Wild Horse Race

The wild horse race's rules are simple: three men work as a team to catch, saddle, and ride the horse to the finish. The fastest time takes home the money. The task, however, proves to be physically demanding of each member of the team, as the unbroken horses prove to be more of a headache than a blessing.

The shankman in the Wild Horse Race grabs and holds on to the lead-line attached to the horse's halter so the mugger can get a hold on the horse's neck.

The mugger is the cowboy that gets a firm hold on the horse's neck during the Wild Horse Race. This allows the rider to put the saddle on the horse.

Once the rider has saddled the horse, he must mount and ride the unbroken horse past the judges to the finish line.

Bareback Riding

To stay aboard the horse, a bareback rider uses a rigging made of leather and constructed to meet safety specifications. The rigging, which resembles a suitcase handle on a strap, is placed atop the horse's withers and secured with a cinch.

As the bronc and rider burst from the chute, the rider must have both spurs touching the horse's shoulders until the horse's feet hit the ground. This is called II marking out." If the cowboy fails to do this, he is disqualified.

As the bronc bucks, the rider pulls his knees up, rolling his spurs up the horse's shoulders. As the horse descends, the cowboy straightens his legs, returning his spurs over the point of the horse's shoulders in anticipation of the next jump.

A bareback rider is judged on his spurring technique, the degree to which his toes remain turned out while he is spurring, and his willingness to take whatever might come during his ride.

Bareback bronc riding is a rough and explosive rodeo event. The most physically demanding of all the rodeo events, and the first event to compete at most rodeos. Cowboys ride rough horses without the benefit of saddle or rein.

They ride 'bareback' on the horse and use a leather rigging, which looks like a heavy piece of leather with a suitcase handle. The cowboys ride one handed and cannot touch themselves or the horse with their free hand. As with saddle bronc riding the mark out rule is in effect. The cowboys spur the horse from shoulder to rigging, in a frantic style trying make a qualified ride of 8 seconds. Once the ride is completed, pick-up men swoop in to 'pick up' the rider and set him safely on the ground.

Cowboys competing in bareback take a lot of punishment on their arm, neck, and back due to the power and quickness of the bareback horses. They are judged on their control and spurring technique, and the horses are judged on their power, speed, and agility. A good score in the bareback riding is in the mid 80s.

Tie-down Roping

Similar to team roping and steer wrestling, the calf receives a head start with one end of the breakaway rope looped around its neck, the other stretched across the end of the cowboy's box.

The horse is trained to come to a stop as soon as the cowboy throws his loop and catches the calf. The cowboy then dismounts, sprints to the calf and throws it by hand, a maneuver called flanking. If the calf is not standing when the cowboy reaches it, he must allow it to get back on its feet before flanking it.

After the calf is flanked, the cowboy ties three legs together with a piggin' string -a short, looped rope he clenches in his teeth during his run. While the contestant is accomplishing all of that, his horse must pull back hard enough to eliminate any slack in the rope. After tying the calf, the roper throws his hands in the air and remounts his horse and waits six seconds to see if the calf remains tied.

Breakaway

Another female event, breakaway calf roping is similar to tie-down roping, but with the focus solely on the cowgirls ability to quickly rope the calf and halt her horse.

During the event, a breakaway rope is attached to the calf's neck to ensure a fair head start. When the calf reaches its advantage point, the barrier is released for the cowgirl who then follows in pursuit. The object for the cowgirl is to throw her rope around the calf’s neck. While the object seems simple, the speed and agility of the cowgirl and her horse is an ever-important aspect of each and every run.

Once the rope is around the calf’s neck, the roper signals the horse to stop suddenly. The rope is attached to the saddle horn with a string. When the calf hits the end of the rope, the rope is pulled taught and the string breaks. The breaking of the string marks the end of the run.

Saddle Bronc Riding

Saddle bronc riding evolved from the task of breaking and training horses to work the cattle ranches of the Old West.

Every move the bronc rider makes must be synchronized with the movement of the horse. The cowboy's objective is a fluid ride. Like bareback riding, the cowboy must mark out his horse, having both heels touching the animal above the point of its shoulders when it makes its first jump from the chute.

The saddle bronc rider has only a thick rein attached to his horse's halter. Using one hand, the cowboy tries to stay securely seated in his saddle. If he touches any part of the horse or his own body with his free hand, he is disqualified.

Judges score the horse's bucking action, the cowboy's control of the horse, and the cowboy's spurring action. A smooth, rhythmic ride is sure to score better than a wild, uncontrolled effort.

This event is sometimes referred to as the classic event of rodeo. Because it grew naturally out of ranch cowboys breaking wild broncos to use as working cow horses.

Modern saddle bronc riding is much the same with only a few modifications, mainly in equipment. Saddle Bronc saddles are lightweight and have no saddle horn. Along with the bronc saddle the cowboys use a long thick rein, known as a hack rein, attached to a halter on the horses head. In contrast to the bareback and bull riding, saddle bronc riding relies less on strength and more on timing, finesse and skill. It's a very hard event to master.

As with bareback riding, the mark out rule is in effect. The cowboy spurs from the front of the horse, back to the skirt of the saddle in an arcing motion.

The cowboy must constantly lift on the hack rein to keep his seat in the saddle.

Scoring is the same as in all the roughstock events with 1-25 points given to the cowboy and 1-25 points for the animal by each of the two judges. Cowboys are judged on control, spur motion, and timing. Saddle broncs are judged on their bucking ability. A good score in the saddle bronc riding is in the high 80's.

Saddle bronc and bareback riders dismount with the help of a pick-up man who rides up on a horse and helps them to the ground. Saddle bronc riding often appears effortless because of the enormous skill of the cowboys competing in the event.

Steer Wrestling

The objective of the steer wrestler, known as a "bulldogger," is to use strength and technique to wrestle a steer to the ground as quickly as possible. The bulldogger starts on horseback. A breakaway rope is attached to the steer and stretched across the open end of the box. The steer gets a head start that is determined by the size of the arena. When the steer reaches the advantage point, the barrier is released and the bulldogger takes off. If the bulldogger breaks the barrier, a 10-second penalty is assessed. When the cowboy reaches the steer, he slides down and off of his galloping horse, hooks his right arm around the steer's right horn, grasps the left horn with his left hand, and slows the animal and wrestles it to the ground.

The cowboy uses a hazer, another mounted cowboy who gallops his horse along side of the steer, to keep it from veering away from the bulldogger.

Open Team Roping

Team roping, the only true team event in ProRodeo, requires close cooperation and timing between two highly skilled ropers — a header and a heeler — and their horses. The event originated on ranches when cowboys needed to treat or brand large steers and the task proved too difficult for one man.  Similar to tie-down ropers and steer wrestlers, team ropers start from the boxes on each side of the chute from which the steer enters the arena. One end of the breakaway barrier is attached to the steer and stretched across the open end of the header's box. When the steer reaches his advantage point, the header takes off, with the healer trails slightly behind.

The header ropes first and must make one of three legal catches on the steer -around both horns, around one horn and the head, or around the neck. After the header makes his catch, he turns the steer to the left and exposes the steer's hind legs to the heeler. The heeler then attempts to rope both hind legs. If he catches only one foot, the team is assessed a five-second penalty. After the cowboys catch the steer, the clock is stopped when there is no slack in their ropes and their horses are facing one another.

Mixed Team Roping

Mixed Team Roping consists of teams made up of one cowboy and one cowgirl. The same rules apply for Mixed Team Roping as for Open Team Roping. In Mixed Team Roping, the cowgirl can be either the header or the heeler. Mothers and sons, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, all make up this exciting event to showcase the skills of the ladies of rodeo!

Barrel Racing

Barrel racing has no judges, which means the event has no subjective points of view. Time is the determining factor.

One of the only female events in rodeo, barrel racing combines grace on horseback with speed and agility. The horse is ridden as quickly as possible around a cloverleaf course of three barrels. Not only must the horse be swift, but also it must be intelligent enough to avoid tipping the barrels, as infraction that adds five penalty seconds to the time.

Barrel racing, at its core, has changed little from the days when cowgirls raced for minimal, if any, prize money or support. Though exposure and prizes have increased, the ultimate goal, however, has remained the same: stop the clock as quickly as possible.

Barrel racing is a timed rodeo event, where the fastest time is what matters most. Cowgirls compete in the arena against each other and the clock.

Barrel racing is about cooperation between horse and rider. Because of the competition and money involved, finding a good horse is very important to the competitors. A top of the line barrel horse can cost up to $50,000.

For the barrel racing event, the arena is cleared and three barrels are set up at different marked locations. The riders then enter the arena at full speed, quickly rounding each barrel in a cloverleaf pattern and then exiting where they entered. A stopwatch or timer is used registering down to a hundredth of a second.

Speed is what it is all about in this event. The riders steer their horses as close as they can to the barrels trying to shave precious seconds off the clock.  For each barrel they knock over (which happens sometimes) a 5 second penalty is assessed to their total time. Leaving the barrels standing and ripping through the course is every barrel racers goal.

13 to 14 seconds is generally a winning time in this event, but this will vary according to the size of the arena, as all rodeo arenas are not created equal.

Bull Riding

Bull riding emerged from the fearless and possibly foolhardy nature of the cowboy. Regardless, cowboys do it; fans love it; and bull riding ranks as one of rodeo's most popular events.

Like bareback and saddle bronc, the rider may use only one hand to stay aboard during the ride. If he touches the bull or himself with his free hand, he receives no score. But unlike other roughstock events, bull riders are not required to mark out their animal. While spurring a bull can add to the cowboy's score, riders are commonly judged solely on their ability to stay aboard the bull.

The rider grasps a flat braided rope, which is wrapped around the bull's chest just behind the front legs and over the withers. One end of the bull rope, called the tail, is threaded through a loop on the other end and tightened around the bull. The rider then wraps the tail around his hand. With a nod of the head, the cowboy and bull are sent into the arena for their eight-second ride.

Bull Riding is the most recognized and popular of all the rodeo events. It is also the most dangerous. An often quoted saying about bull riding is "it's not if you get hurt, it's when." Every bull rider can attest to the truth of that saying.

As with bareback and saddle bronc riding, bull riders ride with one hand and cannot touch themselves or their bull with the free hand. Doing so results in a no score.

Scoring is the same as in the other roughstock events. Two judges give 1-25 points for the cowboys performance and 1-25 points for the animals performance. 100 points being the maximum, and is considered a perfect ride.

To ride, bull riders use a bullrope and rosin. The bullrope is a thickly braided rope with a cowbell attached. The cowbell acts as a weight, allowing the rope to safely fall off the bull when the ride is over. The rosin is a sticky substance that increases the grip on their ropes. Bull riders wrap their bullrope around the bull and use the remainder to wrap around their hand tightly, trying to secure themselves to the bull.

Unlike the horse events, there is no mark out in bull riding. Cowboys can spur for extra points, but just staying on the bull for 8 seconds is the main priority. After the ride, bull riders are aided by bullfighters or rodeo clowns and barrelmen who distract the bull, allowing the cowboys to escape safely. A good score in the bull riding is in the 90s. There has been one perfect score of 100 in the PRCA.

Bull riding requires balance, flexibility, coordination, and courage. Facing down a two-thousand pound bull takes as much mental preparation as it does physical ability. Bull riding has taken on a life of its own with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) tour, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down.

Junior Rodeo

Mutton Bustin' -One of the most popular and entertaining extra attractions, the contest consists of the youngster riding a sheep out of a bucking chute and into the rodeo arena. Like the cowboy bucking events, time and score count, but all the contestants receive trophies from the sponsor.

Junior Steer Riding -Open to junior contestants 8 to 12 years old, a junior Steer Rider stays on by means of a flat braided rope with a loose handhold, which he may hold onto with either one or two hands. If riding with one, he may not touch himself or the animal during the course of the ride. junior Steer Riders are not required to "mark out" the Steer or spur at all times, but they increase their scores if they do.

Calf Scramble -Always a crowd pleaser, in the calf scramble, young cowboys and cowgirls try to grab dollar bills off the tails of the calves in the arena. As the contestants are only allowed to grab one bill each, the older cowboys and cowgirls often assist the younger wranglers to grab the dollar bills.

Stick Horse Race -Limited to young wranglers, age 7 and under, contestants line up in front of the bucking chutes and race about 50' toward and around a 55 gallon barrel and over designated jumps. The race finishes when they get back to the finish line in front of the chutes.

Some of the material above is adapted from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event descriptions.

Resources

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association