FILER — You might say he’s the governor first, but also a cowboy.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter participated in team roping at the Magic Valley Stampede rodeo on Thursday at the Twin Falls County Fair. Mickey Young of Buhl was the heeler, while Otter had the job of roping the calf’s horns.

Otter makes time to practice three or four times a month at his ranch in Star.

“It’s the best eight seconds in the world,” he said, shortly before riding into the arena on Lemonade, a brown horse owned by Ken Woods that made an entrance into the 2007 Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

Before the roping, the governor and first lady Lori Otter were two of the riders who entered the arena during the grand entry, part of the ceremonies kicking off the rodeo.

When Otter rode out in his team roping event, he missed the horns and his cowboy hat flew off in a flurry of action. He got a round of applause just the same from a welcoming audience, as did other roping teams who were down on their luck.

Otter has an affection for rodeo sport events, which reflect real-life work on ranches.

“We actually do that job every day on the ranch,” Otter said in a recent interview with the Times-News. “We actually do that every day somewhere in Idaho, somewhere in the West.”

With team roping, one person ropes the head of a steer and the other ropes a hoof. Out on the ranch, instead of hearing crowds cheer afterward, ranch hands tend to their cattle’s needs instead.

“Then you can brand them; then you can doctor them,” Otter said. “Then you can trim the horns or whatever you have to do.”

That reality sets rodeo sports apart from others, Otter said.

“You don’t see people out on the ranch as a job playing football every day, or basketball or baseball,” he said. “Now, I played all those sports but rodeo is unique to the West and the western way of life because it was the perfection of your job.”

Ben Botkin may be reached at bbotkin@magicvalley.com or 735-3238.

TAGS: Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, rodeo