Tag Archives: 8 seconds

Leaps and Bounds – Bull Riding at Crow Fair 2018

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Bull riding is the crown jewel of rodeo. There are other more cultivated, genteel rodeo events where skill and practice determine the outcome, but for sure-fire knock your jeans in the dirt excitement it is bull riding. What you have is a 1800 to 2000 lb. animal with skin two sizes to big for the body it covers. If you were brave you could grab the skin on the back of the bulls hide and shove it 6-8″ in either direction, and a cowboy who is determined to ride him holding on to a single rope tied around the bulls body and hang on for eight seconds. He has to stay on while the bull uses every trick it knows to unseat him while not touching the animal with his free hand and not speaking harshly or using rodeo slurs of any kind to the bull during the ride.

It all starts behind this innocent looking chute. Behind the soothing lavender colored gate is a bull. It is not happy. On his back is a cowboy tying himself to that bull by wrapping a single rope that encircles the bulls body around his hand and willing his butt to stick to the bulls back like superglue. He has to stay on this whirling dervish for eight seconds to get paid. This seldom happens as the bull has other plans.

The chute is slammed open and the enraged bull emerges with the hopeful rider on its back.

In seconds, in this case maybe 2 to 3 of them, the rider is flung from its back.

The bull not content with unseating the rider wants his pound of flesh and attempts  to do great bodily harm to the rider. He prefers to pin the rider to the ground with his horns or perhaps jump all over him with his hooves neither of which is good news for the rider. Not only does the rider go home broke but maybe to the emergency room for a cast and some traction.

That’s where the angels of the arena, the rodeo clown, earns his money. His job is to distract the bull from its murderous intentions and save the cowboy from any more distress. Here he is giving the bull the well-known rodeo command to sit. This gives the cowboy time to scramble out-of-the-way and climb the fence to safety.

Another cowboy tries his luck. The bull tries his. This is known as air time where the bull levitates before returning to earth. The longer his air time the harder he lands. Almost always this results in the cowboy not finishing his eight seconds.

As you can see due to the abnormal amount of air time this bull managed to hold it resulted in the immediate dislodging of his rider. No pay for him today either.

If the ride was a very short one it will occasionally cause the bull to feel unsatisfied, as if it didn’t get its money’s worth. He will then not return to the holding pen until he runs around the arena for a while. That’s where the mounted cowboys working the arena come into play. Their job is to make sure the bulls return to the holding pen in a timely manner usually by roping it and encouraging it with gentle phrases of admiration to get out of the arena so the next bull and rider can have their eight seconds of glory.

This is called the “Shot from Guns” style of bucking. The bull run out for a few feet then points it horns at the sky and leaps, no, bounds into the sky.

While airborne it twists and turns its body in an amazing form of acrobatics while flinging its robust butt in the air.

This almost always results in the cowboy leaving the bulls back to keep his appointment with the ground. As this happens in less than eight seconds the cowboy does not get paid.

Knowing he’s going home broke causes the cowboy some unhappiness and he will often take a few moments to pray, sad at going home unpaid but thankful to be alive.

He only takes a very few moments though for his communing with his maker as he realizes the bull has not forgotten he is still in the arena and fair game.

The bull intent on retribution for any indignities it feels it has endured tries very hard to make some one pay.

Running around the arena after dislodging it rider the bull kicks up its heels in celebration. This triggers the arena men to go to work and roping soon ensues.

Many ropes in fact as it is not simple to rope a two thousand pound bull and just lead it off like a dog on a leash. More and more ropes are used until the sheer weight of them causes the bull to decide to return to the holding pen.

In some cases when the bull is particularly stubborn and unruly the cowboys will go into what is called the helicopter effect where they constantly whirl their ropes causing a helicopter sound which can freeze the bull into submission where it can be properly roped.

This whirling of ropes and unusual noises confuses the bull stunning it momentarily into immobility.

So it can be led away after being helicoptered. 

Having successfully removing the bull the arena man returns to his station for the next  event.

Sometimes the bull and rider will interact in unusual ways. Here having come to an understanding where neither of them was injured or humiliated they do a little disco dancing where each gets to show off their moves. The crowd of fence sitting observers likes this and gives both very high marks.

Look closely at this bulls eye. He knows that he has got this riders number.

Sure enough moments later the rider begins his short but soon to be painful departure from his back.

Unfortunately some bulls just get unruly and have to be manhandled. The rodeo clown is about to perform a dangerous but necessary maneuver where he will grab the bull by its horns and using a type of ancient bull jujitsu will flip this bull over on its back where the other cowboys will each grab a leg then push it out of the arena. This maneuver is not often seen but is known to be very effective if embarrassing for the bull.

These unsung heroes of the arena, the working cowboys, or peace keepers of the incredible spectacle known as bull riding, watch carefully for the next pair of competitors to enter the stage. This is bull riding in all its excitement, drama and adventure. See it when  you can.

Whoa! Legless Bronco Busting

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Legless Bronco Busting!!!

Hang on to your hats ladies and Gentlemen! Here’s the latest in Rodeo events, the newest, the wildest, the craziest yet, its LEGLESS BRONCO BUSTING!!! That’s right we said it, you heard it, Legless Bronco Busting. The new event that’s sweeping the rodeo circuits from Texas to Oklahoma, Wyoming to Oregon, Colorado to, well you get the picture. It’s everywhere. Are you bored with the same old wild mustang bucking horses that come out and jump around the arena for a while doing stupefying flying leaps and incredible horse-like acrobatics while trying to unseat its rider. The spectacular has become boring. You’ve seen it all before and you’re tired of it. So all that’s left is to head to the refreshment stand and drink some beer to break the boredom. Better to go hammer back a dozen longnecks then watch the same old Crow hop, sidestep, Sunfish, swap ends, flip over backward, bite you in the loading chutes, tired old antics of conventional buckers. If that’s where you’re at then this newest of the new events Legless Bronco Busting is right up your alley.

What’s wrong with the old stuff? Why do we need a new event? Well that’s easy. If you’ve been to a World Championship rodeo, say like the one in Vegas or Tucson with all that prize money and seen the same old dusty world champion cowboys riding the same old tired world-class bucking stock. Staying on for 8 seconds, throwing their hats in the air, wearing those big fancy belt buckles, lip packed full of Skoal, you know that deep down you’d like to see something fresh, something new, something that puts the shine back on your chaps. Well Legless Bronco Busting is just the ticket.

A little history about the event. Bronco busting has been around since way before Gene Autry or Roy Rodgers. It goes way back. Back even before Lash LaRue. Some say it was the first event ever held and prepared the world for what we now know as RODEO. Don’t know if I’d go that far, but it has been around for a long time. Way before TV anyway. But it’s gotten a little stale. The Boomer generation, which has practically ruled the world ever since they came into being, is getting a little long in the tooth. Aging, getting old. Some of them are way into their late 60’s 70’s and even their early 80’s and they still want to rodeo. They still want to ride the big rides. They still want to go the saloon for a shot and a beer and a fistfight. They want to chase, or at least shuffle, after those long-legged but buxom cowgirls that hang out in those smoky, whiskey infused places. They want to win those big belt buckles to complement their wide suspenders. They’re not done yet, not by any means. But what to do? They can’t even crawl up the sides of those loading chutes to board a bronc let alone stick on anything but a toilet seat for 8 seconds.

That’s where the genius of modern technology comes into play. Science in other words,  the same stuff that brought you global warming. You all heard of genetic modification, or the cloning of that sheep, Dolly. That’s all done with science. You put some DNA into the hopper, usually about 6 or 7 pounds depending on what you want to make, dial-up what new  animal you want, flip the 440 electrical switch and stand back as out pops a new sheep or goat or in this case a new kind of horse. That’s the secret right there to this newest of new rodeo events. A Legless horse. They made a legless horse! Cool beans, right? Well to be accurate the horse isn’t totally legless, that wouldn’t work, those suckers are heavy, no, it’s just a horse with radically shortened legs. Like only 6-8 in. long not counting the hooves. Using a mix of DNA from Lipizzaner stock out of Austria, known for it’s jumping ability, some Percheron stock out of France for its wide back, some Black Forest Horse, also called the Black Forest cold blood or Schwarzwälder Kaltblut, because it’s the rarest horse in the world and the guys doing this had a lot of money, and last but not least some DNA from a few broomtails out of the west Texas hill country because there was some left in the bottom of the bucket from another experiment.

What they got was the Legless horse, the meanest, orneriest, most unforgiving bucking stock on practically no legs. Now boomer cowboys can march up to the chutes, park their walker next to the gate, sort of lean over the back and fall on. It’s like getting on a Roomba that eats hay. The chute door opens and they hang on for dear life as the horse wallows and pitches and jumps dizzyingly into the air, leaps are often as high as 6-8 inches before slamming back down to earth in a bone-jarring crash, twirls slowly, rears back and does its damnest to throw that octogenarian rider into the next county. As you can see in the image above it’s a wild ride. Dust is flying, the horse is trying to rear up, it’s rolling and leaping, the ride is terrifying. So much so that you can see the rider clutching one of the stanchions of the chute gate thinking to save his life. Disqualifying for sure, but better than dying. No score for him today.

There it is folks, Legless Bronco Busting, the newest most electrifying rodeo event to come down the road since *Horse Spinning. Watch the PRCA circuit for its inclusion in its next major rodeo and don’t be surprised if it becomes a world-wide sensation. I know I will be.

*http://www.bigshotsnow.com/horse-spinning/

Voodoo Power

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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This is a professional rodeo bull that makes its living by bucking off cowboys whenever they have the temerity to climb upon his back. His name is Voodoo Power and he works primarily in rodeo settings but will cheerfully buck off any rider any where, any time. His job is allow a cowboy, who is optimistically called a bull rider, to climb on his back and try to stay there for 8 seconds. If he does the cowboy wins. If he doesn’t Voodoo Power does. There’s little gray area here. There’s a great big clock on the wall with bright red numbers that quickly as the bull sees it, and agonizing slowly, as the cowboy sees it, ticks off the seconds until it reads 8.0. If the rider is still there he wins, if a fraction of a second before 8:0 he falls off, he loses. No appeal, no do over, he just gets up and limps to the fence before Voodoo Power notices him again. The cowboy wants to be well up on that fence before he does.

This may seem like a simple task, to ride a bull for 8 seconds, look at your watch and count them off, it doesn’t take very long for those seconds to go by, but you should know that many of these bulls have not been ridden to a qualifying time more than once or twice in several years. That’s a lot of rodeos and a lot of chances for the cowboy to have a successful ride. It’s also a lot of times that Voodoo gets to teach them some humility. And he does, regularly.

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Here’s Voodoo Power at work. This cowboy was oh so close to the 8:0 second mark but Voodoo Power decided it just wasn’t this cowboy’s night to win. Moments later the cowboy was airborne and when he hit the ground Voodoo was there waiting for him to step on him a little and roll him around the arena floor with his head. This is just Voodoo’s way of saying “Good try” to the cowboy. Fortunately for the bull rider the rodeo clown, who puts himself in harm’s way every single night, was there to convince Voodoo not to mangle the cowboy any more than necessary. Voodoo relented, the cowboy lived, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

That’s how this bull riding thing works, you come down to the rodeo, and we encourage you to do so, find your seat, and hang on tight as the bull riding begins. That’s it. Simple. If you’re finding your life a little boring at the moment, you can get a Cowboy outfit, pay your entry fee and have a close encounter with Voodoo Power, the professional bucking bull. He’ll be glad to meet you. See you at the Greeley Stampede.

Note: The following is a press release from the Greeley Stampede provided for anyone interested in the Rodeo. If you’re in the area there are still a few days of rodeo left. Come on down and take one in.

NEWS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release

Andy Segal

Victoria’s Secret products, Billy Preston teaming up with the Zombies for Fidelity Investments, Led Zeppelin pitching Cadillacs, Aerosmith for Buick, the O’Jays for Coors Beer, Deep Purple promoting Dodge, the Who allowing their music to be used in Cisco commercials, the flower power group the Association pitching Allstate Insurance, why we even have Helen Reddy’s classic anthem hit song. Media and Communications Manager

Greeley Stampede

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DAY SEVEN OF THE GREELEY STAMPEDE AND ALL IS COOL 

July 1, 2015 (GREELEY, CO) The afternoon rain cooled off the evening making for an all-around great night at the Greeley Stampede.

On this beautiful evening, as part of Ag Day, members of both the 4-H and FFA had the opportunity to come out and enjoy the Stampede Rodeo for free if they wore their organizations apparel. Over 5,000 visitors were in attendance at the 4th performance of the Rodeo.

Earlier in the day, when the heat was just taking hold, the Miss Rodeo Colorado Pageant got underway with the Horsemanship event. On Thursday, July 2 the MRC Pageant Speech contest will begin at 10:30 am at the Island Grove 4-H Building. The final event is the Fashion Show and Coronation at Union Colony Civic Center on Friday, July 3 in Greeley. RSVP’s are required call 970-454-0191.

The 5th and last regular performance of the rodeo is July 2 at 7:00 pm.  For Military Appreciation Day our current and retired Military men and women will be honored. Just show a military ID, military dependent ID or come in uniform to receive FREE park admission and admission to north grandstands during the July 2 rodeo.  The US Army is the rodeo sponsor for the evening.

Looking ahead to Friday morning the Kids Rodeo, sponsored by John Elway Dodge Ram, kicks off at 9:00 am. Western Underground will headline the Free Stage and you can catch Joe Nichols and Sawyer Brown on the Stampede Arena stage. If you want to meet Joe Nichols up close you can find him signing autographs at 4:15 in the Island Grove Events Center.

Enjoy the weather whatever day you come out to the Stampede but be sure to take in the last regular rodeo performance on July 2 or the rodeo finals on July 4. You can also buy your concert or demo derby tickets or get your carnival passes by calling 970-356-7787, by visiting any Northern Colorado King Soopers location, going to Ticketswest.com, calling Ticketswest at 866-464-2626 or online at Greeleystampede.org.  The Stampede Ticket Office is open 9:00 am – 10:00 pm daily during the event.

The 2015 Greeley Stampede June 25th – July 5th!

So Much Havoc So Little Time

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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How many times have you heard someone say “Give me a second, willya.” A second more wouldn’t have helped this situation. What you see here is chaos, not organized chaos but the good old fashioned kind where nobody has a clue what’s going to happen.

This is a sport in the rodeo world called extreme bulls and the object is to get on the back of one of these behemoths and stay there for 8 seconds. It is a lot like regular bull riding you see in an average rodeo except the bulls are a lot meaner. Everything you see happening here, and there is a lot happening, all took place in under 2 seconds as you can see by the scoreboard clock in the background. This is like  watching a slow motion explosion.

The bull whose nickname is “Sweetness and Light” dislodged its rider who had the good grace to land in a more dignified position than most do, the rodeo clown who thought it might help to grab Sweetness’s horn and drag him away from the scene, the barrel guy who didn’t even have time to duck down in his barrel, and the steady concentration of everyone else wearing a hat shows that things happen quick when you decide to ride a bull.

This ended up a pretty good night, no serious injuries for either bull or man, everyone got their full share of exercise, and just like in the movies no one lost their hat. I’ll be shooting these events all week long and will try and keep you informed right up to the last minute. Stay tuned.