Cowboy events at the Bannock County Fair

As the bannock county fair gets underway, dozens of people gathered in Downey for one of the fair’s more active scenes. A day full of cows and cowboys.

Events like team penning, along with team branding and team sorting were going on today at the bannock county fairgrounds.

Today’s events are qualifiers for the Eastern Idaho State Fair, and get quite competitive. But none of the competition can happen without Lyle Albertson, a rancher who provided all 75 of the cattle running today. Albertson describes himself as a victim of his love for what he does.

“I’m a fool for doing this. It doesn’t make a lot of money, but it’s what I do. So I just love to come and do it, ” Albertson said. “You know, I like the cow people, I just love cattle and horses. That’s kinda what I do, I’m a victim of that.”

Albertson has spent more than 20 years providing cattle for events like this and he knows exactly what the keys to success are.

“Reading the cattle, depending upon how fresh they are, that’ll dictate how fast you go. You gotta go slow. So that’s the key, reading the cattle and understanding what the heard is, and approaching them in that manner, Albertson explained.”

But some people seem to have an edge, Albertson told me, “it always helps if you’re a real good rider, some of the people here are cowboys by nature, by job, and they usually do the best.”

The fair officially kicks off tomorrow and will run until Saturday.