Ride 'Em Cowboy!!!

 Another fabulous Arizona day before the cold weather starts in again, along with rain tomorrow and quite possibly some snow.  I'm glad we saw the rodeo when we did!!

This is bareback bronc riding.  It's hard enough to stay in the saddle when your horse decides to take a jump or two, but with no saddle and no stirrups to keep you in place, it's darn near impossible.  Not for these guys though!!

Since a lot of the country experiences bad weather during the winter, this is the perfect place to come so you can add to your points and money winnings.  It's how you become the best in the world for that year.  

You can also bomb out and win nothing.  Look at the cowboy's legs in the above picture and in this one.   When they come out of the chute, the cowboy must "mark him out", meaning his heels must be in contact with the horse above the point of the shoulder until the horse's front feet hit the ground, or he gets a no-score, meaning no money and he rode just for the practice.

They hold on to what basically looks like a suitcase handle, called a rigging, that was invented in the early 1900's.  Prior to that, they just held on to the horses mane.  The first rigging was invented by Earl Bascom and used at the Raymond Stampede in Alberta Canada in 1924.  From there on it's hold on Nelly until the bell sounds at 8 seconds.  More than you ever wanted to know, right??

Each rider is scored by two judges, the guys in the pink shirts and referee vests.  Each judges the horse from 0 - 25 and the rider from 0 - 25.  Add those four scores together and you have a winner.  On this day I think the winning score was something like 85.

Next up, bull dogging, also known as steer wrestling.  This is Morgan Evans taking down a rather large steer.  This was not part of everyday cowboy life back in the old west.  It came about in 1890 when Bill Pickett, a Wild West show performer, was said to have caught a runaway steer by wrestling it to the ground.

Nowadays, you have a "wrestler" on the left with a hazer on the right, keeping the steer heading straight.  At about 25-30 mph, you slide off your horse, grab the steers horns and throw your legs out in front to slow him down.

This guy was a little bit late in getting off his horse and almost passed the steer by, but nevertheless, he got the steer to the ground.

Cattle and horses go where their nose goes, so if you can turn their head, they will turn around ... not exactly willingly of course.

Once they are stopped with their head turned, the bulldogger must keep ahold until the steer lays down with all four feet heading the same direction.  One leg underneath doesn't count.  

This is a perfect example of how it's done.  It's a timed event with winning numbers usually in the 5 second range.  Pretty crazy, right??  This guys time was 5.6 and he was pretty happy about it, showing a big smile.

That ends this day's rodeo lesson, sponsored by Butler Rodeo Stock and Ram Dodge Trucks.  Text Ram Tough to 999222 and register to win $100,000 towards the truck of your choice.  If you don't win, they will inundate you with text messages and emails for the rest of your life!!  I declined.