The War Bonnet Roundup, Idaho's Oldest Rodeo, was back last weekend for its 114th year. Some of the country's top cowboys and cowgirls competed for big money in this Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned annual event.

The rodeo maintains a long-standing relationship with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes from nearby Fort Hall, who contribute the colorful war bonnet and kick off each night's opening ceremony in an eye-catching way.

 Miss Teen War Bonnet Roundup, Sydney Mitchell, rode out with the colors. She's a high school student in Driggs, Idaho:

I'm mostly there to photograph two of the roughstock events: bareback riding and saddle bronc riding. The way these cowboys are wildly tossed about, one wonders just how messed up their backs must be!

Having been introduced to rodeo only a year or so ago, I've had to do some homework regarding rules and scoring.

Both the horse and rider are judged in the bareback riding event. I'm unsure how the horse's performance is rated (they all looked pretty spectacular to me, for what it's worth, though I think it has to do with how hard they buck), but the cowboy must maintain his single hold and ride for eight seconds. Both of his spurs need to be touching the horse's shoulders as the animal jumps out of the chute; if he fails to do this, he faces disqualification.

Saddle riders also need to begin in a "marked out" position and stay mounted for at least eight seconds. The cowboy cannot drop the rein, touch the horse, or himself, or any of his equipment, and of course he can't let the horse throw him off. Points are awarded for things like the cowboy's control during the ride and how hard the horse bucks.

I haven't had many opportunities lately to photograph fast action sports, so the rodeo is a great opportunity for me to keep from getting rusty.

With any fast action event, it's important to use a high shutter speed and set the camera on continuous shooting mode. Be mindful of how you choose to set up autofocus. On my Nikon Z8, I used continuous mode, wide area AF, and selected "people" subject detection.

In the case of a rodeo, there are people standing inside the ring as well as a few riders on horseback (the pickup men), so it's inevitable that some of the shots captured will end up being unusable due to placement of distracting elements in the frame. Success in that regard is largely determined by which direction the horse takes off out of the chute.

Following are a few photographs from both the bareback and saddle bronc events:

Another PRCA-sanctioned event, the Gem State Pro Rodeo, will be coming to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in just a few weeks. Immediately following that, Idaho State University will host the Bengal Roundup College Rodeo, a national intercollegiate rodeo association event in Pocatello. Teams from 11 colleges and universities will compete for a chance to qualify for the national college rodeo finals in Casper, Wyoming next June.

Ride 'em, cowboy!