A big thanks goes to APS member Marc McElhaney for arranging our excellent outing to the 2017 edition of the Shady Dale Rodeo!  Shady Dale is a (very) small town - about 300 people - an hour East of Atlanta.  The all afternoon and evening action included way more than the Rodeo.  The festival, parade and Shady Dale itself also provided numerous photo opportunities.

Getting Ready to Ride by Janerio Morgan

All of our APS photographers were impressed with the strong community spirit in Shady Dale, the good food and fun at the festival, and the "way back in time" small-town splendor of the colorful and well-run parade.  Kudos from this author to the "Emancipation Club" for the tasty fish sandwich, lemonade and yummy red velvet cake!

Emancipation Club by Jim Harrison

Bucking Bronco by Don Stephens

The rodeo itself was first class.  The brave and talented cowboys and cowgirls put on a brilliant show.  The rodeo included a huge range of events: bareback riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, breakaway, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, team roping, and of course, the  ultimate in rodeo excitement, bull riding.  The 60+ cowboys and 25+ cowgirls treated us to almost 3 hours of continuous thrills.  And the packed crowd of probably 3000+ loved the show.  The crowd was a great photo opportunity too.

Barrel Racer by Janerio Morgan

Steer Wrestling by Jim Harrison

We hope you've enjoyed this brief selection of Shady Dale Rodeo images by some of the APS photographers who attended: Marc, Don, Janerio, Brandon, Al, Jim and Rohit.

Corralled by Don Stephens (L to R: Jim, Marc, Brandon, Rohit & Janerio)