also score points in their rodeo association. The highest scorers are eligible for the finals in that association. The contestants travel from rodeo to rodeo paying their own expenses. 2. In bronc riding, a cowboy’s spurs need to be over the point of the horse’s shoulders when the horse exits the chute. Today’s spurs have to be dulled and they don’t break the skin or hurt the animal. 3. It looks like the calves are being strangled in the calf roping, but they really aren’t. It beats being a hamburger. 4. The flank strap put around the loins of a bucking horse or bull is lined in sheep’s wool and required to have a quick release buckle so it’s easy to get off. 5. Most of the “rough stock,” rodeo lingo for broncs and bulls, are not wild. They are just animals that don’t like to be ridden. They work for eight seconds a day, sometimes a week. 6. The bullfighters have a dan-
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left and then goes straight. If it’s your first rodeo, get a program when you pay for your ticket. The ticket and program money helps hardworking volunteer local rodeo committees pay for getting a stock contractor, who supplies the bucking horses, bulls, calves and steers. The program will have the order of events, the names of the contestants and, for broncs and bulls, their names, too. Spectators enjoy the grace of the horses, the fearlessness of the competitors, the antics of the rodeo clowns, the bravado of bullfighters, the heart-pumping country music and the energy of the crowd. Here are some things you might want to know. 1. The cowboys and cowgirls gathered for the rodeo pay entry fees to compete and hopefully win some prize money. When they win, they
Twice But Nice Ronan
gerous job; they are in the arena to keep bucking bulls from hurting a cowboy if he gets bucked off. The clown/barrelman tells jokes and gets the crowd involved. Both bullfighters and clowns will wear baggy pants and paint on their faces. 7. Riders on “rough stock,” bulls or broncs, need to ride for eight seconds. You’ll know when that is because a horn will sound in the arena. 8. Cowboys are scored on spurring, getting a rhythm with the horse or bull, staying on for eight seconds and not touching the animals with their left hand. 9. In the calf roping, steer wrestling and team roping, contestants start behind a rope barrier. If the roper or steer wrestler starts the horse too soon, the piece of string on the barrier breaks and the ride has 10 seconds added to the time. 10. For other questions, just ask the folks around you.
Conveniently located!
R O D E O S J u n e 1 0 - 1 2 — Hot Springs Homesteader Days Celebration, Hot Springs J u n e 2 4 - 2 5 — Mission Mountain NRA Rodeo, Polson J u l y 4 — Arlee Rodeo, Powwow grounds J u l y 1 0 — Drummond PRCA Rodeo A u g . 1 1 - 1 3 — Missoula Stampede PRCA Rodeo A u g . 1 8 - 2 0 — Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo, Kalispell A u g . 2 5 - 2 7 — Indian National Finals Flathead River Rodeo, Polson Rodeo/Fairgrounds
Chances are you might be sitting by a rodeo family or an old rodeo hand.
VJ
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