MONROE - For as long as Brodhead's Casey Hume can remember, he has been going to rodeos.
Hume, 36, Brodhead, was one of two local talents featured at the Three Hills Rodeo at the Green County Fair Wednesday night. Hume won the title in the tie-down roping event in a sloshy rodeo ring caked in mud. A rain storm just before the start of the rodeo delayed it by 45 minutes.
"I have been in rodeos since I was old enough to ride a horse," said Hume, who estimates he goes to 40 rodeos a year.
Hume used his quarter horse, Junior, to win the roping tie-down event with a time of 12 seconds.
Chris O'Leary, 21, Monticello, competed in bull riding and stayed on a couple of seconds before getting bucked off out of the gate.
"You always want to win," Hume said. "It takes a lot of practice. You have to have good hand-eye coordination to get the rope moving like that. I was fortunate to have a good calf."
Hume, who competes with his brother, Jess, said, on average, he gets about $1,000 if he wins the rope tie-down event.
O'Leary, a 2009 Monticello graduate, rode a bull for the first time in September 2011 and was hooked. He joined the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association and competes in rodeos almost every weekend. The bull-riding competition runs from January through Sept. 18 with the finals in Louisville, Ky.
"I just tried it one day and never quit," O'Leary said.
O'Leary said he hasn't won a bull-riding competition yet.
"Mentally, it's a challenge," he said. "It's a pain, thrill and rush."
O'Leary said he hasn't suffered a serious injury in competition yet.
"I have been lucky," he said. "I go through the steps - buck before spin, stay tight on the hands and hold on as long as you can."
The signature event at the fair at 6:30 p.m. today is the Badger State Tractor Pull.
Hume, 36, Brodhead, was one of two local talents featured at the Three Hills Rodeo at the Green County Fair Wednesday night. Hume won the title in the tie-down roping event in a sloshy rodeo ring caked in mud. A rain storm just before the start of the rodeo delayed it by 45 minutes.
"I have been in rodeos since I was old enough to ride a horse," said Hume, who estimates he goes to 40 rodeos a year.
Hume used his quarter horse, Junior, to win the roping tie-down event with a time of 12 seconds.
Chris O'Leary, 21, Monticello, competed in bull riding and stayed on a couple of seconds before getting bucked off out of the gate.
"You always want to win," Hume said. "It takes a lot of practice. You have to have good hand-eye coordination to get the rope moving like that. I was fortunate to have a good calf."
Hume, who competes with his brother, Jess, said, on average, he gets about $1,000 if he wins the rope tie-down event.
O'Leary, a 2009 Monticello graduate, rode a bull for the first time in September 2011 and was hooked. He joined the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association and competes in rodeos almost every weekend. The bull-riding competition runs from January through Sept. 18 with the finals in Louisville, Ky.
"I just tried it one day and never quit," O'Leary said.
O'Leary said he hasn't won a bull-riding competition yet.
"Mentally, it's a challenge," he said. "It's a pain, thrill and rush."
O'Leary said he hasn't suffered a serious injury in competition yet.
"I have been lucky," he said. "I go through the steps - buck before spin, stay tight on the hands and hold on as long as you can."
The signature event at the fair at 6:30 p.m. today is the Badger State Tractor Pull.
