DON’T SOUND LIKE A CITY SLICKER
ivestock farming and ranching is a world all its own, and rodeos celebrate the people and animals that make up that world. The rodeo world has its own distinct language as well, and if you aren’t familiar with it, you may feel as if you’ve landed in a foreign country when you arrive at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Here’s a list of key terms and phrases that apply to the most common events and animals you’ll see at the rodeo. Use these terms with an authoritative drawl, and you’ll sound like a ranch hand in no time.
RODEO EVENTS:
There are two categories — roughstock or timed. Roughstock events are based on scores, such as saddle bronc, bareback and bull riding. Scores are based on various factors, including challenge, technique, form and duration of the ride. Timed events, as the name suggests, are based on speed, such as barrel racing, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping. The faster the speed, the better the score.
ARENA TERMS
BARRIER: a rope stretched across the front end of the box from which the roper’s or steer wrestler’s horse comes when the barrier flag drops to give the steer or calf a head start. BRONC: a wild or untamed horse. CHAPS: widely flared leather leggings, worn over jeans. DALLY: to wrap the end of the rope around the saddle horn immediately after an animal is roped. FLANK STRAP: sheepskin-lined strap with a self-holding buckle passed around the flank of a bronc or bull, used to enhance bucking action. GO-ROUND: the portion of rodeo competition allowing each contestant to compete on one head of stock; the HLSR features three go-rounds in each Super Series. MARK-OUT: when a bronc rider keeps his heels ahead of the horse’s shoulders on the first jump out of the chute (missing the mark results in disqualification). PICKUP MAN: the horseback cowboy who picks up the saddle bronc and bareback bronc riders after a ride. RIGGING: the leather pad in bareback bronc riding or the rope in bull riding onto which the cowboy holds.