A border collie herding dog helped round up the cattle between events.

LONG BEACH — The 76th installment of the annual Long Beach Rodeo last weekend was a resounding success, organizers said, with perfect weather and significant crowds filling the stands last Saturday and Sunday at the arena along Sandridge Road.

The rodeo, presented by the Peninsula Saddle Club, has seen a rebound in recent years following some covid-related disruption.

“The last two years, we’ve never seen so many spectators,” said Peninsula Saddle Club president Bill Beadle as he observed the action from the north side of the arena Sunday, July 30.

The two-day rodeo was the culmination of months of preparation, starting in the early spring.

“Just getting everything ready to go, maintenance on the shoots, roping boxes, rebuild the corral. Once it gets going, it runs smooth. I pretty much live down here from April until the rodeo [in July]. All my work is before the rodeo starts,” Beadle said.

“It costs us an average of $40,000 to put this on.”

Both Saturday and Sunday were well-attended, with the professional bull riding being the biggest draw. The events featuring local riders are among Beadle’s favorite, particularly the junior barrel racing.

“The peninsula is big on barrel racing, real big,” he said.

In the future, Beadle is hopeful to expand the arena capacity and perhaps draw more events to the area.

“I would like to see other events in here, but it’s just getting the stuff to do it. I would love to see high school rodeo come in here,” he said. “Next year I’m hoping we’re going to be set up to handle more people. We want to put more grandstands in [the west end of the arena], but right now we can’t because the ground is too low, we have to raise it up. Rodeo is considered a dying sport, but I’ve told several of our girls today, ‘You are the future of rodeo.’ There’s good years and bad years but the rodeo still goes on.”