Rodeo

    Rodeo these days is a sport that draws millions of paying customers, offers millions in prize money, and provides a year-round spectacle which has danger, color, and excitement.  Back in the early 1800's, when Yankee cowboys first learned the tricks of herding longhorns from Mexican vaqueros, there were no rodeos, only informal contests spurred by the competitiveness of the cowpokes.  Towns that sprang up along cattle-drive trails saw many a wild demonstration of roping, riding, and racing.  As the cattle industry spread after the Civil War, these contests became more elaborate, involving teams from several ranches.  Deer Trail, Colorado, hosted the first such competition in 1869.  By the time of the Denver show of 1887--the first to which spectators had to pay admission--rodeo was firmly established as part of the Western scene.
    The main events of the rodeo show the cowboy at work, roping runaway steers, throwing and tying calves, sticking on the back of an untamed horse.  A smart horse is a great help to a rodeo contestant, and in bronc-riding contests a wild horse is a better test of ability.  (The "bucking bronco" is a horse that has learned to hate the feel of a rider, usually because of harsh treatment in being broken to the saddle.)
    There are some 600 shows on today's rodeo circuit (written 1974).  The "Big Four" outdoor shows are the Cheyenne "Frontier Days," the Pendleton, Oregon, Roundup, the Calgary Stampede, and the "California Rodeo" at Salinas.  With opening parades, specialty acts, celebrity appearances, etc., they little resemble their rough-and-ready origins; but for riding and roping, the rodeo is, as much as ever, a thrilling view of the cowboy in action with the best cow ponies in all the West.
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Bareback Riding

    In this event, the contestant slips onto his bronco inside a narrow chute, and gets a one-handed grip on the strap that circles the horse's barrel behind the front legs.  Another strap circles the horse tightly just in front of the hind legs to provoke him into bucking more angrily.  When the chute opens the rider spurs his bronco out into the arena.  He is supposed to keep on spurring, and stay on for eight seconds.  He cannot change hands on the grip strap and must keep his other hand well away from his body.  If he is not thrown, a mounted pick-up man closes in and deftly swings him off his horse at the end of the ride.
    Two judges, each with 50 points to award (25 for rider, 25 for horse), score the ride.  Out of a possible 100 the average bronc-rider is happy to score in the 60's.
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Calf Roping

    The next main event is calf roping, each contestant drawing lots for the calf he will rope.  The trick is to catch the scampering calf cleanly with the first throw of the lariat, flip it on its side, and hitch three of its feet together--all in winning time.  A top roper with a well-trained horse can do it in 12 or 13 seconds.  He spurs his horse into action as soon as the calf crosses the starting line.  Within a few feet of the animal he throws the rope he has had in readiness, one end tied to the saddle horse, the rest coiled in his right hand.  As the calf is roped, the horse skids to a stop and the rider jumps to the ground.  Twenty or 25 feet of line uncoil and the horse, backtracking if necessary, keeps it stretched taut between the calf and the saddle horn.  The man spills his calf, whips the "pigging string"--a short rope--from his teeth, and makes the required tie of three of the calf's feet.  Then he signals that he is through.  If he has done the job in winning time, much credit must go to the horse.
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Saddle-bronc Riding

    Central event of the rodeo is saddle-bronc riding, in which the horse carries a regulation Western saddle and the rider tries to stay in it for ten seconds, while spurring his horse on to buck wildly.  He can hold on only with his legs.  Like the bareback rider, he must keep one hand well away from his body; with the other he holds the reins.  If he takes hold of the saddle or if either foot slips out of the stirrups, he will be disqualified.  The reins are attached to a halter only; the horse wears no bit.  The wilder the ride, the more points earned.
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Bulldogging

    This event, also called steer wrestling, demonstrates the way to stop a steer if you don't happen to have a lasso handy.  A young bull of 700 or 800 pounds is released.  Two riders go after it--one, called a hazer, rides alongside the steer to keep it from veering away.  On the other side rides the bulldogger, whose horse brings him skillfully abreast of the steer at just the right distance so that he will be in position for an easy fall on the animal.  The bulldogger throws himself from his horse and brackets the steer's neck between his chest and outer arm.  He crooks this arm around the steer's outside horn and grabs hold of the inside horn with his other hand.  His feet are slipping from the stirrups well ahead of him to act as a break and to help him flip the steer as he thrusts down on the inside horn.  Done by a top performer, it can all be over in as little as five seconds.
    A bulldogger needs a good horse, and if ridden on loan from another owner, the horse takes a share in the winnings.
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Bull Riding

    In this, the climax of the rodeo, contestants try for an eight-second ride on the back of a bucking Brahma bull.  A rope tied loosely around the bull's middle is the only hand-hold allowed.  This is a dangerous sport, since bulls are inclined to gore a rider who is thrown or dismounted.  It is the job of the rodeo clowns to distract a bull during those tense moments.  A bull ride, however, is almost always spectacular, and rodeo riders feel that the extra risk is worth it for the points they can pick up.

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