Gail Symons: Rodeo Is Wyoming's Soul Laid Bare

Ballyhoo! The Seventh Cavalry Drum & Bugle Corps leads off the Sheridan WYO Rodeo parade then punctuates the finale by circling back to march in and out of the downtown bars, serenading patrons with rousing renditions of "Garryowen.”

They have been an integral part of the rodeo since it began in 1931, and since the rodeo was re-established as the Bots Sots Stampede following WWII, before taking on the current name.

Sheridan’s WYO Rodeo is the perfect lens for understanding Wyoming’s rodeo tradition, because it blends world-class competition, deep community roots, and a shared celebration of the values that define us.

If you’ve never been to a Wyoming rodeo, imagine this: the week isn’t just about what happens in the arena. It’s a full-scale community festival that starts each day at sunrise and stretches deep into the night.

On Friday morning in Sheridan, Grinnell Plaza fills early for the pancake breakfast, where neighbors pass syrup and swap stories. Runners line up for the Sneakers & Spurs foot race, sprinting down Main Street while the crowd cheers. Then comes Beds Along The Big Horns with teams pushing wheeled beds with all the seriousness of a gold medal contest, laughter echoing off historic storefronts.

By late morning, the Main Street parade rolls through, packed with floats, marching bands, rodeo royalty, and those buglers in their cavalry uniforms. A short walk away at the Sheridan Inn, the First Peoples’ Pow Wow honors native heritage with dance, music, and regalia, making clear that rodeo week is about recognizing all the traditions that shape this place.

When evening falls, the grandstands at the fairgrounds fill for the PRCA rodeo events that carry the ranching roots of Wyoming into sport: bronc riding, bull riding, team roping, barrel racing.

Sheridan’s arena doesn’t just host local talent. It draws world-class competitors and champions.

And every night, it offers a crowd favorite you won’t find just anywhere: the World Championship Indian Relay Races. Teams of riders from across the West hurtle bareback around the track, vaulting from one horse to another in a blur of teamwork and daring that has everyone on their feet. These races are more than spectacle. They’re a living tradition of Native Nations that connects this modern event to the region’s oldest cultural heritage.

Sheridan isn’t alone in putting on a show that combines competition and community.

Wyoming’s summer rodeo calendar stretches from the massive Cheyenne Frontier Days, “The Daddy of ’em All,” with its multi-day festival of parades, free pancake breakfasts, and top-tier rodeo performances, to Casper’s Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo, which fills the city with carnival rides, balloon roundups, and PRCA events.

But rodeo isn’t confined to cities. Nearly every small town hosts its own grassroots version, from Friday nights in Dubois or Kaycee to Fourth of July celebrations in Ten Sleep. These local rodeos may not have corporate sponsors or television cameras, but they have full parking lots, kids in the stands, and neighbors shaking hands across the fence.

What ties them all together isn’t just the thrill of the arena. It’s the values rodeo celebrates and preserves.

Hard work is everywhere: months of training for both rider and animal, hours of practice, careful planning by volunteers who patch fences, sell tickets, and serve meals. Resilience is on display every time a rider gets back up after being bucked off, or when a community rebuilds an arena after a hard year.

Self-reliance is celebrated in every event where a single competitor faces an unpredictable animal and relies on skill and guts to see it through.

And rodeo isn’t a solo act. It’s a family tradition. Kids who start in mutton bustin’ graduate to junior rodeos and then to full events. Parents and grandparents volunteer, judge, sell concessions, and cheer from the stands.

And rodeos like Sheridan’s, with its Pow Wow and Indian Relay Races, demonstrate inclusivity and respect for the many cultures that shape Wyoming’s story.

Rodeo season in Wyoming is more than an entertainment calendar. It’s a living heritage, a way for communities to gather, celebrate, and reaffirm what matters most. It’s about grit, grace, and coming together in the spirit of friendly competition and shared history.

So whether you’re a lifelong fan or someone who’s never set foot in an arena, here’s an invitation here for you. Find your local rodeo this summer. Take in the pageantry, the sport, the laughter, and the quiet moments when the sun sets over a full grandstand.

Because if you want to see the best of Wyoming, you’ll find it there, in the dust and the cheers, in the tradition carried forward by each new generation.

Readers may reach Cowboy State Daily columnist Gail Symons at gailsymons@mac.com.