04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:31 PM Page 47 RodeoRodeo A UNIQUELY AMERICAN SPORT BY PHYLLIS MCINTOSH he chute flies open and out lunges a bucking horse, rearing and leaping into the air, trying to throw off the determined T rider. With one arm waving in the air, the cowboy holds on with his other whand to a handle on a leather strap around the horse’s body. If he hangs on for an interminable eight seconds and the horse continues to buck with all his might, the cowboy might earn a good score. If not, he will pick himself up from the arena floor, dust himself off, and wait for next time. Welcome to the wild world of rodeo, a uniquely American sport that com- bines the glamour and big money of 21st century professional athletics with the spirit of the Old West, when cowboys tamed wild horses and herded thou- sands of head of cattle on the open plains. What started as friendly contests between rival cowhands has grown into a mega-business that attracts 23 mil- lion spectators and millions more television viewers every year. The largest rodeos today are week-long extravaganzas featuring a dazzling array of enter- tainment and thousands of dollars in prize money for winning competitors. Instead of gathering around dusty corrals, fans sit in comfortable modern arenas, watching close-ups of the action on giant screens. E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM J ULY 2004 47 c 04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:31 PM Page 48 THE HISTORY OF RODEO Contests pitting man against beast are noth- admission and award prize money to contestants. ing new. On the isle of Crete, 3,000-year-old It has done so continuously ever since, and today pictographs show ancient Minoans performing the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo ranks among acrobatics with bulls. The Romans flocked to the top 25 rodeos in the nation. the Colosseum to watch gladiators battle all Over the next few decades, a number of manner of exotic animals. What makes rodeo other western towns launched events that, like unique is that it originated not as a spectator Prescott’s, are now among the largest and most sport but with the everyday work of cowboys on popular on the rodeo circuit. These include the western range. Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming, the largest © AP/WideWorld Photos The American cowboy can trace his origins outdoor rodeo, which since 1919 has billed itself back to the Spaniards who, in the 1500s, intro- (above) A rodeo clown dressed in colorful as “the daddy of ’em all”; Pendleton Roundup in protective gear awaits his turn in the ring. duced both cattle and horses to Mexico and to Oregon, known for its logo of a cowboy on a what would later become the southwestern Unit- (below) In this photo from 1958, cowboys bucking horse with the slogan “Let ’er Buck”; work hard to keep ahead of a prairie fire dur- ed States. The earliest cowboys were the vaque- and the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada, ing the annual fall roundup of cattle. ros, Spanish servants or Native Americans who rode horses to herd cattle. The word rodeo comes which draws thousands of American as well as (opposite) Riders from the National West- Canadian spectators. ern Stock show parade in downtown Denver, from the Spanish rodear, meaning to encircle or Colorado. surround. As they rounded up cattle on the open These events were immediately successful range, cowboys often rode wild horses and because they combined traditional cowboy con- roped calves for branding—activities re-created tests with theatrical embellishments, such as in today’s classic rodeo events. mock Indian attacks, inspired by the Wild West According to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys shows popular around the turn of the century. Association (PRCA), rodeo was born in 1864 when Big rodeos still feature a great deal of show- two groups of cowboys from neighboring ranch- manship. Almost all have parades and musical es met in Deer Trail, Colorado, to settle an argu- entertainment, but the largest also have such ment over who was better at performing these attractions as lavish grandstand shows, fire- everyday ranching tasks. Formal competitions works, carnival rides, western art shows, and began in the heyday of American cattle drives in aerial demonstrations by Air Force fighter jets. the late 1800s, when western towns began hold- They may also stage special events for young- ing events called stampedes, roundups, or fiestas sters, beauty pageants, and fun competitions z(a Spanish word meaning festival). No one knows such as chuckwagon races, which recall the for sure which town actually held the first specta- days when drivers of the wagons that brought tor event, but there is general agreement that food to cowboys on the range would race each Prescott, Arizona, in 1888, was the first to charge other back to town. 48 AP/WideWorld Photos © 04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:32 PM Page 49 © AP/WideWorld AP/WideWorld Photos © E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM J ULY 2004 49 04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:32 PM Page 50 CLASSIC RODEO EVENTS Despite the added attractions, the heart of rodeo remains the ➊ © AP/WideWorld Photos classic riding and roping events that are a direct legacy of the working cowboy. The seven competitive events sanctioned by the PRCA are divided into roughstock and timed events. The rough- stock events, which are scored according to the cowboy’s—and the animal’s—performance, include: ➋ • Bareback bronc riding. Considered the wildly bucking 2,000-pound bull for eight © AP/WideWorld Photos most physically demanding rodeo event, seconds. As in the bareback and saddle bareback bronc riding requires the cowboy bronc events, he may use only one hand to to ride a wild, unsaddled horse for eight hold on, in this case to a rope wrapped seconds while holding on with just one around the bull’s chest. (2 and 7) hand to a “rigging,” a handhold similar to a • Saddle bronc riding. Recalling the days leather suitcase handle. To receive a good when cowboys had to tame wild horses by score, the rider must spur the horse in time “breaking” them to the saddle, this event with the animal’s bucking action. The also requires the rider to synchronize his horse’s performance counts for half the spurring action to the animal’s bucking ➌ total score. (1) movements. Using just one hand to hold © AP/WideWorld Photos • Bull riding. In this most dangerous of onto a thick rein, the cowboy must try to rodeo events, the cowboy must stay on a stay firmly in the saddle. (3) Timed events, in which the contestant tries to complete a task in the fastest time, include: • Steer wrestling. With the aid of a “hazer” mounts, lays the calf on its side, and ties who keeps the steer running in the right any three of its legs together. (4) direction, the contestant jumps from a • Team roping. The only true team event, horse running 30 miles per hour, reaches this requires precise timing of the actions for the steer’s horns, slides him to a stop, of two people: the header, who ropes a and wrestles him to the ground. This is an steer around its horns or neck, and the event that requires great speed, strength, heeler, who rides in and ropes the steer’s and precision. (opposite page) hind legs. (line illustration ©Duane Reichert) ➍ • Calf roping. In this event, another legacy • Barrel racing. In this, the only all-female © AP/WideWorld Photos of the working ranch, a cowboy on horse- event in professional rodeo, the goal is to ride back chases a calf and throws a looped a horse as quickly as possible around three rope over its head. The cowboy then dis- barrels arranged in a cloverleaf pattern. (5) Besides the cowboys and cowgirls who compete, other personnel are crucial to the success and safety of these events. Among the most important are the rodeo clowns and bullfighters who often entertain the audience between events but whose real job is to distract angry bulls and lure them away from cowboys on the ground. (6) ➎ © AP/WideWorld Photos © PhotoDisc © 50 © AP/WideWorld Photos ➏ ➐ 04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:32 PM Page 51 © AP/WideWorld AP/WideWorld Photos © 51 04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:32 PM Page 52 * 8 © AP/WideWorld AP/WideWorld Photos © * 8 * 5 8 52 AP/WideWorld Photos © 04-0219 ETF_36_56 6/23/04 1:33 PM Page 53 THE GROWTH OF PROFESSIONAL RODEO From its beginnings through the 1920s, the road.” All of them hope to earn enough prize rodeo was an unorganized hodgepodge of com- money to advance to championship rounds and petitions with conflicting schedules and different eventually qualify for the National Finals Rodeo, sets of rules. Then, in 1929 the more prosperous an annual 10-day affair that is to rodeo what the rodeos formed the Rodeo Association of Ameri- World Series is to baseball. At Finals, the top 15 ca to set schedules and uniform rules of compe- national money-winners in each rodeo event tition. Rodeo cowboys themselves did not orga- participate in 10 days of competitions, contend- nize until 1936, when contestants angry about ing for part of the $5 million in prize money, the the distribution of prize money formed what they title of world champion in their event, and the called the Cowboys Turtle Association. They gold buckles and saddles that are awarded chose the unusual name because they had been along with the titles.