Grand National Rodeo

Boots By The Bay

The Grand National Rodeo is an action-packed night of competition and family entertainment.

Born from the spirited competition around ranching skills, rodeo contests display speed, skill, and agility in western sports. Bull riding, bronc riding, bareback riding, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and breakaway roping make up the core of the rodeo performance. These feats are woven together with comedy, music, and jaw dropping performances such as trick riding and bull jumping. The Grand National Rodeo has been produced by the excellence of Flying U Rodeo for nearly six decades.

The Grand National Rodeo experience is completed by great food, unique bar spaces, and western shopping.

Rodeo Competitions:

The collection of sporting events that make up a rodeo built on horsemanship and livestock handling skill necessary on working ranches and farms. In the sport of rodeo, events are judged by best time and highest skill.

Bareback Riding:

Bareback riding is perhaps rodeo’s oldest and most challenging sport. The rider must remain on the horse for 8 seconds without the benefit of any equipment except for a single rigging to hand onto. The performance of the rider and the bronc are both judged for a combined possible score of 100, taking into account the unique bucking style of the bronc.

Saddle Bronc Riding:

Saddle bronc riding is rodeo’s classic event, both a complement and contrast to the wilder spectacles of bareback riding and bull riding. Rhythm between the contestant and the horse is the key in saddle bronc riding. The rider must remain on the horse for 8 seconds and the winner decided by the best score of 100.

Team Roping:

Two riders work together to rope a steer, one roping the head (this rider is called the header) and the other roping the back let (this rider called the heeler). Great skill and coordination is required and the win goes to the best time.

Barrel Racing:

Barrel racing is about speed, where a horse and rider run a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels to achieve the fastest time. The skill of the rider, the agility of the horse, and the connection between the two are the key elements in this exiting competition.

Steer Wrestling:

Also known as bulldogging, steer wrestling is an event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then pulls the steer to the ground. The riding is judged by time.

Breakaway Roping:

Breakaway roping is the fastest growing rodeo competition in the sport. The goal is to achieve the fastest time roping a calf. The calf gets a head start running into the arena followed by the roper. The rope is attached to the saddle with the light, breakable string. As soon as the calf is roped and places some tension on the rope, the rope breaks allowing the calf to run free.

Bull Riding:

Bull riding is the most recognized as well as exciting rodeo contest where riders have to maintain their balance on a tamed bull for a 8 seconds. It is considered one of the most dangerous rodeo sports, where injuries are common. It requires flexibility, coordination, courage and stamina. The winning score is the highest out of 100, with half of the evaluation on the rider and the other half on the bucking style and effort of the bull.

Schedule of Events:

5:30 pm: Shopping, Dining, and Entertainment Halls Open

5:30 pm: “Behind the Chutes” tours
(separate ticket, pre-paid)

6:00 pm: Arena Opens

7:15 pm: Diablo Ladies Drill Team

7:30 pm: Rodeo Time!

9:30 pm: Rodeo Concludes
Shopping and Entertainment Open

11:00 pm: All Halls Close

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