The Key Ingredient in the Silver Spurs Rodeo Recipe for Success
KISSIMMEE,
Fla. -- Take one arena, add in a liberal amount of talented, athletic cowboys,
stir in a variety of powerful livestock and a sprinkling of lassoes, clowns
and hats. Recipe for a successful rodeo? Not unless you carefully add the
last secret ingredient: DIRT. That’s right. DIRT.
Behind every successful Silver Spurs Rodeo, you’ll find just the right mixture of soils carefully combined to not only absorb those incredibly death-defying and breathtaking falls cowboys take after flying through the air, but to protect horses and bulls from injury and falls by providing a sure-footed surface.
It’s something that most folks don’t even think about, but for Tony Stockstill, it’s a passion during the month of October preparing for the annual Silver Spurs Rodeo, which will be held at the new indoor Silver Spurs Arena at Osceola Heritage Park October 9-12, 2003.
Normally the assistant project manager for the Osceola County Board of Commissioners, Stockstill adds the honorary title of “Dirtologist” to his resume when rodeo time rolls around.
“It’s all about breaking falls to keep from breaking bones,” says Stockstill, whose goal is to provide the best possible surface for each and every event at the rodeo, and that means coming up with just the right combination of soils for each of the six competitive events taking place at each of the rodeo performances. “The dirt has to be just right.”
Stockstill doesn’t lack for types of dirt to choose from. “If you can think of any type or variety of dirt, it’s out there, and we use it,” he says.
For bull-riding, bareback, saddle bronc and steer wrestling events, Stockstill prefers a mixture that is heavy on sand—nearly 80 percent—with roughly 10 percent clay and 10 percent silt.
For other events, such as barrel racing, the combination might be heavier on the clay, with trace amounts of sand and silt.
“It’s important to get the proper mount of compaction, to provide support but also to absorb shock,” he says.
Equally important, says Stockstill, is to lay enough soil “so that you can fluff it up and keep it fresh between events.”
The attention to detail on this year’s dirt needs is critical, notes Stockstill. The old arena, where the Silver Spurs Rodeo has been held for the past 60 years, had its own, built-in surface courtesy of Mother Nature, but due to its sandy nature, had to be continually compressed with rollers in order to be effective. At the indoor facility, “we’ll have just the opposite problem,” Stockstill says. “We’ll have to continually fluff it up to keep the dirt from compacting.”
This year, Stockstill plans to import dirt from just down the road, courtesy of CDS Site Work in Orlando. Over a period of three days at the end of September, more than 140 dump trucks will arrive at the arena, and dozers will knock down the 1400 cubic yards of dirt over the 140x250 foot arena floor.
A dirt surface roughly 12 inches deep will be fashioned, then continually mixed and tested for consistency not only by Stockstill, but by officials from the rodeo industry, Silver Spurs committee members and cowboys themselves.
“You test it by walking on the surface,” notes Stockstill. “You want to leave a certain impression, but you don’t want to pack the dirt too hard. It’s a feel that you develop.”
And even after the dirt floor is down, the maintenance will continue, usually following each event to keep the soil fluffed up and the odors down.
It’s a full time job, but it’s what makes or breaks the rodeo. And for Tony Stockstill, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.
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