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FEATURE RODEO

The sportsmen and women themselves give a unique insight into the thrill of the rodeo ride.
September 2005

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WORDS BY JOANNE CRONRATH BAMBERGER

THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE ...

Rodeo is enjoying record audiences this year as more people flock to the excitement and thrill of the arenas. But it’s the sportsmen and women themselves, prepared to risk life and limb for their sport, who can give a unique insight into the thrill of the rodeo ride.

ith just one gloved hand tightly wedged into a special rigging that looks like a suitcase handle, Jeter bears the full impact of the horse as it bucks forward on its front legs and back again, spinning while trying to rid itself of Jeter like a pesky bug. As the bronc whips him around like a well-worn rag doll, Jeter has more on his mind than just holding on—he’s praying to outlast the horse and out-spur the competition. While it might not be immediately obvious to the uninitiated, seasoned rodeo cowboys must master specific techniques to become successful at what some call the original “extreme” sport.

Bareback rules specify that a rider must keep his feet above the horse’s shoulders until the horse’s front feet hit the ground after bolting from the chute. To accomplish that, as he rockets into the arena, Jeter has to lay himself almost flat against the horse’s back in order to get his feet turned into the correct position, spurring the horse to maximize his chance of winning. That’s a pretty rough ride, even though the event takes less time than it might to run the bases on a baseball diamond.

“By doing that, I’m taking the full strength of [the horse’s] force on my riding arm,” says Jeter, who won the bareback riding event back in 1997 at the American Royal Rodeo, which is one of the largest rodeos in the nation, dating back to the mid-’70s. “Your instinct is to hold on tight, but you need to fight that instinct and let your legs fly back to stay in the right position [to win],” says Jeter.

In addition to staying on his horse for the required eight seconds, a rider must keep his free hand in the air at all times—if a cowboy allows that hand to touch the horse or even himself during the ride, he’s disqualified.

Not so many years ago, most rodeo stars were working cowboys. Weekdays were spent roping cattle, breaking horses and running the ranches. During their leisure time, neighboring cowboys would often compete against each other to determine who was the best, the strongest and the fastest. Today’s horse riding and roping events are born directly out of what those ranch hands did on a daily basis. Nowadays, fewer working cowboys are the rodeo stars and more are professional athletes with trainers and regular workout schedules.

The thrill of pushing their physical limits and besting untamed animals has lured hundreds like Jeter to the world of “rodeoing.” But this dangerous sport isn’t going to make anyone rich. Those who are successful might earn between $100,000 and $150,000 a year. That’s not a bad living, but clearly bears no comparison to the multi-million-dollar salaries numerous baseball and football players take home each year. Plus, there is no such thing as an injured reserve list in the rodeo world. If a cowboy gets hurt and can’t compete, there’s no guaranteed payday. As one rodeo cowboy jokes, his job is like being “a rock star without the money!”

Some of the very successful rodeo cowboys discovered their love for the sport at a very young age. Dan Mortensen, a seven-time world saddle bronc riding champion, was 11 when he competed in his first rodeo. Learning to love the rodeo lifestyle came naturally to Mortensen, as his dad roped cattle and competed in rodeos in Billings, Montana, where the family lived. Initially, his event was bull riding, one of the flashier events in rodeo, and he was recruited as a bull rider at the college level the way some students are wooed to play football or soccer. Eventually, though, Mortensen learned he was actually a better saddle bronc rider. The saddle bronc event is similar to bareback riding in some respects, but Mortensen says that type of riding calls for more balance and timing on the part of the rider. Get the timing wrong and the mistake can be painful at best and lethal at worst.

Mortensen was on the verge of capturing his eighth world title in 2004 when, shortly before the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas— what some have dubbed the Super Bowl of the rodeo world—the horse he was riding slammed into a fence at a Dallas competition, breaking Mortensen’s right ankle and dislocating his right foot. Despite the serious injury that took him out of the sport for the National Finals, Mortensen and others downplay the possible physical risks of rodeo. A small group of cowboys recites a litany of injuries that includes a broken ankle, broken arm, numerous torn rotator cuffs, torn ligaments, a dislocated foot, dislocated shoulders, knee reconstruction and a broken back. But even so, these tough guys don’t seem to be particularly phased.

What keeps them coming back in the face of such serious harm, they say, is the cowboy tradition, lifestyle and camaraderie.

“What keeps these tough guys coming back in the face of serious harm is the cowboy tradition, lifestyle and camaraderie.

“Everyone is friendly. Kids can grow up watching the sport and learning about traditional values,” says Mortensen. Plus, these cowboys say there’s nothing like mingling with the fans and seeing the same friendly competitors at each event around the country.

Jeter—the one who broke his back—contends his injury wasn’t as bad as it might sound. He says he didn’t even know he had injured his vertebrae until a few days after the incident! He was in the bucking chute at an event in Omaha, getting ready to ride, when his horse reared up, almost flipping over backwards. Jeter got caught between his horse and the metal gate.

“I felt a pop, and thought it was my muscles or a disk. I rode for a few more days before I knew it was broken,” he explains, making the incident sound more like a minor scrape.

Will Lowe, another bareback rider and a recent wunderkind of the sport, started attending the American Royal as a little boy when his parents had season tickets. Growing up in Gardner, Kansas, a small town of about 9,500 just outside the main suburbs of Kansas City, Lowe says his involvement in 4-H groups and spending time on his grandfather’s farm led him to try his first rodeo event when he was only seven years old.

“I wanted to ride bulls. It was my favorite event as a kid, but my parents said no,” quips Lowe. So with bull riding—which he likens to riding a roller coaster—out of the question at that tender age, he turned his attention to roping and bareback riding. It wasn’t too long before Lowe realized he had found his niche in the rodeo world.

“I started winning money in amateur rodeos while I was still in high school, and won a rodeo scholarship to college in Texas,” says the 22 year old. For baby-faced Lowe, being a rodeo cowboy is “the greatest job in the world.” In 2003—which was only his second year on the professional cowboy circuit—Lowe became the world champion bareback rider and set a new record for the most money earned in one year in that event.

Many of these cowboys are becoming celebrities of the rodeo world. And not all of the fans are living in the western half of the US. The numbers of rodeo spectators are growing, bringing in some who describe themselves as “accidental” fans, like Erika Martineau. “The events themselves are thrilling and sometimes can be a little scary,” says Martineau, who lives in New York City, and had not anticipated becoming enthralled by the sport. “The whole show is edge-of-your-seat kind of action that keeps you entertained.”

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association estimates that over 60 million people watched rodeo on TV in 2004, and there were over 2,000 different rodeos in the US that drew almost 24 million spectators that same year. So while bulls and broncs may not yet have a fan base close to that of Major League Baseball, the numbers of fans are growing for these modern-day gladiators. And that has to be good news to cowboys like Jeter, Mortensen, and Lowe, who travel the country for the better part of the year, to challenge more animals and, hopefully, to greet more fans.

DIARY DATES

NATIONAL FINALS RODEO Las Vegas October 28-November 6 Forty-five of the country’s top bull riders converge on this highlight of the rodeo calendar. With ten bulls to get through and eight seconds on each, few make it on all of them. The city turns itself over to the ranch-theme with dozens of shows, exhibitions, events and the final championship with over a million dollars in prize money at stake. www.nfr-rodeo.com

THE PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS ASSOCIATION The association will tell you everything you need to know about the sport: where to see the shows, who’s leading the rankings and has a ticket line to rodeos the country over. www.pbrnow.com

THE HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO The next showdown isn’t until Feb 28, 2006, but this is the grandest display of all things rodeo on the planet from a city synonymous with the sport. There is also a focus on agriculture, making this a showcase for the industry, with scholarships awarded and businesses promoted. www.hlsr.com

YEAR-ROUND RODEO

Fort Worth is home to the world-famous Stockyards, founded on the legendary cattle-trading Chisholm Trail. They host events throughout the year, including the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering on October 21-23, and the Women’s National Finals Rodeo on October 28-30. www.fortworthstockyards.org

CLOWNING AROUND

Fort Worth also boasts a rodeo clown college, where kids get the chance to learn about the history of clowns and bullfighters in rodeos, and dress up like real rodeo clowns. www.texascowboyhalloffame.com

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