Bosque Farms Easter Rodeo Carries On Decades of Community Tradition

The Casper Baca Rodeo Series, a family-run circuit that operated out of Belen for more than 40 years, completed its Easter weekend run at the Bosque Farms Rodeo Association arena, bringing to a close a three-weekend series that has found a new anchor in a village of 4,195 residents.

For local coach Ray Birmingham, the Easter rodeo was simply "cool," but the event's significance runs considerably deeper than a holiday tradition. The Baca series relocated to Bosque Farms after a falling out with the Valencia County Sheriff's Posse ended its four-decade run in Belen. CJ Baca, who operates the series, pointed to the "open arms" of the Bosque Farms community as the deciding factor. The series runs across three consecutive weekends, each Saturday and Sunday, with Easter Sunday serving as the signature finale.

The BFRA, a registered nonprofit at 1040 Arena Rd, has been shaping the competitive calendar in Valencia County since 1953, when local men already running events at the annual Bosque Farms Community Fair formalized their efforts into a dedicated association. By 1967, the organization had grown enough to purchase property off North Loop and build its arena. Cowboy Hall, the ten-acre facility's events center, held its grand opening on August 23, 1969, and now serves birthday parties, community dances, weddings, and business gatherings alongside its rodeo programming, functioning as one of the village's most versatile year-round assets.

The youth-development stakes behind the Easter rodeo are substantial. The BFRA's stated mission is to create youth-based programs in rodeo and horsemanship and provide alternative activities for Valencia County youth. Past winter series rodeos at the facility drew over 190 participants, boys and girls between ages 1 and 18, competing in equestrian and rodeo skills under adult supervision. The association also runs 4-H activities and equine training designed to build leadership and responsibility in young competitors.

Bosque Farms, situated about 20 minutes south of downtown Albuquerque on land that was part of a Spanish land grant from 1716, incorporated as a municipality in 1974. Its median household income of $82,188 reflects a community with both the means and the commitment to sustain equestrian infrastructure. That the Baca family chose the BFRA arena as its new home, after four decades in Belen, signals something the association's 52 years of continuous programming have long established: in Valencia County, Bosque Farms remains the region's most enduring address for competitive rodeo.