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SIERRA VISTA — Men’s professional bull riding is coming to Sierra Vista.
Slated as the main kick-off event for Frontier Days, a three-day fair that runs from April 3-5, the bull riding will attract top professional competitors from all over the country for the fair’s opening day on April 3.
“We are so thrilled to get this caliber of talent for our event,” said Jack Bauer, the brain-child and organizer of Frontier Days, which benefits Cochise County Workforce Development. “Professional bull riding is thrilling to watch and always a crowd-pleaser.”
The Men’s Professional Bull Riding Association is sanctioning the event in Sierra Vista as a part of its circuit, which means the top competitors will accumulate points, applied to their overall standing.
 Luke Kraut deals with a bull during the women’s rodeo in Sierra Vista at the former Sierra Vista Riding Club grounds. (Courtesy of the Kraut family) |
“By riding in our event, they not only have an opportunity to win a cash prize, but will be able to apply any points they earn for the whole year,” Bauer said.
Along with the competitors, crowds are sure to be entertained by the daring antics of Luke Kraut, a well-known bullfighter and rodeo clown, himself a former bull rider.
“My number one goal is the cowboy protection part of the job, giving the cowboy a safe passageway to the arena fence,” Kraut said during a phone interview. Raised on a ranch in Australia, Kraut came to the United States in 1995 and now lives in Wittman, where he, his wife, Gina and children raise bulls for competitions all over the country.
“My whole family was involved in rodeo, and I grew up around it,” Kraut said. “Rodeo is a huge sport in Australia. My folks own a ranch there and I rode horses all day, every day, as part of my daily routine.”
He got into bull riding as a teenager, and was riding competitively by the time he was 16. Kraut says he relies on his cattle sense and ability to read cattle to get himself out of tight spots.
“It’s definitely a family business,” Kraut said. “My wife (Gina) helps out with the bulls. She feeds them and helps haul them to the rodeos. Gina also flanks the bulls at the rodeo, which prepares them to buck in the bull riding events.”
The couple’s three sons, Lane, Cauy and Boyce Kraut, are involved in the family business, as well.
“We raise bulls for rodeo competitions, and have a very good breeding program,” Kraut said. “Rodeo is not only a tradition, but a lifestyle we hope to pass down to our children.”
Along with his bullfighting work, Kraut is a farrier, or horse shoer, in the greater Phoenix area, where he services more than 300 horses.
While the professional bull riding is slated as the kick-off event for Frontier Days, the fair will feature a number of activities during its three days.
Held at the new Sierra Vista Riding Club arena, 575 Guilio Cesare Ave., there will be vendor booths, music, professional entertainment, an ethnic tent, a carnival and the All Women’s Professional Rodeo on April 4 and 5.
The three-day event’s major sponsors include Yaqui Electric, Cox, Campstone Transfer, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Co-op, Arizona’s G&T Cooperatives and YE Contracting Insulation Services.
“We still have a limited number of indoor and outdoor vendor booths, as well as sponsor opportunities,” Bauer said.
Herald/Review reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.
WHERE TO CALL
Frontier Days organizers are looking
for volunteers to help with the event.
For information, call Bauer at 459-8127. For sponsorship and vendor information, call Debra Soto at 236-6144.
curious wrote on Jan 4, 2009 6:23 PM: