Taking care of the livestock at the 2018 California Rodeo

The early morning hours serve as the calm before the storm for dozens of horses, calves and bulls as they prepare for another night at the California Rodeo in Salinas.

Ted Groene is one of the folks in charge of tending to the animals and he has quite a bit of help.

This, in part, is because having to deal with the amount of livestock and the size of them can be a little overwhelming.

The help, meanwhile, has a lot of experience under its belt.

“Everyone that comes here puts on a lot of rodeos and that’s how we select em to come do the best job for us,” says Ted Groene.

The crew makes sure there’s enough pen space for the animals and the grass located in each space helps the animals ease into the environment.

Not to mention the cooler weather conditions compared to other rodeo sites.

And then the work comes in for the livestock as the rodeo events continue into the night and through the weekend.

“Some of the bulls will go twice and a handful of the horses will go twice every other day. For the most part every animal goes one time when they’re here,” Groene says. “You kinda know the animals so you can tell if something’s not right and if one of them looks a little tired you give them a little more time off.”

Groene adds you gotta enjoy doing this type of work in making sure livestock are in good shape.

Ultimately, he says rodeo season is about one other important aspect.

“Rodeos are spread out and all over the place but no matter where you go it’s family. If you’re in a bind and you need some help someone is always there to give you a hand.”