The Baditude Bucking Bulls product owned by Estancia Valley roughstock provider Antonio Ortiz immediately turned on the 5-foot-3, 130-pound cowboy and was intent on running him down after Garcia had successfully exited the bull's back. The big animal led with his horns as Garcia desperately sought to gain traction in the land-grant arena's slimy muck, which looked to be the consistency of snot as the result of a lengthy torrential downpour.

With the aid of bullfighters Cody Crouch and Tristen Howard, the latter just 14 years old and the reigning state junior high bull riding champion, Garcia was able to scramble to safety. Garcia heartily celebrated the 80-point ride — as assessed by judges Tom Neill and Jack Howard, Tristen's father — that earned the Chilili resident the Bull-A-Rama title and a $600 purse.

"He's the hometown cowboy," said Fernando Gutierrez, the president of the Chilili Rodeo Club. "He's been riding over here in open bulls ever since he was 17, and this is the first one he's won here. That's how big it is for him."

Garcia, a 2007 Estancia High graduate, soon appeared in the crow's nest, his arms raised in triumph, as the wet, but happy crowd, cheered.

"It's been a long time coming," said Garcia, who works for an Albuquerque sign company to put food on the table. "I can't remember the last time I've won. And it was great to do it in front of the hometown."

On the other hand, Garcia's fiancee, Miranda Archuleta, had a somewhat different perspective.

"Yes, it was," she said when asked if it was scary for her.

Garcia and eight others trailed 20-year-old Trent Gentile of Laveen, Ariz., and Rick Navarrette, 27, of Bernalillo after the first round. Gentile scored 78 points on the Travis Briscoe bull Jessi's Attitude, and Navarrette garnered 68 points on a Baditude bull that had the simple handle of "No. 2."

"This was nice," said Navarrette, who is a plumber by trade. "They always have good rodeos here. It's fun."

Martin Abeyta, a 35-year-old Santa Fe cowboy who makes his living as a farrier, wound up in third place with a 76-point cover on a Baditude reride bull in the last man-beast confrontation of the competition. Gentile got $400 for his day's work, Abeyta was handed $300 and Navarrette got $200.

The cowboys, the arena crew and some of the spectators were coated in mud by the time the event concluded. At one point, a man, umbrella in one hand and a beer in another, danced across the top railing of the arena's outer wooden fence.

Mechanical bull riders slid off a slippery pad after being discharged. Folks ordered beer from the Chilili facility's rustic, open-air Wildman Saloon and chow from Reymundo's Burgers while standing in the rain.

The precipitation, except for short breaks inexplicably occurring during intermissions, continued from beginning to end. Afterward a pickup truck pulling a trailer laden with horses complained with a guttural diesel roar as it ineffectively spun simultaneously all four of its wheels in the slick mud when its driver tried to depart the makeshift parking lot situated in an open meadow.

"At first I didn't like all the mud and the rain," Garcia said. "But I grew to like it by the time I landed in it in the second round. It kept you awake."

Gutierrez, who noted that it helped that the club put fresh sand in the arena on July 20, said this was the wettest Bull-A-Rama yet.

"Everyone stuck it out," he said. "The fans stuck it out. We stuck it out. The Chilili Rodeo Club stuck it out, and the bull riders and bullfighters stuck it out. This was a good one."

Chilili's Dominic Coché, of late a resident of the community of Tomé in Valencia County, and Moriarty's Sky Chavez, who respectively finished 1-2 at the Con Ganas Bull Riding Challenge at the Torrance County Fairgrounds in Estancia on June 26, failed to cover either of their two rides Sunday. Coché, however, said he won $2,300 riding bulls at a rodeo in Clayton the week after the Con Ganas.

Anthony Torrez, 20, also fell off his bulls Sunday. He said his family roots are in Chilili, but that he lives in the Los Angeles area.

"I'm usually a surfer, play the guitar," he said with a grin.

Edgewood's Brad Royster also competed but failed to stay aboard his rides. Other riders included Ja'mon Turner of Denver and Samuel Robinson of Prescott, Ariz.

The Chilili Rodeo Club will host two more ranch-style rodeos this summer, on Aug. 15 and Sept. 12. Both start at 1 p.m.

For information, call Gutierrez at 286-1679 or Juan Sanchez, the club's vice president, at 281-4726.

Gutierrez also announced that the land grant will host the Chilili fiesta on Aug. 6 and 7.

Bareback riding

Antonio "Sapo" Aragón, also from Chilili, was the most successful of the two bareback competitors.

"I think I did all right," said the 23-year-old Aragón, who said he is a construction worker and owns a handyman business. "I love to do it. I used to ride bulls, but it's been a long time. I've got a little cold feet about getting back on the bulls. Plus, I didn't have enough money to cover the (bull riding) entry fee. It's a hundred dollars, and if you don't cover, that's a lot of money to lose. Business hasn't been that good. But maybe I'll do it next time."

Mountainair's Joseph Chavez, 26, competed as well.

He said he is a co-owner of J&R Livestock, the bronc provider.

Mutton bustin'

Six-year-old Abelino Ortiz had a blast in the just-for-fun sheep riding event.

"I like it so much," said Abelino, an Estancia Elementary School first-grader-to-be and the son of Annette and Antonio Ortiz. "They jump and run. That's why I like it."