An offline odd bit this time...
I just got back from my first western US county fair. There were the usual pickled peaches, gorgeous quilts, farm equipment salesmen, rides for the kids, games of "skill" and so on. But what a western fair has that say a county fair in Illinois doesn't have is the mini-rodeo staffed by locals instead of seasoned cowboys.
It was odd enough, even erotic, to see the "wild cow milking". This involves a farmhand on horseback chasing down a bull with a ribbon tied to its tail. The farmhand ropes the bull and his horse pulls back. At this point a young girl(around 13-19 year old) jumps off the fence and runs up to the bull and tries to pull the ribbon off its tail without getting knocked lopsided by the mad bull as it tries to buck free from the rope.
But then came the mutton busting (pronounced mu'in bustin). This involves a sheep and a six-year old wearing an American-style football helmet. You place the child on the sheep and let them go. The child that can stay on the longest wins. A six-year old can be very determined and once they get a good handful of wool it takes a lot of dragging to convince them to let go.
Just a slice of the American pie, I guess.
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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet