FOURTH OF JULY 2026 STORY

Celebrating the Fourth of July, our country’s 250th birthday in the Lone Star State, Texas, not Israel, included going to a wonderful rodeo. Yes, everything from calf-roping, to bucking broncos, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and, of course “muttin bustin.” For those of you not familiar with contemporary rodeos, muttin bustin, is an event that dares riders to stay on a sheep for eight seconds without falling off. Sounds pretty easy right? Not right. The ages of these death-defying desperados range from 4 years old to 7 years old. Boys and girls alike. These diminutive buckaroos are incredible. And, nary a tear was shed when they fell off of their wooly steeds. These pint-sized performers are tough, and full of good humor. The camaraderie amongst them is really heart-warming. It’s quite possible that we were seeing the rodeo stars of tomorrow in early competition. This is a bucking bronco.

Just like in the movie, “THE COWBOY WAY,” this is calf roping.

This lady gathered the children for the Muttin Bustin event.

Here’s a little pard getting ready for his muttin bustin ride.

“RIDE ‘EM COWBOY!” HANG ON!

Yes. We got into the spirit of the whole scene. As you can see, no Aloha shirts for this caper.

And so, we celebrated Lone Star State style, the 250th birthday of our nation, and reminded ourselves that Texas is not the only Lone Star State in the world. Let us not forget Israel, which also flies the Lone Star in its flag, and is a number of centuries older than Texas. WHIPPEE TIE! YAHOO!