Not a baaaaaaaad end to Canadian boy’s vacation
Among the muttonbustin’ Texans, a little Canadian stood out. Most competitors wore jeans, long sleeves and boots. Joshua Stresman wore basketball shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes.
The event — a PG version of bull riding in which kids ages 5 and 6 cling as long as they can to sprinting sheep — was a new challenge for the 5-year-old who also plays hockey and baseball.
His parents, Dwayne and Elaine, brought their three boys to the rodeo while on vacation from LaSalle, Ontario, across the river from Detroit.
Announcers readied their endless sheep puns and prepared to rate each contestant on a 100-point scale. Joshua’s turn came near the end. He still wasn’t scared.
“A bunch of the other kids were crying,” he remembered.
A volunteer picked him up and plopped him atop the sheep. He tucked his head low and held tight. The gate opened. The sheep sprinted.
The ride seemed longer than the others. A little more than halfway across the arena, Joshua took a spill. He landed on all fours. He got a faceful of dirt. Somehow his tennis shoes came off his feet. The crowd could see the little holes in the heels of his gray-and-whitestriped socks. He recovered and got shepherded away by a rodeo clown.
After the last ride, the volunteers rounded up the contestants for the awards ceremony.
The champion, the announcer said, was an audacious athlete who’d gotten the highest score of the day, a 96.5.
A volunteer holding a shiny buckle handed it to Joshua.
He looked surprised. He stared at the buckle in his hands, then looked up at the crowd, blinking fiercely.
A small, tight smile crept across his face.