The Greats

Welcome back!

 

I appreciate you stopping by again! I talked to you about the timed events in rodeo in my last blog post. This week, I’m going to tell you a little bit about some of the most famous faces in the rodeo industry. I would need to write a book or two to include all of the wonderful people who have made an impact on the sport, so for time’s sake I’m only going to go into detail about a few. Some of the people who have made history include Billy Etbauer, Charmayne James, and Joe Beaver.
 

 

On the roughstock side of rodeo, Billy Etbauer is one of the greatest saddle bronc riders of all time. Known for his unending humility, Etbauer first qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in 1989 and went on to qualify for a consecutive 21 years (“Billy Etbauer,” Prorodeohalloffame.com). He was the first competitor to ever earn more than $3 million career earnings in a single event. Not only was he an extremely successful saddle bronc rider, he won his final World Championship just one month shy of 42 years old. Etbauer holds the record for the oldest roughstock champion and the National Finals Rodeo record of a 93 point ride in 2003 (“BillyEtbauer,” Prorodeohalloffame.com).

 

 

 

If you know anything about barrel racing, then you know the name Charmayne James. It’s the equivalent of saying names like “Michael Jordan” or “Babe Ruth.” Her professional barrel racing career began at the young age of 14 when she won her first World Championship in 1984 (“AboutCharmayne,” Charmaynejames.com). 9 consecutive World Championships followed this initial success along with her 11^th and final win in 2002. James’ Hall of Fame horse, Scamper, carried her for her first 10 wins. James herself was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1992. She was the first $1 million earner and she remains the sport’s all-time leading money earner (“About Charmayne,” Charmaynejames.com).

 

 

 

And lastly, tie-down roper Joe Beaver was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2000. Beaver’s love of roping started 30 years prior when he was merely 5 years old roping goats from the back of a Shetland pony. His talent and determination brought him to the top of the roping industry very quickly. In 1985, Beaver won his first World Champion title at 20 years old setting the record as the youngest tie-down roper to ever win. An injury halted his career in 1999, but not before he won 4 more World Championships and 3 all-around titles (“Joe Beaver,” Prorodeohalloffame.com). He continues to be a fixture in the rodeo world commentating at the National Finals Rodeo every year.

If you would like to know more about the people who have done amazing things in the sport of rodeo, you can visit the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame online.

See you next time!

 

Emily Engelhard

Timed Events

Hello!

I’m glad to see you are starting to become a regular visitor to this blog! Last week, I discussed the drama and controversy surrounding the potential relocation of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. This week, I’m going to pick up where I left off in explaining the different events in a typical rodeo. Now I am going to give you some brief descriptions of the timed events!

Although they may not be as dangerous as the scored events, they are definitely just as exciting! Once again, I have excluded events that would not take place at a professional rodeo.

 

Steer wrestling, also called bulldogging, is considered the “Big Man’s” sport and for good reason! Two cowboys, two horses, and one steer are involved in this event. Both cowboys back into the roping boxes and when the bulldogger is ready he nods his head to signal to the chute man to let the steer run. Then both horses run up on either side of the steer while the bulldogger slides off the side of his horse and wrestles the steer to the ground. The timer stops once all of the steer’s legs are straight out to the side and he has landed on the ground (“Steer Wrestling,” Prorodeo.com).

 

Team roping begins in the same way as steer wrestling, except the cowboys now have ropes and they stay on their horses. A header, on the left side, ropes the horns/neck of the steer, dallies onto his saddle horn, and pulls the steer so that the heeler can make his catch. The heeler then ropes the back two legs of the steer and dallies onto his own saddle horn. The timer stops when both cowboys’ horses are facing each other and the ropes are pulled tight. Ropers get a five second penalty if they only catch one of the back legs (“Team Roping,”Prorodeo.com).

 

Unlike the previous two, tie-down roping, also called calf roping, only has one cowboy and a calf instead of a steer. The calf comes out of the chute and the cowboy runs out of the roping box just like the other events. The rope the calf roper uses is fixed to his saddle horn unlike team roping. Once he ropes the calf, he steps off his horse, runs down the rope, flanks the calf, and then ties three of his legs with a piggin’ string. The timer stops when the cowboy throws his hands in the air, signaling the end of his tie. He then gets back on his horse and loosens the rope around the calf. If the calf stays tied for 6 seconds, the cowboy receives a time (“Tie-Down Roping,” Prorodeo.com).

 

Barrel racing, the only women’s event, is just a girl, her horse, and the timer. The team runs a cloverleaf pattern around 3 barrels either going to the right or the left barrel first. The run starts and stops when the horse crosses the timer at the end of the arena. Each knocked over barrel is a 5 second penalty which usually buts the barrel racer out of the money considering this event comes down to hundredths of a second (“Barrel Racing,” Industryhillsprorodeo.com). Barrel racing may seem simplistic, but it takes perfect timing and grace.

See you next week!

Emily Engelhard