Wild Thing returns for 31st year: Iconic event to draw crowd at Red Rock Park

WINDOW ROCK – Wild Thing promotor Larry Peterson and his crew are making final preparations for this year’s annual bull riding event, which is expected to draw a huge crowd.

The two-day extravaganza, now in its 31st year, starts Friday at Red Rock Park with gates opening at 6 p.m. The final performance will be on Saturday as 90 bull riders are entered. Showtime starts at 8 p.m. on both nights.

“We got a really big mix of bull riders,” Peterson said. “We’ve got Brady Turgeon from New River (Arizona) coming in. He was a PBR finalist last year. We got a lot of top hands and they’re all scattered.

“We got a bunch of guys from Oklahoma and Texas,” he added. “We got a couple coming in from North Carolina and we got some coming in from Mexico.”

Some of those top hands include a handful of Diné bull riders, too.

“We have a bunch of good riders from the Navajo Nation,” Peterson said. “We also got some guys up north, so we have a good lineup coming up.”

The stock of bulls will be headed by local stock contractor 4B Bucking Bulls out of Fort Defiance. Wild Thing will also be utilizing bulls from Owen Washburn and Flying S.

“We changed our main stock contractor, but it’s still going to be a fantastic pen,” Peterson said. “I mean, we got Owen Washburn, a PBR world champion, with a trailer load and we got Flying S out of Texas with a trailer load.”

The Wild Thing promoter was pleased to bring back longtime announcer Dave McMahon of Texas and funnyman Cole Hart of North Carolina.

“Dave McMahon has been with us for 20 years and he’s an awesome announcer,” Peterson said. “There’s only a few guys in the country that will announce live on a horse in a 90-foot bull pen.

“The other guys do it in a big open arena, but there are only three, four announcers that do what he does,” he added.

As for Hart, he’s returning for the second year in a row.

“He’s just full of energy,” Peterson said. “He’s a lot of fun and, you know, he did a great job for us last year.”

And while the biggest attraction is the bull riding action, the iconic event has plenty of entertainment for the non-bull riding enthusiasts.

“We have a lot more to offer with big fireworks, wooly riding, Cowboy Poker, the music and the preshow stuff that we do,” Peterson said. “There is going to be lots of excitement and it’s gonna be a lot of fun. I just want everyone to have a great time.”

The annual event has once again partnered with the Manuelito Navajo Children’s Home. The children’s home is in charge of parking and concessions.

“Come and support them,” Peterson said. “For over 20 years we’ve become their biggest fundraisers and I’m just so proud that we’ve helped the children’s home there in Manuelito.”

The Arkansas-based San Angelo Church of Christ will assist the children’s home as parking attendants and concession workers.

“The children’s home doesn’t have the manpower to handle all of that, so this big church group comes in every year to help them,” Peterson said. “They come in and donate their time to help with parking and concessions.”

People who plan on attending the event are reminded that backpacks, coolers and folding chairs are not permitted at this non-alcoholic event.

Peterson also noted that dogs are not allowed.

“There’s too many people and the fireworks are too big and too loud,” he said. “It scares them to death.”

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