cop let me out in the middle of the track and the crowd gave me a big ovation for winnin the wildest ride prize.
The next mornin we where hangin around the buckin chutes and the feller that put on the Ostrich races walked up and said he needed riders for the camel races. We told him to keep lookin because we where busy.
I was hangin around with the other cowboys at the arena and a feller walked up and said he needed some drivers for the Ostrich races that afternoon. He explained that the Ostriches would be pullin sulkies like they used in the trotter horse races and there would be handlers to start the race and catch the birds at the finish line. He was payin $20 bucks so a couple of us decided it was easy money and we signed on.
Came time for the Ostrich races to start so we walked over to the trotter track there at the fair grounds. This was the first time I had seen an Ostrich up close,(those are big dang birds). I loaded up in my sulky and the handler handed me a broom. He says if you wanna go right hold the broom on the left side of the birds head and to go left hold it on the right side of his head. I said how do I get him to stop? He just grinned and said we'll catch em when you cross the finish line. I figured, Oh well what could go wrong. There was four of us lined up and the starter fired his pistol and off we went. We where runnin in a tight bunch and I was on the outside rail havein a ball laughin and hollerin at my ostrich to giddy-up. We where comein up the back stretch and I saw there was a gap in the rail with a cop and a bunch people standin in the opening. Well, the bird saw the gap and ran right towards it. The cop threw his hands up to shoo the ostrich back toward the center of the track but it didn't faze this crazy bird. We went thru the gap into the parkin lot full speed ahead. By that time I was swingin my broom at the birds head tryin to break his neck. Somehow we made it between a bunch of cars and turned left towards the back gate of the fair grounds. We where almost to the ticket booth and I was screamin for the ticket seller to close the gate. He just stepped back and watched us go by and make a right turn on the main drag into town. By this time I had lost my broom and I was just hangin on for dear life. Two cop cars caught up to me and one pulled ahead with his siren & lights on to clear traffic. The other cop got next to us and eased over to run the bird off the road. We where still goin at a pretty good clip when a no parking sign loomed ahead and got hooked on the wheel of the sulky. That brought us to a sudden stop. I flew right over top of the ostrich and skidded to a stop on the sidewalk. A few minutes later the ostrich handler showed up and walked the bird back to the fair grounds. I rode back with the cop after he got most of my wounds patched up with his first aid kid. The cop let me out in the middle of the track and the crowd gave me a big ovation for winnin the wildest ride prize.
The next mornin we where hangin around the buckin chutes and the feller that put on the Ostrich races walked up and said he needed riders for the camel races. We told him to keep lookin because we where busy.
