Six Seconds And A Handful Of Wool!

By CHARLENE PAUL

Moapa Valley Progress

One of the most popular events at the Clark County Fair and Rodeo is the Mutton Bustin’ event.

Mutton Bustin’ is simple: kids between the ages of four and seven don a helmet, chaps, and protective vest and are helped aboard a woolly sheep. The rider gives a nod, and the cowboy at the gate pulls the rope. The clock starts and the rider holds on for dear life trying to ride until the buzzer sounds.

There were some wild rides throughout the week of the fair and some tough riders. But with names like The Widowmaker, Wooly Nelson, and Lambo, the sheep meant business too.

“It was a great week with some great rides,” said event coordinator Stuart Riggins. “The sheep were good and the kids were determined.”

Riggins has been in charge of Mutton Bustin at the fair for eleven years now. During that time, his vision for making the event as close to a professional rodeo experience for the kids has never dimmed.
“We do everything we can to help the kids have a good time,” he said.

This year, Jason Adams, President of BEX Sunglasses, approached the fair organizers and offered to sponsor the Mutton Bustin’ event.
“We just felt like it was something we could get our arms around,” Adams said. “It was a good marriage from the start.”

Riggins agreed with that. “We were excited to have Jason and BEX come on board this year,” he said. “They brought good changes to the event, and there are plans in the works for next year.”

Of course, the main stars were the kids. Each day, there were several heats with the winners from those heats competing in the last event of the day for the championship.

The champions were: Kelton Sandoval on Wednesday; Harbor Adams on Thursday; Brody Evanoff on Friday; and Brooklyn Marriott on Sunday. The championship results for Saturday were not available when this article went to print.