Leaps and Bounds – Bull Riding at Crow Fair 2018

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Dwight Lutsey

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.

Hang Time

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Dwight Lutsey

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!

2016-03-20HangTime6544

Rodeo Facts

“Hang Time” or “When Bulls Fly” is a term used to describe that moment when the bull leaves the earth and ‘hangs’ or ‘flies’ in the air. All four of his hooves must be off the ground with the lowest hoof no closer than 12″ from the arena floor to qualify. This maneuver is usually done after the bull dislodges his rider, but not always, and is generally celebratory in nature. This movement or procedure is almost always reserved for the actual event of bull riding but there have been reported sightings of bulls performing this activity in the privacy of their own pastures.

It is also a tactic used to confuse and disorient his rider who expects at least one of the bulls feet to be attached to the ground at all times. When the bull fully detaches himself from the earth it causes momentary spatial confusion much like the weightlessness that astronauts experience, except while on the back of a two thousand pound bull, and leads to the rider getting all over wonky of a moment and falling off. This is what the bulls wants, as it gives the bull the opportunity to step all over him and maybe even poke him some with its horns. Plus it apparently just feels good to the bull to be free of his usually earthly constraints.

It is also a maneuver that the bull can be judged on thereby earning points for himself. Points are good as the more points the bull accumulates, the more ring time it gets, and the more prestige and financial gain it acquires. The length of the hang time is the largest single factor in the scoring although height and distance play a part also. The longest hang time ever recorded was on a bull named Little Chicken and was 8.37 seconds in duration. That’s right, as unbelievable as it sounds the bull hung up there about 3½ feet off the arena floor for the entire time of the ride which you know is 8 seconds. His rider, an Italian cowboy named Pauli “Little Patty” Concertina, from Newark N.J., was so confused and disoriented that he thought he heard his bell being rung around the 6 second mark and simply jumped off thinking he had made a perfect ride. Well he didn’t of course, he totally screwed up which was the bulls plan all along, and left the arena and the rodeo grounds to the jeers from the ‘regular’ cowboys, feeling like a total Easterner. The fans still laugh about it while he still thinks to this day that he made a perfect ride and was robbed of his score.

Aside from the tactics and the scoring and the general chaos that surrounds the bull riding event there is something spellbinding about seeing a 2000 lb. bull floating effortlessly in the air. It is a symphony of motion and drama that is amazing to watch. You are mesmerized by the slow motion aspect of the suspended bull and then suddenly it returns to earth with incredible force, smashing back onto the arena floor with a sound like a freight train crashing. Dust flies, riders fly, rodeo clowns yell, spectators suddenly scream in appreciation and then it is over. Until next time. If you need some excitement in your life come to the rodeo and watch when the “Bulls Fly”. You’ll never forget it.

Notice! Important Rodeo News Announcement

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Dwight Lutsey

For Immediate Release:

No NDA; Full Dispersement All TV, Radio and Print

New Breed of Rodeo Bull available immediately

The Institute announced today the release of a new breed of bull to be used in all general rodeos both public and private. A member of the Sanga species of cattle, the Ankole-Watusi or Ankole Longhorn is a 1200-1600 lb. animal with rather remarkable horns that grow to 8′ in width and have been measured at 12′ across from tip to tip in the truly larger specimens.

We see them as particularly interesting in events such as Steer roping, Steer Wrestling, Bull riding, kiddie rodeos etc. We do not recommend them for petting zoos, carnivals or arcades that feature cows doing tricks, or as a replacement for oxen, carabao, or other domesticated breeds of working cattle. Due to their unpredictable tendencies towards mayhem and property damage we do not sell, rent or lend them to private citizens or countries hostile to the interests of the U.S.

They are trail-able in open top trailers with four or more axles. They do not respond well to cattle prods but can be managed with portable Arc welders set on high. Tig welders work best rather than the spool fed Mig welder as you can more easily drop the Tig welder assembly and run away when necessary, where as many Cowhands have become tangled in the wire feeder spool of the Tig welder and been tripped up letting the irritated bull “Catch” them and stomp off their legs.

Imagine the excitement of watching the “Big Loop” ropers as they spin the big hoop to catch one of these fast-moving bullet train bulls. Or the size of the biceps, not to mention the Juevos, on those heavy duty Steer wrestlers as they try to bring down one of these bad boys. Bull riders will be “backing up” when they draw one of these huge fellows. Think Mike Tyson when they draw one of these guys and hopefully getting an ear bit off will be the least of their problems. They’ll probably need an ear bit off just to get on one of these. These are not just your typical African cows. As you may have already imagined, being a product of The Institute, we have genetically modified these bulls to behave just a little more aggressively and be a tad more murderous and quicker to become miffed at any one who tries to ride them.

These new “Rodeo Ready™ bulls are only available from The Institute and can be rented by the hour, day or season (with acceptable credit) from our Rodeo-Ready™ Supply store here at The Institute’s Rodeo Training™ and Physical Therapy department. Note: Due to liability issues we can not rent out more that 150 bulls to any one customer. Please contact Clarence “one Eye” McThompson in our prosthetics and Ass-Sling department for more details.

End of Press Release. All news outlets run as many times as possible. See below for further information on these great new Rodeo Bulls.

These animals were usually owned by African Royalty and were called the “Cattle of Kings” and the Inyambo, “the cows with long, long horns.” As this breed is also known for its ferocious, aggressive tendencies and a unabiding hatred of humans, and a desire and an ability to mash much of the royalty that owned them to a thin paste under their hooves, plus their inability to get along generally, they are considered extinct in many parts of Africa today. This bull is an adaptation of a much older African species of bovine mutilators used by many tribes to decimate, or at least wipe out, their enemies by sending elven or twelve of them into their neighbors Enkang (village) to wreak havoc on their Bombas (homes) by first leveling the village then eating the materials used to build their huts. Thereby leaving their enemies homeless, penniless and dung ridden and easy to subdue.

This close up of bull no. 8811 or “Little Bill” as he’s known around the bull pen, shows one of the new characteristics of our genetic meddling with their DNA. Look closely at the rings circling their horns and you will see that there are darker and lighter rings circling them. Each of those rings are a permanent encoded marker, or record, of their victories in the arena. The darker rings signify the number of cowboys or anyone else goofy enough to get too close to them that indicates the contest resulted in a successful fatality. The lighter rings show that a permanent maiming took place rather than a fatality. This is a handy way to easily see the bulls level of meanness which is helpful if you want to bail when you’ve seen you’ve drawn one of these to ride. Given the patented lighter/darker formula of indicating the outcome of individual contests the completely dark areas at the ends of Little Bills horns show that he was one of the original dozen bulls sent into a village and the fatalities were too high to count. This resulted in the blackout at the end of his horns. Don’t mess with Little Bill if you don’t have to.

Let us know if we can help you with your stock needs at any of your official, private, or backyard rodeos and we’ll be happy to send you one sample bull to try out. If you think he meets your needs we’ll be glad to work out a rental program to suit your requirements. Rodeo season is just around the corner and as the fatality record goes up these bulls will be hard to find. Reserve your stock now while we’re making deals. Otherwise expect to pay top dollar when all your regular bulls wimp out during the height of the season. Please direct all correspondence to The Director at the Institute.

Horse Spinning

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Dwight Lutsey

We don’t normally repost images here on BigShotsNow but some information that has surfaced and been made public require our clarifying facts regarding this picture. This shot was originally posted on 2015-09-02 and referred to events taking place at the Crow Fair rodeo. http://www.bigshotsnow.com/crow-fair-2015-rodeo/

Originally there was a comment attached to this photo referring to an unusual way to dismount a bucking horse when one tired of riding it. We have to tender an apology as we were mistaken in providing that information. This is not what is happening at all.

What is happening in the image is not a regular or common shot of a cowboy falling off his horse, but is in fact a horse and rider participating in one of the newest and most spectacular events on the rodeo circuit. That event is Horse Spinning. Many of you who attend rodeo events regularly, have known about this event for sometime but have been remiss in sharing this information, (I’m looking at you, Eddie) so we misreported a very important event when it should have received worldwide attention due to its uniqueness.

It is a simple appearing event but that is totally misleading as this event brings into play every skill that the horse and rider possesses. What you see in the image above is the rider entering into position so the horse, who is just stepping into the first part of the circle, can complete a rotation. The horse has to have complete control of its bucking ability as it needs to know exactly how and when to ‘Unload” the cowboy while maintaining enough speed to keep its revolutions up, and the cowboy has to have dexterity and strength and an ability to overcome dizziness similar to what astronauts are tested for, to keep the horse totally focused on “getting his rev’s in”. Where the cowboy places his foot on the side of the horses body allows him to be the pivot man and determines how much strength he needs to have, to pull the horse around him in a 360° circle. The amount of bucking the horse does in his circuitous route around the cowboy and the cowboys ability to remain properly suspended in the proper position while spinning around with his horse, will give him a point rating for the event.

One to three rotations of the pair will give the team a score of two to four depending on how stable the cowboy looked while competing and how the judges viewed their performance. Turning in a performance of eleven rotations or more within the eight seconds allowed for the event will send the team to the National hands down. This team was only able to get one and a half revolutions in the eight seconds and were ultimately disqualified due to the cowboy letting his left foot leave the horse’s side. His foot must be firmly stuck to the horse’s side throughout the event. One of the rules applied to this competition event is that once airborne, the cowboy’s foot can not leave the horse’s side or use his foot to hook into the stirrup or the team will be disqualified and given no score. That’s what happened here. Tough luck for this team.

It was a bitter disappointment for the team as they were thought to be one of the frontrunners in this event and destined to bring this event to a much broader audience by attending the Nationals. But this is rodeo. One day you win, another you don’t. There’s always the next time when fortunes can change in a heartbeat, or a rotation in this case. Be sure to watch for this event in upcoming rodeos. This will be a showstopper right up there with bull riding. For more information on this event and how to enter contact The Director at The Institute and we’ll send you to the proper people to talk to.

Blackfeet North American Indian Days – Rodeo

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Dwight Lutsey

The North American Indian Days is an annual event held on the Blackfeet Indian reservation usually in July and is billed as one of the biggest tribal get-togethers in North America. They say North American instead of the Unites States because some of the participants are from tribes that live in Canada. It lasts for about a week, four days according to the advertisements, but everybody’s there early and leaves late so plan on at least five or six days if you want the full experience.

Rodeo plays a huge part in the festivities at the North American Indian Days. There are events for everyone and they provide a chance for the contestants to show off their skills in front of an audience of their peers. Winning a pot full of money for being the best in their event doesn’t hurt either. There are numerous events and many contestants in each one so we’re going to present an overview of the rodeo. Some of the highlights of each event and some of the atmosphere that makes going to the Rodeo such an exciting experience. In the shot above you see that everyone doesn’t walk away a winner. At least not this time. But there’s always the next event and the outcome can be completely different. This is a longer post than usual because there is so much to take in. Read it at your leisure or just look at the pictures. Both work. As always click on an image to see a larger version.

As in all events the rodeo is opened with presenting the flag and paying tribute to our great country. Because there were such a large number of Indian participants and visitors present from Canada they proudly displayed their flag with ours.

The first event was Barrel riding where the rider enters the ring and rides a pattern around three barrels. The horse and rider have to act as one and you can see the effort and concentration by both in this shot.

Rodeo is a family sport. Each member has an event they participate in. Here a dad is showing his son how to do it. The youngster is only three years old. Rodeo starts early.

Whenever you deal with steers or bulls you are tempting the fates. The rodeo actually started in the chute before the door got opened and consequently the participants both human and animal, tumbled out into the arena. This is not an opportune way to begin your ride.

Here the bull had divested itself of its rider and was celebrating. In speaking with the rodeo clown later he was asked what his plan was in running in under the bull like that. His reply was that he thought he could catch the bulls hind legs while they were in the air and hold him up while he wheelbarrowed him over to the catch pen. Unfortunately that did not work out. The clown is still alive though and already working up new ideas for the next event.

In the team roping event the plan is for one roper called a header to get a rope around the calf’s head and the other roper called a heeler to get one around the calves back legs thereby immobilizing the calf so it could be branded. This time the heeler or back leg catcher got his rope around only one leg instead of both. Still counts but with a ten second penalty added to their score.

This event is called the Tie down or break away event. The end of the rope used to catch the calf is tied to the saddle horn with a piece of string and the rider ropes the calf. The horse immediately stops and when the calf runs out far enough it breaks the string and time is called. Fast, fun event.

Here we see “How to Catch a Cowboy”. The trick is to convince the cowboy to hop like a rabbit, while the cowgirl acts as a heeler and ropes his feet while he’s in the air. When she catches him, he’s quickly hog-tied and, well, caught. What happens from that point on was not displayed. This was not an official sanctioned event, but we were told it goes on all the time.

Bareback bronc riding is the event that started rodeo. Everything else evolved from this event. It’s pretty simple, you climb on the horses back and ride. He tries to throw you off. Eight seconds pass and if you’re still on the horses back you wins. If not, there’s always next time.

The horse will attempt all manner of things to dislodge the rider. He’s a coiled spring ready to explode.

Steer wrestling is when a big cowboy deliberately jumps off his horse to catch a steer and wrestle it to the ground. This event always looks like a mistake that grew into a huge exciting event. It’s serious though and one of the more dangerous interpersonal contact sports there is in rodeo.

However when it goes wrong, like here when the calf went another way just as the cowboy leapt from his speeding horse to bulldog it, you see that it terribly unforgiving of any error.

Besides losing your horse, the face plant in the dirt and the resulting mouthful of arena soil just adds insult to injury.

The amazing thing and the proof that you are watching truly exceptional cowboys is he never lost his hat.

The storyteller. All around the arena you will find spectators sitting on the fence watching the action and talking. And as it has always been there is one that can mesmerize his fellows with stories of amazing adventure and incredible action. HIs rapt audience hangs on every word. This is one of those storytellers.

Saddle bronc riding is just like bareback riding except you use a saddle. Still just as exciting.

These are the pickup men. They’re out in the arena to catch the cowboy off the back of bucking horses after the ride is over, catch and return the riderless horses to the catch pen, and generally do the work that needs to be done to keep the events moving steadily through the rodeo. It’s not a simple task and there is often a lot of action right up against the fence as things unfold. Besides the rodeo clowns these men are the unsung heroes of the rodeo.

They are also the ones that handle the unruly bulls and other bucking stock. They need to be experienced, unflappable men and they are.

Here’s another event straight out of the history books of ranch work. The calf roping. A calf is released, the cowboys chases it down, ropes it and he gets off his horse while it backs up holding the calf steady.

He quickly reaches the calf, ties all four feet together immobilizing it so it can be branded.

As soon as he’s finished you see his arms come up and time is called. The cowboy and horse work as a team and the better the teamwork the shorter the time.

Normally the last event on the schedule is bull riding. It’s last because it is the most exciting and the one everyone wants to see. This is the event that puts the show business in rodeo. There is very little need for a bull to be ridden in normal ranch work. You’re not going to break them to ride, or to pull a buggy to town. When a cowboy crawls on the back of a bull it for one reason and one reason only. To see if he can do it, can he ride this monster beast for eight seconds without getting killed or maimed. It is a test of courage. And people love to see it.

Many times the whole event is over before the bull clears the chute. But even if the event lasts for only a second or two it is packed to the brim with unbridled excitement. Enough so that entire events are held showcasing bull riding only. Lots of Ace bandages and liniment are sold at these events.

The rodeo is held several nights during the North American Indian days and it’s a new show every night. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

Voodoo Power

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Dwight Lutsey

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.

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

970-356-7787

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 4^th 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 5^th 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 25^th – July 5^th!

Cowboys At Work Team Roping

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Dwight Lutsey

click to enlarge

Team Roping, this is a rodeo event based on real life cowboy work, as are all the events in the rodeo except maybe bull riding. That event is just something cowboys thought up for fun, something to do on a Friday night instead of going to the Punch Up, a shot and a beer and a fist fight establishment out on the county line.

Team roping was particularly important as it was the way cowboys completed the arduous task of handling calves during spring round-up so they could be collected, branded and other necessary activities performed on them. Calves being calves they had some idea of what that all entailed so they would do their best to avoid participating and run away. Especially the little bull calves. Cowboys having to get all this work accomplished had to come up with a way to capture the calf so it could be processed. That’s where team roping came in.

Cowboys on their horses would be hanging around the outside of the herd as it milled around inside the corral and when they saw a calf making a break for it, ride after it to catch it. Two cowboys usually worked together to do this. One cowboy, called a header, would rope the runaway calf or young steer around his horns, and the other cowboy called a heeler, would rope the calves hind feet. The calf unable to run would be secured by the two horses carefully backing up, until the calf was in the position it needed to be for the branding team to run up and tip the calf on its side, so the branding could take place. This was also the time that other necessary things would happen, inoculations, horn trimming if necessary, a short brief instruction session on how to be a proper productive member of the herd, normally delivered by one of the older cowboys, and the calf would be released back to the care of its mother or other proper guardian.

Today things are stilled handled pretty much the way they were 100 years ago. The cows and calves are rounded up, herded into a corral where the cowboys have built a small fire to heat up the branding irons and they go to work. It worked good back then and it still works good today. But we’ve heard that changes may be on the way.

It’s the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century and some things have changed from the 1800’s. We have iPads now, and cell phones, freeze-dried potatoes that you can just mix with hot water and have for lunch right there at the corral, and that and other digital stuff, changed everything. The word on the range is that soon drones will be flying in with their calf-seeking radar, picking up these calves, hauling them to an area where they are marked with organic recycled ink in place of the old style brand, be subcutaneously inoculated with growth hormones that will double the calves weight every 96 hours, make them mellow and not mean, and lastly, be injected with a personalized “chip” that will give its location, weight gain over the past 96 hours, its current mood and disposition, whether it is currently being rustled, and provide it with all the necessary information it needs to be a calf in the 21st century.

Now we don’t know if any of that is true or not, it’s just some of the stuff cowboys talk about around the campfire at supper. It makes the time go by and the beans taste better. We do know that the Amalgamated Brotherhood of International Cowboys, (ABIC) the union most cowboys belong to, are definitely against it. We’ll just have to wait and see how all this plays out. For now though it’s business as usual out on the range and the team ropers have their work cut out for them and they’re hard at it.

If you want to see how real cowboys do their work then come down to the rodeo, and the Greeley Stampede is a good one to come to, and watch Team Roping. It’s very cool.

BigShots Now

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Tag Archives: Bull Riding