Rodeo

I was wondering what your thoughts are on rodeos. I love them! Maybe it has something to do with competing in barrel racing and some bull riding and having friends who are bull riders, but I live for the thrill. Tomorrow, I'm going to watch one and I was a little worried that the animal rights people were there. They make me madder than...well let's not get into that. I mean seriously, what do they think the riders are doing to the animals? Rodeos (that I've been to at least) have strict rules and they treat the bulls and horse pretty darn good. Sorry this is kinda a rant. =)

I love running in them, but I honestly can't watch them. My fiance loves to watch the PBR, etc. on tv and I'll actually leave the room and go read a book.

In some ways its cruel, yes I'll admit, but mainly most of these animals are very well taken care of.....especially bucking stock.

In Australia I know that the RSPCA will always attend the rodeos that are held to ensure the animals are treated well however I myself have never witnessed the animals being treated in a way that would warrant them being shut down completely which is what there main aim is!!

Both the horse and bulls that are used are in excellent condition' granted the horses are not in show condition but they don't have to be do they as long as they are healthy and not roughed up' which if you have ever been behind the scenes of a rodeo you may notice the horses and bulls are quite humanized and will come up for a pat at a fence! This is not the behavior of an animal that is abused and consequently un trusting of Humans!
I have a few close friends who ride the broncs and also a friend who rides bulls and have been to a few practice's with them usually held on a private property and all the animals are quite at ease and are looked after as well as most pony club horses in fact some even better as a good buck horse can be quite pricey. As long as there is a regulating body and the standard is upheld within the sport I see no reason for it to cause concern.

I really enjoy watching the rodeos. I think my favorite events are the roughstock and I like the saddle bronc more than anything. That is one of the only bucking events that actually evolved from our history. That is how many of the ranches used to break in their horses back in the old days. I personally have a bigger problem with how many of the speed event horses are handled (poles, barrels, even roping) than how the bucking stock is treated.

I talked to the guy who handles the livestock and I was asking him a few questions and I asked him if the bucking horses could be trained to be a rding horse. He said that all the livestock but mostly horses, are raised on the ranch and the horses that wont buck or won't constinantly buck are made into the horses that the cowboys use to herd the bulls or horses back to the gate and the ones that the cowboys jump on aftet there 8 seconds is up. I totally fell in love with one of those riding horses, buckskin paint had the temperment of a saint and you could tell that cowboy loved her. =)

Yeah, and after they are retired from the circuit, some of them can be retrained as riding horses, but they would never be suitable for a rider that is less than an expert. My brother traded Robert Etbaur for a gray TB that they had been using as a practice bucker. He made a really nice ranch horse but if he ever got panicked, the first thing he would do is go to bucking (fortunately, he couldn't buck hard. That's why they got rid of him). My Dad always said that in a moment of crisis, a horse will almost always return to its original training and react how they were taught to react when they were first started.

I went to a Longhorn Rodeo last month and PETA was there. I understand why they are there because some calfs broke their necks a couple years ago during the calf roping event. I do not like rodeos because how SOME of the people treat the bulls. They make these animals mean.. There not born like that. I have a friend that her boyfriend rides at all the superkickers and lives on a bull farm and when the bulls lay down in the shoots, they taz them and poke them in their eyes to get them up. Some of the events is cruel, but I love watching rodeos for the barrel racing and team penning events.

They are born like that. I have seen 5 month old calves that had never had a hand laid on them come after a person and try to butt them. They are aggressive animals and that is why they buck so hard. Some bulls have nice dispositions but I would say easily half are indifferent to aggressive toward people. I have never seen a person poke a bull in the eye to get it to stand up. I think you're wrong about that.

I don't mind bucking horses or bulls but I HATE calf roping. I feel that it is cruel to have a little calve running full out chased by a 1200 pound horse and then suddenly brought to an abrupt halt and flipped over by a rope around it's neck.
I also don't like barrel racing or pole bending. To me is totally screws up a horse's mind.


A friend of my son rides bulls and broncs and he is so broken up all the time and only in his mid 20's. Stupid kid.

I've seen this first hand a superkicker rodeos and at a bull farm. Never seen it at PBR events or Longhorn Rodeos and they train the bulls to buck and be agressive. Yes, some of the bulls are born with that agressive nature but some are not. Just like us as humans, are born agressive in sports and others are not.