A lot of people come out here to party. Smoke from barbecue rises over parked cars around the arena. The rodeos start at 8 o'clock, but cowboys begin to arrive a couple of hours earlier, when the sun is still bright. Their big canvas bags of gear accumulate at the foot of the bleachers. Most are decorated with some cowboy-related emblem.
Confederate themes are common.
Travis Batten and a few other cowboys sort the bulls into pens from which they can be easily directed into the chutes shortly before the rides. Mike Nickerson, chief of the Northwest Hernando County Fire Department and one of the judges, rolls out extension cords for the lights. Smoke rises from the big grill at the concession stand. The sound system is checked. A line of pickup trucks forms behind the Battens' driveway on the normally quiet Soult Road.