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Clowns
and Bullfighters
The clowns fans see in the rodeo arena during the most dangerous and most popular event -- bull riding -- are there for more than amusing those in the stands. They are often the difference between life threatening trauma and the safety of the sidelines for the contestants. The faint of heart should not apply for a position in the arena when rampaging bulls are on the loose.
At every Longhorn World Championship Rodeo performance, fans see three men in costume with painted faces. Two concentrate on the area around the chutes where the bulls explode from the gates. The third is positioned near the center of the arena with a specially designed barrel. For the clowns, the work begins even before the buzzer sounds ending a cowboy's ride or when the cowboy is dumped to the arena's dirt floor.
Over time, every bull develops a different pattern or style of bucking. The problem is that they aren't absolutely consistent. A bull that normally bucks three times coming out of the chute then spins to the right, could, on any given day, come out spinning to the left.
Bullfighting clowns study the patterns and styles of the animals they face much as a pitcher studies batters in baseball. They position themselves in the arena to be able to render rapid assistance should a cowboy need it. But, as the saying goes, "The best laid plans...."
"It's a bit like trying to choreograph a hurricane," one clown remarked while trying to describe his approach to dealing with the bulls on any given night. All that planning and study goes out the window when the rider's hand becomes entangled in the rigging he uses to try to stay on the bull. With the stricken cowboy lashed to the bull, it's the job of the clowns to safely set him free. Working as a team and without regard for their own safety, one clown attempts to distract the bull while the other rushes to the bull's side opposite the rider to jerk the cowboy's hand free of the rigging. The barrel clown rounds out the trio of bull distracters in the arena. His custom-made, steel reinforced and padded barrel can be used as a sanctuary from a marauding bull or can be positioned between the bull and a stricken cowboy. A successful performance for the three clowns is one in which no cowboy is injured. If that can be accomplished in conjunction with a few laughs and broad smiles from the audience, so much the better..
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