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Steamboat Springs — Seven-year-old mutton busting champion Hayden Friel demonstrated Saturday that when speeding across an arena on the back of a cranky sheep, riding backward is better.

"I thought I was going to go all the way across," Hayden said, eagerly checking after each subsequent mutton buster to see whether his solid time would hold out for the rest of the competition.

A herd of mutton busters, 8 years or younger and less than 70 pounds, donned hockey helmets and protective vests Saturday morning for their chance in the ring. Their parents stood by, cheering and snapping photos, as their youngsters hung on for dear life until their inevitable tumble to the ground.

Young riders tried forward and backward stances out of the gates. Most were bounced off within seconds, only a few feet into the ring. Some of the younger competitors erupted into tears after somersaulting off their mount and being treated to a face full of arena dirt.

Hayden, a Maine native, walloped the competition on a bumpy ride across the outdoor arena, with fists full of wool, legs locked around the sheep's neck and a scoreboard-dominating time of 10.01 seconds.

Taylor Powell, 7, was psyched about his time of 3.108. The Hayden resident and annual mutton busting competitor, bounded across to his grandmother after removing his helmet to gush about his best finish ever.

"Sometimes I cried, but this year I didn't," Taylor said.

At the conclusion of the TIC-sponsored event Saturday, fair board member Tracy Bye presented eventual winner Hayden with a belt buckle commemorating his win, a blue ribbon and a pair of SmartWool socks - only to have Hayden reveal that he had been sporting an identical pair under his cowboy boots all along.

Elsewhere at the Routt County Fairgrounds on Saturday, 4-H standouts tried their hand at round robin showmanship, handling everything from chickens to cattle to more uncooperative swine. The six top showmen from each animal rotated among large and small species to see who came out on top. The results were due to be announced at Saturday night's junior livestock sale.

The 94th annual Routt County Fair continues today at the Routt County Fairgrounds in Hayden. Today's events include the River Ranches Beef/Strawberry Park Farms Working Ranch Horse Competition from 9 to 11 a.m., the Cook Chevrolet Bobby Robinson Memorial Saddle Bronc Riding at noon, and the Mountain Valley Bank Ranch Rodeo beginning at 1:30 p.m.