A quick walk up toward the bull pen at the Prince William County Fairgrounds on Sunday night revealed that the horned beasts inside had not intention of playing nice with their riders.

Just approaching the steel bars would send the full-size steers backward in anticipation of a conflict.

In the ring itself, one of the barrier polls would be smashed and dented in two areas by the end of the night from a few hundred pounds of fury vehemently colliding into it in bucking pursuit of its former rider.

The sound the barrier made clashing into the street-like guard rail behind it could have been mistaken for an interstate crash, bringing a chorus of roars from an the near-capacity grandstand.

Such was the controlled chaos of Dave Martin's Championship Rodeo that stopped by the Prince William County Fairgrounds Sunday night in Manassas as the main event on the third day of the 60th annual fair.

The event, which lasted a bit more than 90 minutes, featured about a dozen professional bull riders trying to stay on the back of kicking and hopping bulls for eight seconds, a feat accomplished by only one man: 17-year-old Brooks Robinson of Gettysburg.

"He was, like... out there," said Robinson of the bull after collecting his $3,300 prize.

Even though he's not even old enough to be declared a legal adult, Robinson is seven-year bull riding veteran. One of the keys to success, he said, was to overcome fear.

"I just kept tracking him," said Robinson, adding that he moved based on how he felt.

Ben Brenize of Shippensburg, Penn., who also rode at the event, described his attitude to facing his drooling, horned and behooved frienemy as implementing mind over matter.

"Your mind plays games with you," said Brenize. "Your mind's like a computer; you've got to program it."

Riders were not the only attraction of the event, but they were certainly the main draw to the $2 event held at the grandstand.

"I just love coming out and seeing (it)," said Haymarket resident Michelle Goldsberry.

Standing next to Michelle near the grandstand exit, Jay Goldsberry explained that he liked the unpredictability of the show.

"It's the action," he said. "It's the thrill."

Between shows, which also included cowgirls riding horses around barrels as quickly as possible, calf lashoing, a stunt horseback rider Gene Cox that would hang from the side of her running horse, and youngsters trying to stay on running sheep for six seconds, rodeo clown Red Carpenter performed shtick and joke routines in a similar style to those seen on Blue Collar Comedy tours.

A number of Virginians competed throughout the hour and a half set, such as Holly Street, the $1,500 winner of the women's calf lasho contest, which was done on horseback.

"They really enjoyed it," said staff member Beverly Wampler of Manassas as she discussed the crowd reaction to the rodeo as a whole.

A 20-year veteran of the county fair, she stood near the grandstand entrance afterward, saying about the fair, "It's something that's not normally here."