Big Sky Country - January 12

In the Rocky Mountains of Colorado on a real working ranch, eight more city slickers will trade the creature comforts of home for two weeks of dirt... and pain... and probable dismemberment. And for what? $25,000 and the right to be called "cowboy."

This semester, as with other semesters, the slicks will be tested to their very core on all of the makings of a cowboy. Success brings reward. Failure brings the possibility of kissing your ultimate rodeo dream goodbye.

Your eight slicks are...

Candace; Landsdale, PA; stay at home mom
Bobby; Baltimore; college football coach
Katie; Venice, CA; 5th grade teacher
Cosmo; Philadelphia; unemployed
Farrah; Dallas; real estate agent
Malcolm; Chicago; graphic designer
Sarah; Clayton, NJ; surgery coordinator
Rich; Visalia, CA; restaurant operator

We all remember Rocco Wachman, the best friend and the worst enemy you'll have. We also meet Judd Leffew, the wrangler and a man who scares most people to death... for fun. He lets everyone know that in two weeks, they're gonna do what he just did... and that's ride a bull for eight seconds.

Time to process. Unlike last year, Rocco lets everyone keep ONE thing from their baggage. Bobby keeps a deck of cards; Candice, a lip balm; Rich, a Leatherman; Katie, hair ties; Malcolm, a bar of soap; Sarah, bronzer (WTF?!); Cosmo, toothpaste; and Farrah, a hairbrush... for her extensions. Judd mentions that Farrah's high maintenance lifestyle will be her own undoing at Cowboy U.

Day 1, 1:30p. Time to move in. Some people discover that their one item has already been packed into their saddlebags.  Woops. It's enough to drive Farrah to quit (since they took all of her luggage with all of her clothes in it). But does she? Naaah... She'll just make a big to-do about it. Without any undies on, okay!

4p: Calf dressing contest. In teams of two, the object is to get a calf in the circle, pick up their hind legs, get on a pair of tighty-whiteys, and drag them to the finish line. There's a 3-minute time limit.

Bobby/Farrah: :56.86
Katie/Malcolm: time out
Cosmo/Sarah: time out
Rich/Candace: 1:04.60

Bobby & Farrah win this one. Bobby's the toughest guy here. Rocco's hoping for a lot of great things.

5:30p: shower. The water... is freezing.

7p: Dinner. Enjoy it tonight, because starting tomorrow, you'll be cooking your own meals, three times a day. It is at dinner when the slicks find out about the evals, the campfire, and the dream rodeo with 25 G's on the line. But, as always, the rodeo only has four slots.

Day 2, 6a. What better way to wake up some slicks than... chickens!

8a: Horse assignments. Remember, your first duty is to your horse. Farrah gets Chief. Katie gets Killer... Remember, it's only a name.

10a: First riding lesson. The same problem Sarah had with saddling, she has with mounting. Remember, walk and give an even squeeze with both legs. From there, we go to a job. Farrah and Candace and Bobby are quick studies. "End of the first riding lesson. Nobody's dead, so that's a good sign."

Afterwards, Farrah goes on about her hair and thinking that every meal would be catered. Katie: "Are you out of your fricking mind?"

2:30p: Bull riding lessons. Begin at the beginning... Jackasses! It's an eight-person donkey race. And some of the donkeys end up riding the slicks. Katie ends up the winner, though. She worked that ass. And coming in dead last... is Sarah. The price you pay for being short.

Farrah talks to Rocco about feeling really uncomfortable. She wants a hairdryer, a cell phone, and a belt buckle. No can do. Wouldn't be fair to anyone else. It's up to Farrah here. If she stays, she agrees to Rocco's law. If not, then there's the flatbed.

6:30p: Farrah decides to leave. Needless to say that Rocco's disappointed. "That's going to stick in my craw for a long time."

Wah, wah, wah, bye. "Any final words for us?" "No."

Day 3: 7a. Breakfast.

10:30a: second riding lesson. It's a simple barrel turn. They quickly learn what a canter is, 123, 123, 123. Candace and Bobby are quick again. Katie and Sarah... not so much. Katie can't stop apologizing. "I feel like I'm not doing the job." Forget being sorry. Now start being the master of your horse. Do not get frustrated. She ends up jogging the horse after Rocco relaxes him. "I'm the frontier Dr. Phil."

6:30p: Katie gets told that she's making herself an underdog, and that's not the way to go. Katie is offered Farrah's old horse. She agrees to try it out. Whatever you do, though, don't eliminate yourself.

8:30p: Reward. So far, the best person of the pack is Bobby. He's going to the honky tonk in town.

Now on to one final note. After Farrah left, the attitude changed to one of positivity. But this will get tough fast. Is everyone going to stick it out? Everyone's in. Good.

Next time, the seven remaining players shoot off stuff.