Foreign exchange student participates in High School Rodeo Finals

Lot’s of competitors are taking part in the Idaho State High School Rodeo Finals, but one is not from the U.S.

Michel Schmidt is from Germany, he looks like the rest of the cowboys, but he is a little smaller than most.

He is a sophomore on a foreign exchange program staying with a family in Shoshone.

Not many rodeo’s taking place in Germany, but his host family is big into rodeo’s and introduced him during his stay.

He was interested in the event and despite his size he has done well enough to quality for the state finals and has enjoyed every moment.

“Yeah got like a 500 pound steer on you and he’s trying to get away, and in the best case also try to hit you with his horns and I can tell you they hit me a lot,” says Schmidt, and I can tell you I got more into it after that I got into so much fights with the steers then I got one down, then I’m like ok, not the second one and I didn’t get it down so I had to stick in there more and so it agitates you to do it even more.”

Travis Jones was approached by the host family and asked him if they could borrow some of his horses.

He says they would tease him a bunch and that he would take it and they thought he was having fun and he would keep going.

Schmidt has participated in a dozen rodeos and went to a steer wrestling school and jumped 15 steers.

He participated in his only event and was not able to take down the steer he faced.

He is on a plane now headed back to Germany.