Florida judge competes in Pocatello rodeo

Bud Hallman is used to being addressed as “Your Honor.” Here in Pocatello, he hopes to hear rodeo fans shout “You’re on ‘er!” Hallman has a day job, a judge in the 5th Judicial Circuit Court in Sumter County, Florida. But this week, he will be trying to best fellow steer wrestlers at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, some of whom are 30 years his junior. Is it not a crazy idea for a 56-year-old man with an excellent job to travel across the country so he can leap from the back of a perfectly good horse onto a 500-pound critter with pointy horns? “The thought crossed my mind,” Hallman says. But? “I missed it,” Hallman concedes. His shift from circuit judge to circuit rodeo finals contestant is plenty amazing...more