Photos: At Rodeo Alaska, 'mutton busting' proves popular

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Wyatt Perrins, 2, competing in the Mutton Busting event during Rodeo Alaska at the William Clark Chamberlin Equestrian Center off Abbott Road in Anchorage on Sunday, June 21, 2015.

At the Anchorage rodeo, there's only one event that boasts a class toddlers can compete in: It's called mutton busting.

Though the rodeo announcer sometimes jokingly refers to it as the "last legal form of child abuse," mutton busting is one of the rodeo's most popular events.

The event puts children as young as 18 months old -- wearing protective helmets and vests -- on the backs of sheep. The kids cling to the sheep, which then run a bit. The idea is to stay on for six seconds.

Wasilla 2-year-old Annie May Lacey had some advice for accomplishing that goal: "Hold on tight."

Lacey, clad in Shirley Temple curls, a pink cowboy hat, an impressive pair of chaps and a major belt buckle, was waiting for her turn on the sheep Sunday afternoon at the Chamberlin Equestrian Center in South Anchorage.

It was her third time mutton busting in a rodeo, said her mom, Michelle Lacey.

Younger busters, like Lacey, usually have a parent running with them, ready to yank them off if something goes sideways. Her dad, Lance Lacey, was competing in the saddle bronc event Sunday.

Mutton busting is the first opportunity children have to participate in the rodeo, said Frank Koloski, organizer of the Father's Day Champions Tour Rodeo, one event on a close-knit Alaska summer circuit.

It is also the fastest-filling rodeo event, said organizer Frank Koloski.

"It fills up within 15 minutes," he said. "I could have 100 mutton busters if I had enough sheep."

Usually it's rodeo families that get their kids involved. Some later progress to calf roping and other youth events. In Sunday's event, the field of participants was evenly split between boys and girls. Everybody who participates wins a belt buckle.

Cheyenne O'Connor, 4, is a veteran mutton buster, having started at the tender age of 18 months.

Her dad Brett O'Connor, a bull rider, says she was bewildered the first time he stuck her on the back of a sheep.

"You stick 'em on, run, hope the sheep's not too fast," he said.

She's grown to like it. Her dad likes the confidence it gives her.

The best moment so far, he said, was "when she "came up to a sheep and it was pretty big and she was pretty scared -- and she decided to ride it anyways."