Wild West Extravaganza

Flagbearers wait to ride into the arena at the start of the Night of the Horse: Wild West Extravaganza on April 18, 2009. Photo taken for the Del Mar Times.

I inherited a good amount of western culture from my parents.  Though I hated the hard work of driving cattle on horseback in my youth, I grew to appreciate and even enjoy riding horses.  I daresay I even feel nostalgic about long hot summer days in high school spent fixing fences outside of town, constantly spotting upwind tumbleweeds and lamenting the existential threat they posed to my fragile electric wire.

So of course I enjoy a good rodeo.  The Wild West Extravaganza in Del Mar on April 18 didn’t offer any bullriding, barrel racing or other competition, but what it lacked in western athleticism it made up in corny yet heartfully sincere nostalgia.  The historical past of the 19th-century western United States may not have been so noble, but it has spawned a modern yearning for a time of chivalry, brotherhood and romance that can make even the most jaded urbanite get lost in tales of cowboys and Indians.

Mexican Charro rider Tomás Garcilazo widens his lasso before putting it around his entire horse and riding off.

You can see the rest of my photos of the show at the Del Mar Times website.

A group of children in cowboy costume mill around their covered wagon before the start of the Night of the Horse: Wild West Extravaganza on April 18, 2009 at the Del Mar Fair Grounds.

Eric Runningpath, of the Soaring Eagles, performs the hoop dance at the beginning of the Wild West Extravaganza at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on April 18, 2009.