The animals:
Bennie Beutler wanders around where the livestock are penned waiting their turn to throw a cowboy. When they are in the chute, Beutler stands on the gate, helping to ready them for the competition. This is his business: Beutler’s family has been providing the livestock for the Tucson Rodeo since 1952.
“There are six semi-trucks of them,” which includes about 100 bucking horses and 60 bulls, he says. Beutler brings the animals from his family’s business, Beutler & Sons Rodeo Company, in Elk City, Oklahoma. He does this for rodeos around the country and Canada. How does the Old Pueblo rodeo compare to the others?
“They don’t make ‘em better than Tucson,” he says. Most rodeos have smaller arenas and have become nighttime entertainment. Not here.
“Tucson has a big arena, and still does rodeo the way it was done in the ’50s and ’60s,” he says. The daytime, this-is-serious-business vibe suits him well.
