DARBY — Darby is riding into rodeo season as a summer tradition that brings thousands into the small Bitterroot town returned this weekend.
“It's the greatest event in rodeo in my opinion," Curt Rasmussen, the rodeo announcer, said. "Great way to start the season off."
This weekend, crowds, including the top 20 bareback riders in the world, took over town for the Dutton Ranch Darby Xtreme Bareback event, hosted by the Darby Rodeo Association (DRA).
“You got the best, the best in the world stock. Every horse we buck here today is a horse that's been to the NFR," Cal Ruark, the DRA's president, said. "We have former world champions. We have some people here that have won this event before. So who's who in the bareback riding world.”
Ruark is not only the DRA's president, but one of the nonprofit's founders. He knows what the tradition means to the town.
“I’m pretty proud of it," he said. "How many other people or other towns with a population of 750 people have a facility like this?"
Rasmussen and his dad teamed up to announce for the weekend. They say it means a lot to both the community and the riders, who are competing for big money: $60,000.
“It's a one-of-a-kind event. They don't do this in pro rodeo very often. When those guys were standing out there just now, that is literally the only time all season that all of those guys will be in the same arena at the same time," Rasmussen said.
But it’s about more than the money and the action in the arena. Saturday’s event raised $33,000 for an 11-year-old girl named Layla who has terminal cancer and big dreams of going to the National Finals Rodeo.
Ruark’s favorite moment of the weekend was watching a rider who got bucked off four times get back up and make a difference.
"He did ride him 8 seconds. He came up and donated the $10,000 to Layla. That's the cowboy way. That's just the way we are,” Ruark said. “We're a family, whether you're a spectator, a contestant, a stock contractor, a producer like myself, we're a family and we respect each other, we help each other and we root each other on.”
While the Dutton Ranch Darby Xtreme Bareback event is over, the DRA has events scheduled for July and August. Click here to read more.
