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Riders risk life, limb for rodeo fame and fortune
story by sarah hale • photos by christina neff
Caleb Coffman prepares for the saddle bronc competition. If the ride lasts the required eight seconds, two judges evaluate the performances of both horse and rider and a final score is determined.
Horses and cattle await their turn to perform in the bucking events. Bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding pit man against beast as contestants struggle to stay atop their rowdy opponents.
Cody Askren entered the arena atop a wildy bucking bull. Seconds later he was laying in the dirt, while his hope of placing in Saturdays' bull riding competition turned to dust
Askren stood up in the arena — as his bull continued to buck — and mouthed "damn it."
"I sucked," the 17-year-old high school senior said later.
Askren, who competed in the bareback, calf roping and bull riding events, comes from a rodeo family. His sister is on the Kansas State University rodeo team and his dad does team roping. In order to follow in the family's foot-tens. Askren needs to find a scholarship.
Working with the unruliness of the bulls and other rodeo animals has delayed the success of some cowboys and cowgirls. For others, the wildness adds to the thrill.
Dressed in over-sized cutoff jeans held up by suspenders, long underwear and a red shirt, "Lightning" Larry Deges charged at Jackpot, a bull who bucked off his cowboy in well under 8 seconds.
Deges is a bull fighter, commonly known as the clown, who wrestles with a bull to protect the cowbys. Last Saturday, he hit by a bull, ran from a bull and even chased a bull down the gravel road that runs next to the North Topeka Saddle Club after it had gotten loose. The announcer joked that arena attendants scattered like handbills in a hurricane. It was all in the name of business — the rodeo business.
Rodeos have evolved since the mid-1800s when they first became organized competitions. Although they used to be known as cattle roundups, the competitive flashiness they could offer became clear when cowboys demonstrated their skills with wild broncos or flaired their hair with a rope.
The rodeo's bulls, horses, calves and goats, all provided by a stock contractor, have gradually received better treatment as rodeos have gained popularity. Although the animals are sometimes thrown to the ground, Deges said it didn't hurt them.
For 18-year-old Brian Peak, the allure of
rodeos beckoned when he was age 8. The senior at Chase County High School began by riding calves, then advanced to steers and now rides bulls.
In a dark denim shirt, black vest and brown chaps, Peaked tie a bull rope around his bull before his ride Saturday. The flat braided rope is wrapped around the bull's midsection for the bull rider to hang on to. It is similar to the strap tied around a horse's rib cage for bareback bronc competition, when the cowboy rides without a saddle.
Peak slowly positioned himself on the bull, still behind the gate.
"From this point on, it's just you and the bull," he said "No one else."
For the next 8 seconds, Peak — with his free hand held high — stayed on the bucking bull, sometimes inches above the bull's back.
The more a bull bucks, the better the score — assuming the cowboy lasts the full 8 seconds. The steers have been bred to buck as much as possible.
Peak took third place and a piece of the prize money, which he said was low compared to other rodeos in which he'd competed. All of the hard work and weekends on the road are worth it when the pot gets close to $5,000.
"That's a lot of money for 8 seconds," Peak said.
The first step to the professional rodeo competitions is participating on a rodeo team. Although the University of Kansas does not have a varsity rodeo team, there was a rodeo club between 1968 and 1972, which folded because it lacked money and student support. K-State and other Kansas colleges have teams that compete nationwide.
KU students who want to rodeo independently can do so by registering with the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
K-State coach Steve Frazier said his 20-25 member team competed within the Big 12 Conference against Oklahoma State and Texas University, and against smaller schools.
"Southwest Oklahoma State is our biggest rival," Frazier said. "They're the Nebraska of college rodeo."
Saturday's rodee had 128 high school participants, from Kansas and surrounding states, all trying to make rides that would impress college coaches. From barrel racing, racing
around a course of barrels set in a cloverleaf; to steer wrestling, when the cowboy wrestles a bull to its side after jumping from moving horse; both girls and boys tried to follow in the footsteps of professional rodeo competitors.
Askren is no exception. So what's his ultimate goal?
RODEO TERMS
"To make it to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo)," he said. "Where the big dogs are. If that ain't someone's goal, I don't know why they're doing rodeos."
Rodees are an important part of the cowboy way of life. For Deges, Peak and Askren, who have all had broken bones and stitches, the blood shed is just part of the tol.
half-hitch — knot used by calf ropers to tie three of a calf's legs
roughout — an unfinished saddle, used in bronco busting
■ hooker — a bull that throws a rider forward and hooks the rider with his horns.
Houlihan — the head-over-heels tumble a steer takes in the steer wrestling event
Will Read ropes a fleeing calf. After roping the calf, the contestant must dismount and tie the calf's legs. Calf roping attracted 26 contestants from Kansas and surrounding states.
pickup man - a rider in the arena who helps a contestant off a bucking horse spinner - a bull that spins while bucking
"It's not an art; it's a sport," Peak said. "It's about self-need and self-want. They can tell you how to ride a bull, but you go out and do it on your own."
It's about being a cowboy.
"Yes, Ma'am," Peak said. "I'm a cowboy."