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Rodeo, sport involving a series of riding and roping contests derived from the working skills of the American cowboy as developed during the second half of the 19th century to support the open-range cattle industry in North America. Although its development as a sport occurred mainly in northern Mexico, the United States, and western Canada, rodeo’s popularity is global. In particular, many similar events and competitions can be found in South America, including the coleo of Venezuela and Colombia. The charreada of Mexico is a similar competition that evolved from the haciendas of colonial Mexico; its rodeo-like events are typically not timed but judged in terms of artistic merit.

    Eric Jamison/AP

Origins and history

Rodeos (from the Spanish rodear, “to encircle”) grew out of the work and play of 19th-century American cowboys and their Spanish-Mexican antecedents. They evolved from a time when cowboys would gather together during seasonal roundups or in the “cow towns” at the end of cattle-driving trails and vie for the unofficial title of best bucking-horse rider, roper, and so on. As the cowboys’ occupation was curtailed in scope by the railroads and by the fences that marked the end of the Open Range era, the contests became regular formal programs of entertainment. Many locales claim the distinction of being the first place to hold a rodeo in the United States—among them Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1872 and Winfield, Kansas, in 1882—but such early contests were merely exhibitions of riding and roping skills and not the highly organized shows that modern rodeo became.

Starting in the 1880s, various Wild West shows presented “cowboy tournaments” around the United States, associating the demonstration of western open-range practices with sporting performance. Prescott, Arizona Territory, held the first annual rodeo on July 4, 1888. Organized by a town committee, it included public advertising, admission charges, and championship prizes, establishing the venue as a true competitive spectator sport. Prescott was followed by major annual rodeo venues such as Cheyenne Frontier Days (1897), the Pendleton (Oregon) Round-Up (1910), and the Calgary Stampede (1912).

  • Rodeo featuring 1950s film “personality” Francis the Talking Mule.
    Stock footage courtesy The WPA Film Library

Under the management of promoters, contractors, and civic-minded local committees, rodeo emerged as a legitimate independent sport by 1910. It was among the most egalitarian of American sports in the early 20th century, often including Hispanic, African American, Native American, and female contestants in an era when race and gender discrimination were commonplace. For example, Mexican trick- and fancy-roper Vicente Oropeza and famed black bronc-rider and steer-wrestler Bill Pickett won acclaim in the arena, as did Native American bronc-riders Tom Three Persons and Jackson Sundown. A number of female competitors, such as Lucille Mulhall and Bertha Blancett, also won acclaim in the early days of rodeo, sometimes competing directly with men.

  • Bill Pickett pictured on a movie poster for The Bull-Dogger (1921).
    Norman Film Mfg. Co./Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsc-03708)

In 1929 the Rodeo Association of America, an organization of rodeo managers and producers, was formed to regulate the sport. The contestants themselves took a hand in 1936 after a strike in Boston Garden and organized the Cowboy Turtles Association—“turtles” because they had been slow to act. That group was renamed the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) in 1945 and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 1975, and its rules became accepted by most rodeos.

After World War II, rodeo experienced an explosion in venues, monetary rewards, spectator attendance, and national publicity. The sport’s competitor ranks grew through participation of athletes from the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), founded in 1948, and as a result of the annual National Finals Rodeo (NFR), which was established in 1959 and became the richest and most prestigious rodeo in the world. At the turn of the 21st century, some 600 PRCA-sanctioned rodeos were held annually in some 40 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. The sport’s top-ranking, highly paid contenders compete to qualify for the National Finals and to win the title of world all-around champion cowboy, given to the PRCA participant earning the most prize money in a year.

  • Trevor Brazile acknowledging the crowd at the National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas, 2010.
    Mark Damon/AP

Rodeo structure

Contemporary rodeos typically present five main events. Two of these—saddle-bronc riding and calf roping—represent the practical range work of the 19th-century cowboy. Three other primary contests—bareback-bronc riding, steer wrestling, and bull riding—appeared as feats of cowboy daring during the first decades of the 20th century. Most prominent rodeos also include women’s barrel racing and team steer roping as regular program events. Steer roping, a traditional cowboy practice and a familiar rodeo event for several decades in the early 1900s, is today an infrequent competition because of considerations of animal welfare.

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The competitions typically are defined as “judged,” or “rough-stock,” events (saddle-bronc riding, bareback-bronc riding, and bull riding) and “timed” events (steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping, barrel racing, and steer roping). In the former events, judges score the performance of contestants and animals alike for a potential total tally of 100 points per ride. In the latter events, competitors race against the clock through a series of go-rounds for the fastest (lowest) cumulative time. Most PRCA-sanctioned rodeos present in a specific order: bareback riding leads off, followed by calf roping, saddle-bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing, and, as the grand finale, bull riding.

Rodeos for many years featured competitive events that are no longer a regular part of venue programming. Most prominent among those were trick and fancy roping and trick riding. Based on Wild West show antecedents, trick ropers and riders thrilled crowds at major rodeos for years, but they then dwindled from prominence as their skills were relegated to the status of contract performances in the early 1930s. Some rodeos still present those skills but as contract rather than as competitive events.

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Although women competed in many rough-stock events at mixed-gender rodeos well into the 1930s, today they pursue those contests in rodeos organized by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), founded in 1948. Barrel racing is the sole women’s event regularly practiced at most PRCA-sanctioned rodeos.

Bareback-bronc riding

Bareback-bronc riding developed as an arena contest in the 1910s. (A bronc [bronco, broncho, or bucking bronco] is an unbroken range horse picked for its resistance to training and its tendency to buck, or throw, its rider.) This event gained favour as rodeo venues installed side-opening arena chutes and as cowboys adopted the standard Bascom rigging—a surcingle (strap) with a single riveted handhold, or “suitcase handle.” Bareback riding became a standard event at the majority of sanctioned rodeos in the 1950s. The contestant must spur the animal over the shoulders as it leaves the chute (“marking out”), and the contestant’s free hand must not touch the animal, the rigging, or the contestant’s own body. Qualifying rides last eight seconds, and scoring is based on a cumulative total of up to 50 points each for the performance of the bronc and the rider. Competitive scores usually exceed 80 points.

  • Kelly Timberman competing in a bareback-bronc competition at Cheyenne Frontier Days, 2005.
    © Lincoln Rogers/Shutterstock.com

Calf roping

Calf roping, today usually referred to as tie-down roping, evolved directly from the traditional tasks of the roundup, when calves were roped and subdued for branding and doctoring. A timed event, it pits the contestant and his or her well-trained horse against the clock and a 250- to 350-pound (about 110- to 160-kg) calf. With a designated head start, the calf bursts from the chute and trips a barrier that signals pursuit by the roper. As the horse overtakes the calf, the contestant must rope it around the neck and simultaneously bring the horse to an abrupt stop, halting the calf’s flight while dismounting. The horse keeps a taut rope while the contestant runs to the calf, throws it on its side, and ties three legs securely with a “piggin’ string.” Time is declared when the roper throws up his or her hands after the tie-down. For a qualified time, the calf must stay tied for six seconds after the contestant has remounted and slackened the catch rope. If the contestant breaks the start barrier, a 10-second penalty is added.

Saddle-bronc riding

Saddle-bronc riding is the classic rough-stock competition of rodeos past and present, having evolved from the traditional horse-breaking tasks of the 19th-century cowboy. A judged event, saddle-bronc riding requires strength and balance on the part of the contestant, who has to stay atop a 1,200-pound (545-kg) bucking horse for the eight-second qualifying time. The standard riding equipment consists of a hornless saddle and a plain halter with a 6-foot (1.8-metre) braided rein. To make a qualifying score, the contestant must leave the chute with his or her spurs over the shoulders of the horse; the contestant’s feet must remain in the stirrups, and the contestant’s free hand cannot touch the horse, the saddle, or the contestant’s body. Event scoring combines a total of up to 50 points apiece for horse and rider; winning scores typically exceed 80 combined points, while 85 or above represents a superior ride.

  • A bronco rider at Nebraska’s Big Rodeo in Burwell, Nebraska.
    John Holm/Nebraska Department of Economic Development

Steer wrestling

Steer wrestling, also called bulldogging, is strictly a rodeo contest; real working cowboys never practiced it on the range. American cowboy Bill Pickett first performed the feat in the early 1900s, biting the animal’s nose to gain control before pulling it to the ground. The modern contestant omits the biting technique in favour of momentum, leverage, and strength. A timed event, steer wrestling combines good horsemanship, expert timing, and muscle to bring down a 550- to 650-pound (250- to 295-kg) steer from a running steed. As with roping events, the steer is released with a designated head start, tripping a barrier that allows the steer wrestler and a partner, the “hazer,” to pursue at the gallop. The hazer keeps the steer on a straight run while the contestant jumps onto the steer’s head and neck, grasps its horns, and then goes to the ground, planting his heels to brake the run. Once the steer slows, the bulldogger wrestles it to the ground with a twisting and falling motion. Time is declared when the steer lands on its side with all four legs extended in the same direction. A 10-second penalty is added for breaking the start barrier.

Team roping

Team roping first appeared among the cowboys of Arizona and California, becoming a regular rodeo competition at the Prescott Frontier Days in 1919. It came into wider vogue in the 1950s, and by the early 21st century it was contested as a standard event at PRCA-sanctioned rodeos. Like the other roping events, the steer is given a predetermined head start, after which the two contestants pursue. The leading roper, or “header,” must catch the steer about the horns, dally his or her rope (i.e., wrap it around the saddle horn one or more times), and change the direction of the steer’s run to benefit the throw of the other roper. This roper, the “heeler,” then ropes the steer’s back feet, dallies his or her rope, and stops the horse. Time is marked as the steer is immobilized between the two horses, both facing the steer in a straight line. Penalties of 10 and 5 seconds, respectively, are added for breaking the start barrier and for catching only one hind foot.

    © Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau

Barrel racing

Barrel racing is the only women’s event regularly featured at contemporary PRCA-sanctioned rodeos. The contest came to prominence in the early 1950s through the Girls Rodeo Association (later renamed the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association). Often ranked second only to bull riding in popularity, this timed event combines superb horsemanship with breakneck speed. Contestants have a running start, entering the arena and tripping the clock at the gallop. They must negotiate a cloverleaf pattern of three barrels and then ride all-out to exit and stop the clock. Riders may use spurs and crop to urge the horse to greater speed, but finesse in turning the barrels is equally important. Tipping a barrel adds a five-second penalty to the time, while running an incorrect pattern disqualifies the rider.

Bull riding

Bull riding began in the 1910s as open-arena steer riding. Not until the early 1930s, when arena chutes came into wide use, did the larger Brahman and crossbred bulls make an appearance. This event pits the competitor against a bull of 1,700–2,000 pounds (770–910 kg). To stay on the animal, the rider utilizes only a flat-plaited rope with a handhold and an attached bell; one hand remains free. Most contemporary bull riders wear Kevlar vests for protection, and some also don helmets. For a qualified ride, contestants must stay aboard the animal for eight seconds out of the chute and cannot touch the bull or themselves with their free hand. As in other judged events, the score is a combined tally of up to 50 points each for rider and bull. Competitive scores range above 80 combined points, with 90 or better representing an exceptional ride.

Steer roping

Steer roping, though a rather limited event today, was a time-honoured practice among old-time cowboys. Working the range alone, a hand often had to catch and immobilize an animal weighing 400 to 600 pounds (about 180 to 270 kg) by himself. Referred to at early rodeos as “jerk down” roping, or “fairgrounding,” steer roping is a timed event that resembles calf roping—except that the animal is considerably larger and heavier and, after the catch, is thrown in a tripping maneuver. Once the steer frees the start barrier, the contestant must pursue, rope, trip, and tie down the animal against the clock. Time is called when the contestant throws his or her hands in the air, but the steer must remain tied for six seconds after the contestant remounts and slackens the catch rope. As in other timed events, a 10-second penalty is added if the contestant breaks the start barrier. Because of the violent tripping motion of this event, steers are sometimes killed or injured in the arena. Owing to public complaints and the influence of animal rights organizations, steer roping has been outlawed in most states in the western U.S. Today the contest is sharply curtailed, typically being conducted as a singular event or as a match roping between only two contestants.

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