JIM SHOULDERS TELLS: HOW TO WATCH A RODEO
Rodeo," says Jim Shoulders, holder of 14 world championship titles and the biggest money-winning cowboy of all time, "is a unique contest. First a man must compete against an animal that outweighs him, is faster and stronger than be is. He must best this animal according to rules that are all in the animal's favor. And in order to win he must do this better or faster than all the other cowboys who are contesting on different animals."
This year 3,000 professional cowboys competed for $3 million in prize money at 482 rodeos held in 38 states and Canada before a record 15 million spectators. And this week in Dallas, the first National Finals Rodeo (Dec. 26-30) gets under way, drawing 71,000 fans. A cowboys' world series to determine the 1959 championships, the NFR pits the top 15 money-winners in each event against each other on the nation's toughest stock. In 10 Go-Rounds—each contestant competes once in a Go-Round—they will be fighting to make the top money which will determine the champions. Contestants earn no salaries; prize money is made up of their entry fees plus the rodeo purse. Currently defending his triple title of All Around Cowboy, Bareback and Bull Riding Champion for the third year in a row, Jim Shoulders, who has won $357,000 in the arena, joins here with Joan Dickinson, writer, flyer and, with her husband, operator of Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk, N.Y., and Artist Sam Savitt ("How To Ride A Horse," SI, May 18, 25), to explain rules and fine points of America's roughest sport.
Saddle bronc riding
In the old days, at places like Deer Trail, Colo. and Pecos, Texas, where rodeo was born in the mid-1800s, a man just climbed aboard a bucking horse and tried his luck until, as they said, "the horse was rode or the cowboy throwed." Today saddle bronc riding is a highly regulated and exacting contest requiring expert precision, split-second timing, and coordination. The contestant must ride for 10 seconds, using a plain halter and a single braided rope rein. He cannot wrap the rein around his hand, will be disqualified if he changes hands on the rein, touches any part of the horse or equipment with his free hand, or loses a stirrup. All riding events are scored half on the horse—how hard it bucks—and half on the way the rider spurs. Spurring weights the contest in favor of the horse—it aggravates the animal but does not wound it, and it forces the rider to keep his legs moving so he cannot weather the jumps by clamping onto the horse. If the bronc rider is "in time with the horse" he will complete a cycle with each jump, swinging his legs in a continuous rhythmic motion, body rocking, rein arm pumping, free arm held high for balance (top right). He spurs from the point of the shoulders to the back of the cantle. How well he does this, and how often, determines his spurring mark, from 1-20 points.
Bareback riding
The bareback event is scored from one to 20 for spurring and up to 20 points for bucking. This bucking mark is listed on the judges' books as from 65 to 85, so that it is easily told apart from the spurring mark. Two judges mark each ride, totaling their spurring and bucking markings for a possible 210 perfect score. The bareback horse is always ridden with a flank strap, which annoys but does not hurt it, cinched around its belly at the hind quarters. The ride lasts eight seconds, spurs must be over the break of the shoulders the first jump out to qualify. The bareback "rigging"—no reins are used—is a single wide leather strap cinched to the horse much like a saddle, with a leather handhold attached to the top. The contestant grips this handle with one hand, is disqualified if he changes hands or touches anything with his free hand. As in all riding events, he is disqualified if his spurs are too sharp or the rowels are locked or if he mistreats the horse in any way.
How horses are assigned
Drawing stock is the most important element of rodeo for the contestant. All animals in each event are numbered, and before the start of a Go-Round the judges draw the stock and determine which animal each contestant will compete on by placing the stock numbers in one hat, the contestants' names in another and blindly matching them up. Since no two horses buck alike and half the contestant's score is determined by how well the animal bucks, the cowboy's chances of winning go up considerably if he draws a hard-bucking animal. A "real fine bucking animal" is the rodeo competitor's delight. He can never win a cent on what he calls a "sorry horse"—one that "just goats along down the arena without really blowing up." If the horse does not buck at all or deliberately throws itself on the ground or stalls in the chute, the rider is entitled to a reride. Prize money is paid for each Go-Round, from first to sixth place, depending on size of rodeo purse; "average money" for best totals in all Go-Rounds of rodeo.
Bull riding
Riding the wild hump-backed Brahma bulls, which frequently weigh a ton or more, is rodeo's most difficult and dangerous event. For its size, the Brahma is the most active animal alive. It has the strength to toss a horse in the air. Here the luck of the draw is not as decisive as it is in the horse riding events. Most Brahmas buck, fight, kick, hook, spin, do anything and everything to "put the rider in the dirt." Some do it better than others—many do it all too well, with a flank strap to urge them on. It is not uncommon for a bull to be bucked out for an entire rodeo season, maybe 50 times or more, and never have a qualified ride made on it.
Calf roping
Calf roping is a race against time so fantastically competitive that contestants speak in terms of a 10th of a second. The calf may outweigh them by 100 pounds, but top ropers, giving the calf a good head start, can complete the entire operation—catching the calf, roping it, dismounting, running to it, throwing it, stepping over it, catching and holding its legs and making the tie—in 9.5 seconds. They practice every phase of the operation endlessly, and the coordinated effort of man and horse is timed to perfection. A quick start, for which the quarter horses used are famous, is essential, but if the horse leaves the chute before the calf crosses the score line (left) a 10-second penalty results for "breaking the barrier." A good roping horse will "rate" the calf, maintaining an even distance behind it until the loop is thrown and then sliding to a stop instantly. As the roper dismounts, the horse must keep just the right tension on the rope, without dragging or choking the calf. If calf is jerked off its feet the roper must let it up and throw it by hand. Time is taken when tie is completed. The judge passes on the tie, but it must hold for five seconds after the roper remounts his horse and steps forward, loosening the neck rope. Average winning times: 12 to 14 seconds.
Steer wrestling, or bulldogging
Steer wrestling, also called bulldogging, is a timed event and under ideal conditions can be the fastest and most incredible of all the exploits in the rodeo area. Top riders can do it in less than three seconds if they are lucky and can get the steer down with one quick jerk of both hands on the right horn. The average winning time last year was 6.8 seconds, and any time under 10 seconds may place in the money. Vitally important is a fast, well-trained and mature horse. When the chute opens, the contestant, or "dogger," riding on the left, and the hazer, who rides on the right side of the steer to keep it running straight, burst into the arena seconds after the steer; there is a 10-second penalty if the dogger starts too soon. If the steer gets away from the dogger on the ground after he has made his jump, he is allowed to take only one step to catch it. If he is hopelessly outdistanced, the cowboy may remount, with the clock running, for a second jump. If the steer is knocked down during the jump, or is thrown by the contestant putting its horns into the ground, it must be let up on all four feet and rethrown. Rules require the contestant to bring the steer to a full stop before throwing it. For a legal fall, the steer must be twisted down until it is lying flat on its side, with all four feet pointed out straight.
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TWENTY SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS
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Critical moment for the rider is first jump into the arena. He must have both his spurs over the break of horse's shoulders (red line). If he does not, he "goose eggs"—receives no score at all.
Shown in slow motion, the second jump begins as the rider pulls his spurs back to the cantle of the saddle. The farther the sweep of his spurs back and forth during ride, the higher his score.
Now the horse is rising on its second jump and the rider starts to sweep forward with spurs, leaning back more in the saddle to get maximum pull from the rein to help hold himself on.
Straightening in the saddle as the horse nears the peak of its jump, the rider reaches for shoulders with his spurs. Throughout he tries to keep up rhythmic, rocking motion of spurs and body.
At the top of the jump spurs are well forward. The horse has dropped its head so the rider gives it extra rein to keep from being pulled off over head while holding free arm high for balance.
Set for impact, the rider pushes spurs far forward, leaning well back into the saddle, taking up slack rein with arm and shoulder movement. If he maintains this form he marks high (18 to 20).
In single jump bronc spins around in light circle. Spurring on outside, rider hangs on with his inside leg.
Here bronc "ducks," landing on one foot, dropping opposite shoulder, shifting its weight.
Landing hard on front feet, violently whipping hind feel, "high-kickin' horse" forces rider to hang on "tight-legged."
High-marked horse (80 to 85) lunges from the chute, jumps high, changes directions often. Watch its action in this ride.
Spurring action of the bareback rider is done high in the shoulder and neck area of horse, in a circular kicking motion (right). Rider pulls his feet up toward rigging, with toes turned out so spurs are in contact with bronc, then kicks them out and away from the horse, throwing his feet ahead and into the horse's neck. The wilder the spurring, the higher the score.
A horse that can kick this high is a real "good draw." Rider, too, is spurring well, bringing his legs far up above shoulder.
Coming out of the spin, the bronc again changes its tactics and rider starts spurring action to keep his own mark high.
This is wild spurring at its best, peak of contest between man and beast. A good bronc likes to buck and never quits.
It's top bucking mark if horse keeps this up, winning ride if cowboy does not "go to the belly" to hang on with spurs.
The bull must be ridden for eight seconds (below) with one hand and only a loose, braided rope, weighted with a heavy bell, not tied around the bull but held around it solely by the bull rider's grip. Because the rider is forced to use his spurs to hold on much of the time, there is less spurring than in other events (10 points is high), but total score is the same since the judges' higher bucking mark (often in the 80s) makes tip for the lower spurring mark.
Grip on bull rope, which may or may not have a handhold, is vital to contestant and varies with individual riders. Here is how Jim Shoulders holds his rope. He places hand through handhold (1), which is braided into the top of the rope, taking a wrap around his hand and pulling the loose end through the fist (2) to hold the loop tight around the bull. In the chute rosin is rubbed on both the riding glove and the rope. If the rider loses his grip the weight of the bell pulls the rope off the bull.
The "head-fighting bull" (above) fries to knock the contestant off by hooking him with its horns. If it is too dangerous, Rodeo Cowboys' Association rides require it to be dehorned. A "spinning bull" (right) is, in cowboy terms, "rank"—really hard to ride. It bucks in a fast tight circle, kicks high, violently whiplashing its feet behind it, often suddenly reversing its spin. The rider watches the bull's head to anticipate its moves. If his feet gel up behind him he is bound to be thrown, and he's in trouble if he starts to slip sideways in a spin, though top bull riders have completed many a ride actually hanging on upside down. A reride is granted if rider is knocked off in the chute, the bull falls, the flank strap comes off or the bull-rope breaks.
Vital role of the rodeo clown is to be the guardian angel of the bull rider. Amusing as he seems to be, he is there for one reason only—to distract the bull from the contestant. There is no such thing as a graceful exit from the back of a Brahma, even after a successful ride. It will attack the nearest object, and the clown makes it his business to be just that, often to the very point of slapping the bull.
At the barrier, if horse starts before calf crosses score line (1), a rope across the chute (2) in front of the horse will break loose, sending up a red flag to signal 10-second penalty. As calf crosses line, small string on its neck (3) pulls free, releasing the barrier. Time is then started. Set of the score line varies with arena, may range from eight to 30 feet ahead of the chute.
Throwing loop, rider races after calf. "Piggin' siring" to tie legs is held in teeth. If he misses he can try once more. Rope is tied to saddle horn, run through neck rope on horse.
Setting the loop, rider tightens his rope as the horse brakes to a sudden stop, then in one smooth, swift motion throws slack out of the way and dismounts. The next crucial moments belong to the horse, which must constantly watch calf as rider runs to it, backing to hold rope taut, taking care not to choke or drag it.
Throwing the calf, contestant has his choice of two methods. Legging (above) is most common. Roper lifts calf's right front leg, pushes and tips it over. A good horse takes one step back just as cowboy picks up leg, helping to throw calf off balance. Roper then steps over calf to tie it. Flanking (right) is quicker but risky. Roper goes to the left side of calf, reaches over calf's back, grabbing hold in the flank area and over the neck with left hand, then lifts and pulls calf toward him over on its side. Without further motion he is then in position to tie.
Making the tie, roper holds the calf's right front leg with left hand (1), "strings calf" by slipping loop over foot. He then pulls it tight (2). Then, in one motion, he scoops calf's hind legs up with his right arm and right leg, crosses calf's two hind feet over one front foot, takes two wraps around all three legs (3). On third wrap, he crosses string over his left hand (4), pulls string tight with left hand, making a half-hitch (5). Time: two seconds.
Riding at full speed, the dogger's timing and coordination must be perfect as he comes in contact with the steer. He will start out of the saddle as horse is even with steer's hips. He leans over, sliding out of the saddle, easing himself onto the steer. Still on the horse (1) he puts some weight on the steer's shoulders as he slides his right arm behind the horns. At this crucial instant he starts to transfer most of his weight to the steer's shoulders, grasping the steer's left horn with his left hand (2). He keeps one foot in the stirrup, allowing the horse to carry his legs ahead of the steer, sliding his body along steer's neck to its horns. Swinging his feet to the ground he now puts all his weight to bear against the steer, digging his boot heels into the dirt, pulling the steer around to a full stop (3). To wrestle the animal down he may use a front hold (most doggers try this first), stepping in front of the steer, jerking down and back with right hand on horn, pulling up and back with left hand on nose and falling back until steer is down. If this fails, he may try the nelson hold, getting more leverage by running his right arm over the horn and down behind the steer's neck. For still more leverage he may try the leg hold (4), throwing his left leg over the left horn to down the steer in a legal fall (5).