Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 05, 2010 News
– Rupununi women risk all for the thrill
They are both hired domestic workers on the sprawling ranches of the Rupununi, but Judith Isaacs and Jennifer Berchmore are not ones to escape the thrill of the annual Rupununi Rodeo.
On Saturday, Judith, just 20-years-old wanted to take part in the Wild Bull Riding Competition, but the judges thought the stunt was too dangerous for her, mainly because of the sheer size of the bulls. She doesn’t understand why; she had ridden bulls like those before. She works on one of the most prominent cattle ranches in all of the Rupununi – Dadanawa – so why wouldn’t she?
However, yesterday, she was not going to be left out when it came time for the Bareback roncho (horse) Riding Competition.
“Of course I am scared, but once I get on the horse I blank out everything and concentrate on what I have to do,” she told Kaieteur News. And what did she have to do?
The Bareback Broncho Rider does not use a saddle or rein, but uses one hand to grip a simple handle on a suringle style rigging placed on the horse just at the horse’s withers. The rider leans back against the bucking horse and spurs up and down motion with his/her legs, again in rhythm with the motion of the horse.
For the competition, the rider attempts to stay on the horse for eight seconds without his/her free hand touching the horse.
The women are treated as the weaker ones in this competition, and so are not judged along with the men, but instead receive a special prize for their participation.
Judith is a Wapishana Amerindian from Lethem. But she attended school at Katoonarib in South Central Rupununi.
She is now employed on Dadanawa Ranch where her father works as a supervisor.
“I like riding the animals and I get to do it sometimes on the ranch,” she said. But with the Rodeo, she wanted the thrill of being in front of the crowd while attempting the potentially fatal stunt.
She managed to pull off it neatly and escaped unhurt.
Next up was Jennifer Berchmore, a Wapishana too, who also works on one of the ranches of the Rupununi. Originally from the deep south, she still speaks her Wapishiana language.
At 25-years-old, she has three children – the oldest is six-years-old, the second is two-years-old, and the last child is just nine-months old.
But Berchmore wanted to be part of the competition purely for the fun of it, while realising the dangers involved.
“I just wanted to participate,” was her simple answer when asked about her decision.
“I was afraid, but I made up my mind,” she added.
Berchmore was also able to undertake the stunt without being hurt and the two women were hailed as among the bravest of the women of the Rupununi ranches.
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