Rodeo - The Durango Herald

Montezuma County’s Amber Moore a fan favorite at Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo

Friday’s riders came from Northwest New Mexico, Northeast Arizona and Southwest Colorado

DATE: Jun 7, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo opens Thursday in Cortez

Three-day event celebrating 94 years as one of rodeo’s top regional fixtures

DATE: Jun 4, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Ignacio’s Teryn McWhirter commits to rodeo at Ranger College

The Ignacio senior specializes in breakaway roping

DATE: May 18, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

A Colorado rodeo legend clinches one more title: his name in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame

At 75 years old, J.C. Trujillo can still feel the moment he became a rodeo cowboy. He was 6. He remembers his first calf-riding competition for kids “as clear as day,” he said. “I was scared...

DATE: Oct 21, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Fiesta Days returns, largely focused on rodeo events at La Plata County Fairgrounds

Region’s longest-running event will celebrate 88 years – sans parade

DATE: Jul 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Lady Jay lassos third place at national rodeo

Morgan-Montoya bids to be best in goat-tying

DATE: Jul 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Saddle up: High-schoolers off to rodeo nationals

Junior high athletes return from national finals in Georgia

DATE: Jul 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Bloomfield duo headed to National High School Finals Rodeo

Team scored a win in team roping event in competition at Gallup

DATE: Jul 2, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Durango rodeo embodies Western heritage

Weekly event at La Plata County Fairgrounds seeks to expand its reach while staying true to its roots

DATE: Jun 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Photos: It’s rodeo time

DATE: Jun 22, 2023 | CATEGORY: Gallery

Five members of Basin Rodeo Team qualify for nationals

Drumm leads charge after winning for state titles

DATE: Jun 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Mitchell Story shines at nationals, finishes top-15

Aztec saddle-bronc entrant wins second go-round

DATE: Jul 26, 2022 | CATEGORY: Sports

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Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members donned costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the secret circus society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving the Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this years costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don'ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since it’s inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this years fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unphased by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Montezuma County’s Amber Moore a fan favorite at Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo

Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo opens Thursday in Cortez

Ignacio’s Teryn McWhirter commits to rodeo at Ranger College

A Colorado rodeo legend clinches one more title: his name in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame

Fiesta Days returns, largely focused on rodeo events at La Plata County Fairgrounds

Lady Jay lassos third place at national rodeo

Saddle up: High-schoolers off to rodeo nationals

Bloomfield duo headed to National High School Finals Rodeo

Durango rodeo embodies Western heritage

Photos: It’s rodeo time

Five members of Basin Rodeo Team qualify for nationals

Mitchell Story shines at nationals, finishes top-15

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