The Zen of Bull Riding: Rodeo Competitor and Organizer Reflect on Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo

KSJD | By Austin Cope

Published June 8, 2017 at 2:02 PM MDT

The Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo started Wednesday evening at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds. It will feature rodeo events on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, a parade through Cortez on Saturday afternoon, and a carnival all weekend. Some of those events will include bull riding, which involves trying to stay on the back of a 1,200-pound animal for 8 seconds. Professional bull rider Ty Wallace and rodeo committee member (and former bull rider) Charlie Blackmer joined KSJD's Austin Cope on Morning Edition to talk more about bull riding and rodeos in general.

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Austin Cope

Austin Cope is a former Morning Edition host for KSJD and now produces work on a freelance basis for the station. He grew up in Cortez and hosted a show on KSJD when he was 10 years old. After graduating from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2010, he lived in Belgium, Ohio, Spain, northern Wyoming, and Himachal Pradesh, India before returning to the Cortez area. He has a degree in Politics from Oberlin College in Ohio.

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