Cruelty of Rodeo Myth

After tying his hand in the rider slides up on his rope. He clenches his teeth as he

nods his head. The bull, little yellow jacket pushes the gate open with his head and

lunges out. He takes one strong jump and turns back hard and fast. Changing his speed

and rhythm and moving to counter the riders moves. The cowboy is thrown to the

ground hard after 3.9 seconds. The bull stops his spin and looks up at the crowd as a

gladiator would after slaying the Lyon. He trots through the out gate and the ride is

complete. This is how a typical trip went with this great bull. He was retired at the end

of this year at the 2005 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) finals. He finished his carrier

with a bull rating of 22.9 points(PBRnow.com). This is the score given to the animal out

of 25. This was a born and raised bucking bull that loved every minute of his job.

The myth that says rodeo is violent and cruel to animals that enjoy this sport is

simply not true and these animals are not hurt in any way in the events, with any of the

tools, or with the way they are kept and fed. Rodeo is a very rough sport and is very

physical for both the cowboys and animals that compete. Although very rarely are

animals hurt it is really a very safe sport for the animal. The sport of rodeo is a fun game

for the competitors and animal stock involved. Just like people some animals are nicer

then others and some can be very mean. Although rodeo and the gear used can without

proper education appear to be painful and dangerous to the animal, this sport and

these tools do not injure the stock.

During the different events during a rodeo different tools are used to increase the

performance of the animal without causing injury. The most controversial tool is

typically the flank strap that is used during the bucking events.

The flank strap is a piece of rope or a flat strap with a pad that goes around the

back end of the animal between the belly and the hind legs. Typically with a experienced

bull the flank strap is a heavy piece of rope that is tightened before the animal is released

from the chute. On horses or young bulls it is usually the flat padded strap that is

tightened as the animal leaves the chute

A very common misconception about this strap is that it is tied to the animals

testicals to cause them pain. It is also said to be cinched down very tight to the point

wear this animal cannot breath. This is simply not true (American Rodeo). This is

clearly shown on the more experienced bulls that have the strap tied when the are still in

the chute. This is obviously not hurting them or they would buck in the chute as soon as

it was tied. When the flank strap is tied to tight the animal will not buck(American

Rodeo). You will be able to notice if this ever happens because the animal will run off

or fall over instead of buck. When an animal is in a lot of pain it has no interest in

bucking well (Rick). Therefore the stock contractor, usually the one who ties the flank

strap, will want to leave the strap loose. The entire idea behind this strap is to be left lose

enough so that it is annoying and the animal thinks he can kick it off. This is why you

get those great looking kicks during a ride (Rick).

This idea can be proven with a bull named Hotel California. Three years ago they

had no rule on how tight a rider could pull their rope. A Brazilian rider (Brazilians are

known for tying there ropes too tight) got on him and pulled the rope so tight the animal

could barely breathe. The bull did his best to buck well but in the end he simply couldn't

buck to the best of his ability. Also this really hurt the animals pride and he went off and

refused to buck any more(Rick). Although it is sad that this happened this proves that

rodeo people do care about these animals because after this the PBR made a rule that you

could no longer have more then one person to pull rope in order to make it so the rope

would not be over tightened.

Another tool that is used during the rodeo are the spurs. These are basically

hooks that are worn on the heels of a riders boots. They are used to help the rider hold

on with his feet when the animal bucks. The opposition to rodeo says that these spurs are

very sharp, are jammed into the animals hide, and cuts the animal. Although this is not

true in American rodeo it does stem from some truth. Spurs today are blunted and

rounded off. To make sure of this if an animal