MSU rodeo team opens fall practice at fairgrounds

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:02:45 +0000

The Montana State rodeo team began fall practice Tuesday at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds arena, where the chutes have not moved since 1972 but the property lines have. A four-story apartment complex now looms beyond the left bucking chutes. The smell of espresso from the new roastery drifts across the parking lot where stock trailers used to park.

Head coach Dale Hargrove watched his roughstock riders from the announcer’s stand, a laminated roster clipped to the railing. “The arena dirt is the same,” Hargrove said. “Everything around it changed. We just try to keep the inside of the fence honest.”

Rodeo on The Bozeman Daily Bee

MSU rodeo team opens fall practice at fairgrounds