Posts Tagged ‘PRCA’

This is the third installment in a series of blogs we have been posting concerning rodeo – today we are going to look at and try to explain what is known as ‘roping’ in the very competitive world of rodeo. It has to be considered extreme as not only is there a limited number of participants but it is also dangerous, fast and very exciting to watch, as you will see in the videos below.

Roping

The three main events in roping, which are timed, are practiced by working cowboys on a daily basis for puposes of capturing and then treating the calf or steer, be it for reasons of branding the animal with the ranch logo, treating it for medicinal purposes or for some other reason such as castration. In competitive rodeo the events are divided into three classes:

• calf roping
• team roping
• breakaway roping

Calf roping is when a calf is roped around its neck by the cowboy using a lasso or lariat. The cowboy’s horse must then stop and stand whilst the cowboy jumps down from his horse and runs over to the calf, turns it on its side and then ties three of the calf’s legs together. If the calf is knocked over by the horse moving then the cowboy must wait for the calf to stand again before he can turn the calf over himself – his time is therefore prolonged and as this is a timed event is is essential for the horse to stand still. Calf roping is now called tie-down roping by the PRCA.

The video below is a fine example of how one of the best in the business – Clint Cooper – practices this art – thanks to DodgeXTremeBulls for the video.

Team roping is when two people acting together lasso a fully grown steer with the ‘header’ capturing the steer over its horns and the ‘heeler’ lassoing the steer around its hind legs. The steer is then restrained and with pressure from the header and heeler will lose its balance and fall over. Both men and women can compete in the same team.

Watch brothers Brandon and Mike Beers in the video below from bpdesigns4u at the Reno Rodeo 2008 demonstrate team roping – not by any means a walk in the park.

Breakaway roping is when a calf is roped using a very short lariat or lasso which is lightly tied to the horn of the saddle with string and a flag. When the calf is roped the horse must stop, the calf will run on pulling the string and flag from the saddle which signals the end of the breakaway roping. In the US this event is primarily for women and girls of all ages and for boys of under 12 years of age.

But as you will see in the video below from Jaxxon1994 it is not only the girls who get involved. Here Mike Kline demonstrates breakaway roping.

So thats the roping element of rodeo covered, all we have left is rough stock rodeo – bull riding we have already covered, a topic worthy of its own blog, as is the other element of rough stock competition which is of course ‘bronc’ riding – apologies for the suspense!!

Last week we put a blog out about the bull riding and Professional Bull Riders which attracted a lot of interest and we therefore you would like to know more about the world of rodeo which when you think about it would have to be considered an extreme sport.

History

Rodeo did of course originate from the activities of cowboys and vaqueros who on a daily basis were managing steers from horseback on the vast ranches and needed to either separate, move to different pasture, treat for illness or brand the cattle. Rodeo competition grew from these every day activities and by 1860 there were informal rodeo competitions in both Mexico and north western America. By 1910 several major rodeos were established including the Calgary Stampede, the Pendleton Round-Up and the Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Rodeo is now particularly popular in the province of Alberta in Canada and throughout the western United States and is the official sport of Wyoming and Texas.

The modern professional rodeo is big business with more than 7,500 cowboys competing for over $30 million prize money at 650 rodeos. The circuit concludes with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) held in Las Vegas, Nevada in December.

Today rodeo encompasses three discipllines – namely timed events, roping and rough stock competition (bull riding being part of rough stock competition). Today we will look at the timed events: barrel racing, pole bending and steer wrestling.

Competition – timed events

Barrel racing – exclusively a women’s sport. In a barrel race, horse and rider gallop around a cloverleaf pattern of barrels, making agile turns without knocking the barrels over. The fastest time is the winner. Check out the action in the video below from tetah11.

Pole bending – horse and rider run the length of a line of six upright poles, turn sharply and weave through the poles, turn again and weave back and then return to the start. Fastest time wins all but it should be noted that pole bending is not a professional sport – check out how it is done in the video fromRodeoDVD

Steer wrestling – also known as “Bulldogging,” the rodeo event where the rider jumps off his horse onto a steer and ‘wrestles’ it to the ground by grabbing it by the horns. Again the quickest time gets the most points and is therefore deemed the winner. It is considered the most dangerous of the timed events as the cowboy runs a risk of missing the steer and landing head first in the dirt, or of having the thrown steer land on top of him, sometimes horns first, whilst attempting to wrestle it to the ground. Again the action can be seen in the video below from easternslopepro.

One element that is not generally of concern with other extreme sports that we cover is animal rights – we believe and respect everyones opinion but would suggest that participants are not wanting to harm their horses or the steers – all of which cost money and will only perform well if they are fit and sound. We are always interested to hear your thoughts on this and any other issue.

This brief introduction to the timed events of rodeo will be followed by a look at roping and rough stock competition in a future publication.