COARSEGOLD – The Coarsegold Exceptional Kids Rodeo, held before main rodeo action on Saturday, May 3, enjoyed the largest turnout of participants on record.
Families in the special needs community were invited to attend the program that enables special needs “exceptional kids” of all ages to take part in rodeo-themed games and activities.
Special thanks to official Rodeo photographer Tammi Kudra Edmonds
Click on photos to enlarge
“The event was amazing,” said parent Kevin Lockwood, who worked along with wife Sarah, and Yosemite High School senior Cassie Salisbury to organize the event. “We had lots of help from various volunteers and from the rodeo royalty. Luckily we were prepared for the large amount of participants.”
The special rodeo featured three roping stations, two rocking bulls, a barrel riding course for stick horses, a miniature pony for kids to pet, and two horses for riding, according to Lockwood.
“Everything was consistently busy and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves,” he continued with enthusiasm. “The feedback from the families so far has been wonderful; everyone had an amazing time and the kids have been talking about it non-stop”
Lockwood said the best part was “seeing the looks on the kids faces, whether they were riding the horse, getting hands-on lessons from experienced calf ropers, or being cheered on by the rodeo royalty. We even had help from CalFire, which was really helpful when some of the adult-age exceptional kids wanted to get up on the horse for rides!”
This year was such a big success for this event! Kevin and Cassie went above and beyond to make this happen. 37 kids! Amazing! There were so many families that participated that had never heard of this event! Great job guys!