The first activity of the week of the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo took place today at Crutcher’s Western Wear in Duncan, Okla.

The championship begins tomorrow, and it will be filled with outstanding competition. These are fantastic cowboys and cowgirls who have battled all year long just to get here.

News isn’t the greatest for one of the cowboys in the fight for this year’s all-around title: Trell Etbauer of Gruver, Texas, trailed leader Jeff Miller of Blue Mound, Kan., by just a few dollars, but Etbauer suffered a knee injury during practice Monday and pulled out of the competition.

He is a two-time circuit all-around champ and a three-time Linderman Award winner. He’ll be missed.

To see more photos from Wednesday afternoon, click HERE.