Last year, we missed attending Bulls, Barrels, and Bands at the KY Horse Park, so this year, Veronica bought tickets for Rex (Brad and I got ours at the same time) and surprised him for his birthday. When the big day arrived, Veronica was busy with the grandkids, so Rex took his son, Wesley, in her place. We had almost front-row seats (though we still got mud in our faces during the barrel racing), and we were amazed at how tough the bulls were to ride, as well as the incredible resilience of the bullfighters who took quite a beating protecting the riders and competing for time spent with the bulls. We also loved the bull jumper, who performed impressive flips over a charging Spanish bull. Somehow, we ended up in the middle of a mosh pit with all the other fans waiting for the "band" portion of the night. Since we weren’t familiar with the performers, we decided to make our exit after a couple of songs, carefully weaving our way through the crowd and taking a relaxed stroll back to our vehicles. It was a fantastic time, but next year, we think sitting a couple rows up might be the sweet spot—where we can enjoy the show, avoid the mud, and not find ourselves in the middle of the arena surrounded by 20-year-olds!

Our awesome seats that were maybe a little too good!

Beginning of the show

Pork Chop, a comic relief "bull fighter"

The barrel racers

The bull fighters who really took a beating!

The bull jumper who did all kinds of jumps over the bull

The cowboy who had the difficult job of guiding the bulls back into the stalls

The winners from each of the categories

Our mosh pit adventure (although tight, it was really too chill to be called a mosh pit)

View of the concert crowd once we escaped!