by Sheila Totten

Created on: January 27, 2009   Last Updated: April 13, 2010

Rodeo is much more than a sport. It is a family orientated life style. Many of today's cowboys and cowgirls have followed their parents into competition. The same follows true for stock contractors, bullfighters, barrelmen (formerly called rodeo clowns) contract acts and announcers. The competitors eat ,sleep and drink rodeo.

They are more an extended family than anything else. They pray together before the events. They exhibit their patriotism together. They teach sportsmanship by their actions in helping each other out. They are there for each other.

I have read the cruelty articles and I find them to be full of lies and misconceptions. The people who have written them seem to know nothing about rodeo. One spoke of the steer wrestler, roping the steer before wrestling it down. Steer Wrestlers never use a rope at all! They say animals are caged and starved and water deprived for days before they perform. This is utter nonsense. 

These animals would be dead or dying if treated like that. And using the noun bronc as a verb when referring to a bull just proves even more that these writers know nothing about rodeo.

I grew up going to big rodeos in a major sports mecca. I later became a rodeo reporter. Rodeo began on the ranches in the old west when cowboys coming off the range would brag about their abilities to rope or ride; and the next thing you knew they were competing against one another.

Calf roping ,steer wrestling and riding broncs were part of their everyday work. Even today on big ranches things are still done this way. When you have a runaway you need to catch it up. Even locally on the farms out here farmers hire cow catchers to rope runaway cattle.

Although some farmers and ranchers use catch pens, squeeze chutes four wheelers and blue heelers to round up cattle today, there are still many who would rather use horses to herd their cattle.

The trend has even found its way back into the livestock market as it is more humane to herd the animals, using horses and riders than to have employees use electric prods or canes to move the cattle.

Historically bronc riding came from breaking horses to ride. Horses that refused to be broke to ride became the legendary broncs of old. The cowboy who could ride one became top dog. They never had the bucking chutes we have now.

They would have to rope the horse and it might take several to hold the rope while they saddled the animal. Then the fun began. It was far more dangerous for the cowboy than the horse

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