I was honored as Grand Marshal for the rodeo in 2011.

That year we returned to the traditional Two-Go format, but this rodeo was badly hurt be an outbreak of the deadly equine virus just week before our event. Some contestants were told by their boarding facilities that if they trailered their horses they would not allow them to be brought back until the outbreak had subsided. This decimated our contestant counts and hurt attendance that year.

This year (2012) NGRA held its 15th BigHorn Rodeo at Horseman's Park. The hot temperatures hovering near 100 degrees made me think back to that first June rodeo.

Next year to beat the heat we're taking another run at the night rodeo concept with a 2-Go rodeo.

NGRA has come a long way since that first hot June rodeo. I was lucky to be along for the ride the whole time. I wouldn't give up those experiences for anything.