On The Rodeo
Helen Thompson’s guide to this most Texan of events.
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Ranch Rodeo Events
If you want to see how cowboys really work day in and day out, watch these events. Ranch Rodeos are competitions between ranches and are not part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association circuit. They tend to be more-modest affairs, in small arenas, in small towns, but they maintain an authenticity that gives them an appeal that the PRCA rodeos can’t achieve.
Bronc riding
One rider represents each ranch participating in the rodeo in this timed event. They ride, using a stock saddle, until either the horse throws them or the buzzer sounds.
Sorting
A team of five cowboys works to remove cows from a herd in a specific numerical order. As the riders cross the starting line, the announcer calls a number; while four cowboys hold the herd, the fifth must cut out each cow from the herd in the order called. This is a timed event.
Team roping
The objective in this timed event is to cut a designated animal from a herd, head it, and then heel it (which means: tie up its front legs and then with the same rope secure its hind legs).
Team doctoring
A roper must cut away from a herd of yearlings (which weigh about 550 pounds each) a designated animal, drive it and rope it while a second cowboy heels the animal. A cowboy designated as the veterinarian dismounts and draws a chalk mark between the yearlings eyes. The lowest time wins.
Wild cow milking
Generally considered the most hilarious of the rodeo events, wild cow milking involves all members of a team. One rider ropes the cow while another milks the cow. Any of the four team members can run to the judges’ booth with the milk.
Branding
A timed event in which a roper crosses a start line and enters a herd of cattle. He ropes a calf and moves it across the line where his teammates position the calf on its side and remove the rope. This is the signal for the brander to leave his designated area and race over to the calf to apply the brand. Once branding is completed, the brander returns to his area and timing ceases.
Team penning
Cowboys work together in this timed event to see which team can cut three designated calves from a herd of numbered calves and move them to a pen across the arena. The lowest time wins.
Steer roper Arnold Felts was world champion in 1981 (that means he won more money than anyone else) and four-time winner of the steer-roping championships at the national finals in Guthrie, Oklahoma. His best time is 8.7 seconds, but making a good time is n’t the hardest part for Felts, who lives in Sonora, Texas. “It’s the travel,” he says. Some of Felts’ steer-roping escapades sound like they could wear a person down, too. “There is a lot of torque at certain points,” he says. Felts knows from experience : recently he broke a rope just as he was about to make the throw—it snapped back and hit him in the face, badly cutting him across his cheek. The really hard part of steer roping is not beating yourself: “I’ve won even with a bad animal,” Felts says. “B ut you can’t win if you try to exceed your limitations.”
Steer roping
Although this is one of professional rodeo’s oldest events, you won’t see it performed often since it requires a very large arena. But get your fill of this exciting event at the National Steer Roping Finals at the Lazy E Arena in G uthrie, Oklahoma, every November.
Steer roping is similar to calf roping except the quarry is about seven times larger and there is only one legal catch. A cowboy must rope the steer around its horns and bring the steer to its side on the ground; then he must tie any three of its legs. As in the calf roping event, if the animal breaks free in the allotted six seconds the run is disqualified.
Steer wrestling
This event is a good example of the laws of physics at work—steer wrestling doesn’t require a huge display of strength but rather a good understanding of the principles of leverage. The cowboy begins his chase from behind a barr ier, after the six- or seven-hundred-pound steer has been given a head start. He is assisted by a hazer, another cowboy on horseback who must keep the steer running in a straight line. The bulldogger pulls even with the steer, eases down the right side of the horse and grasps the steer’s horns. Then he digs his heels into th e dirt. As the steer slows down the cowboy turns the animal and lifts up on the right horn while pushing down with his left hand on the left horn. He must either bring the steer to a complete halt or change the direction of the animal’s body before the th row. The throw is completed and timing stops when the steer is on his side with all four legs extending in the same direction.
Tee Woolman, from Llano, is a three-time wsition your horse, swing the rope, find your target, and deliver.
Team Roping, or Heading and Heeling
Don’t blink or you’ll miss this event—everything happens fast in team roping, which is the only team event in PRCA rodeo. The team consists of a header and a heeler—the header sets up the action for the hee ler to complete by chasing the steer out of the box on horseback and roping him around the horns or neck. A header is often compared to the quarterback on a football team. He must then turn the steer to the left so that his partner, the heeler, can rope t he steer’s hind feet. The event is completed when the steer is secured, the slack is taken out of both ropes, and the ropers’ horses are facing each other on either side of the steer.
Bareback Riding
Next to bull riding, bareback riding accounts for some of the most spectacular action in a rodeo. This ride begins in the same way the saddle bronc ride begins, with the rider’s feet placed about the break of the horseís shoulder. The cowboy’s feet must be in this position when the horse’s feet hit the ground on his first jump out of the chute or he is disqualified (it’s called a failure to mark out the horse properly). A cowboy will also be disqualified if he touches the equipment, himself, or the animal with his free hand during the eight-second ride. He must grasp the rigging (a handhold made of leather and rawhide) with only one hand. The best spurring action begins with the riders heels at the horse’s neck; the rider then pulls his feet, toes turned outward, to the horse’s withers until his feet are nearly touching the bareback rigging. In this event, the horse’s performance is also judged and accounts for half the total score.
Martha Josey is the only rodeo performer, along with steer wrestler Roy Duvall, to have gone to the PRCA national finals in all four decades. Josey’s secret to success is easy: “You have to be organized and you have to practice.” And there is one thing y ou should never do to your horse in this event where executing sharp turns is all-important. “Don’t pull on the reins,” she says. “When you want your horse to turn, use your body to show him which way to go.”
Barrel Racing
This event has traditionally been a “women’s” event, since only women participated in it. It wasn’t considered competitve because it wasn’t timed. Even so, this race around a course of four barrels set in a cloverleaf can be exciting.
Related Rodeo Links:
Southern Rodeo Association
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
Katy Rodeo
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
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