By Bram Rossman

Eight seconds. It seems short enough, right?

If you’re attempting to perch on top of a bucking bull, eight seconds is a very long time. Anyone who watched the Bull Riding in the Rockies event, held in Invermere on Friday, July 17, can attest to that.

The 17^th annual bull riding competition was a fundraiser for the Columbia Valley Rockies Junior B Hockey Team. Dubbed the Bill McIntosh Memorial —in honour of the late team co-founder and ardent supporter— riders from the World Professional Bull Riding circuit represented countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and Paraguay.

Held outside, across the street from the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena, this year’s event, (according to unofficial commentary) was the first time it had completely sold out.

The ever-popular game of Mexican Poker was held during the intermission, which saw two local players (Eric Oddy of Brisco and Brandon Goodwin of Edgewater) compete alongside two others, to see who could stay seated longest while a large bull charged their table. Despite drawing the dreaded Ace of Spades, which saw him seated with his back to the bull’s entry chute, Oddy emerged victorious and $500 richer.

After the bull riding wrapped up, a country dance with Calgary band Kixxsin, was held next door at the curling club.

Please click on an image to enlarge and to begin self-directed slide show…

Photos by Bram Rossman/Extreme Xposures / www.ExtremeXposures.ca

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