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Saddle
Bronc Riding 
Breaking horses for ranch work is still a necessary chore on ranches
in rough country. In the contest arena the rider must become part of
the horse and ride with finesse to turn in a good score. All of
rodeo, to some degree, traces its roots to the days of the "Old
West." Saddle bronc riding and roping cattle are widely
recognized as rodeo's original events and trace their origins to the
mid-1800s. It was about midway through the 1800s, though there's
widespread disagreement about the actual date, that cowboys from
various ranches started getting together for friendly competition.
Riding unruly saddled horses was among those early competitions. Not
much has changed about the basics of the event since those early
days. Today's Longhorn Rodeo pros say, as their predecessors did
before them, that the trick to winning is simply to get in sync with
the horse. When that happens, the result is often described as a
symphony in motion. That symphony in motion still takes place during
regular ranch work. The event begins when the cowboy mounts the
beasty bronc and lasts until he is thrown or the horse stops bucking.
Often, the only way to witness the whole ride on a ranch is to trail
the action on horseback. The sturdy arenas of today contain the
action, but retain all the original excitement with the audience able
to catch it all from the comfort of their seats. And, a successful
ride only lasts eight seconds. That eight seconds begins ticking when
the athletic bronc's front hoofs first touch the arena floor after it
clears the bucking chute. At that moment, the cowboy's heels must be
touching his mounting front of it's shoulders. Failure to "mark
out" the horse is just one of 11 ways a rider can be
disqualified. All 11 translate to the same bottom line -- no
paycheck. Other reasons for disqualification include losing the rein,
grabbing the saddle with his free hand, losing a stirrup and touching
himself or the horse with his free hand for assistance. It's the job
of the two judges to ensure the rider marks out his horse. They also
grade the performance of both the rider and the horse, awarding each
up to 25 points for their skill and athletic performance. A perfect
score by both judges would total 100 points, something that's never
been achieved. A score in the 70s is often good enough for the rider
to finish in the money with a tally in the 80s almost a sure thing
for the top dollar paycheck |
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