Rodeos: Entertainment or Cruelty?

In many states, rodeos are put on for family entertainment. Many rodeo operations consist of family members and employees working together to produce a successful and entertaining show. Major animal protection agencies, though, find rodeos to be horribly cruel. Rodeo promoters portray animals to be rough and wild, but animal protectors are against these rodeos.

Let's look at rodeos from the entertainment end of the spectrum first. The flamboyant opening ceremonies often begin with horsemen dressed in bright colors and carrying flags. Flags promote proud feelings for country and state. The National Anthem plays and is followed by an invocation. Competitors are announced by their names and places, and the action begins.

An entertaining spectacle is the rodeo clown. These clowns, to the crowd, are for fun and games. Their job is serious business, and they are in danger every time they go to work. Even though, they are crowd-pleasing in their face paint, baggy pants, and silly nicknames.

Rodeos put towns on the entertainment map. Many times the rodeo is part of the heritage and is claimed to help develop community pride. Those in rodeos boast that being a part of a rodeo helped them to learn how to set high goals, grow up, and learn responsibility through caring for the animals.

Rodeos are sporting events that are timed and judged. They involve cattle and horses, and events are designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboy. In the United States, the common timed events are barrel racing and pole bending. Pole bending is a timed event that features a horse and one mounted rider. They run a weaving path around six poles arranged in a line. Barrel racing is for the most athletic horse and rider. Much skill is needed by both to maneuver around three 55 gallon closed end metal barrels placed in a cloverleaf pattern in the center of the arena. This is done at an incredible rate of speed.

Steer wrestling is another timed event. One of the most dangerous events, this is accomplished by the rider jumping off his horse onto a steer and wrestling the steer to the ground by grabbing it by the horns. Goat tying falls into this category too. Usually women or young girls are involved in this event. The mounted rider runs to the goat, dismounts, grabs the goat, throws it to the ground, and ties the goat's feet together. Goat tying is not part of a professional rodeo competition.

Roping is another timed event. A calf is roped around the neck by a lariat, or lasso. The cowboy dismounts, runs to the calf, throws it to the ground and ties three feet together. Team roping consists of two people capturing and restraining a full-grown steer. While one horse and rider lassos a running steer's horns, the other horse and rider, lassos the steer's two hind legs. Once the animal is captured, the riders face each other and pull the steer between them, resulting in the steer's loss of balance, and it falls over. Steer roping is rarely seen in the United States because of major risk of injury to everyone involved. There are animal cruelty concerns too. Steer roping is a single roper roping the steer around the legs in order to trip it. Riders also show their skill with a lasso, making figures and shapes with their lassos before releasing them to capture an animal.

The riding events are bronc riding and bull riding. Bronc riding can be done bareback or with a saddle. The rider hangs on as long as he can while on the bucking horse. Bull riding is the same, except cowboys ride a bucking bull instead.

Strong, healthy animals and strong, well-skilled riders are necessary for a good rodeo performance. Rodeos use the history and the allure of the wild, wild west and attract crowds in many parts of the world. The rodeo tradition has given amusement and excitement to spectators for many years. Although enjoyed by many, the rodeo has been viewed by others as cruel treatment of the animals.

Animal cruelty charges fall on the opposite end of the spectrum. You aren't going to have a rodeo without the animals. Does anyone really believe that being in the rodeo is fun for the animals? Even though these animals are portrayed as rough, tough, and wild, are they having a great time too, or would they prefer to be doing something else?

Undercover investigations have been done concerning rodeo animal abuse. What was uncovered was disgusting and disturbing. These findings were not isolated incidents either. These happenings are standard practice in the rodeo circuit.

Ever wonder why those bulls are so angry when they're released into the arena? I asked an ex-rancher about the demeanor of a bull. He told me that even the bulls that are notably mean are generally passive. He's been in a pen with over 150 bulls at one time, checked them, patted them, and since he hadn't provoked anger in the bulls, he was entirely safe with them. In conclusion, a bull needs to be provoked before it will become angry. During breeding season, bulls can be dangerous and need to be left alone too. Why then, are bulls so mad when released into the arena?

During investigations, what was witnessed was beating of the bulls before release. This is of course done out of sight from the audience. Cowboys stand on the holding gates and beat the bulls with metal rods. The bulls are beaten mercilessly on their heads, faces, and backs. With no where to go, they are pounded on, with all the cowboys might, with the iron bars over and over again. How angry would you be once you were let free?

Rodeo animals are also hit with whips, rocks, or sticks. They endure the pain of being kicked in the head and other parts of their bodies, sometimes with spurred boots. Even former rodeo competitors will tell you, if they are honest, that these animal beatings are typical to the rodeo background scene.

Confined animals are also shocked with 5,000 - 6,000 volts of electricity. The animals frantically try to escape the pain, crying and in distress. Shock is apparently used to make sure that the animal bolts out of its pen at maximum speed.

Calf roping is considered one the cruelest events in a rodeo. Baby calves are clearly horrified at what's happening to them. Moving at speeds of 25 mph, these calves are lassoed around the neck, slammed to the ground with great force, and then have their feet tied together to immobilize them. Sometimes the lasso misses the head and ends up around the animal's stomach or legs. There are several injuries incurred by the animal due to calf roping. These include paralysis from spinal cord injuries, broken backs, necks, and legs, and severed tracheas. Many are injured or even killed. Even some supporters of rodeos object to calf roping because of its violent nature.

In order to get baby calves and steer to bolt out of their chutes quickly for performance sake, brutal tail twisting is done to them. The tail is an extension of the spinal cord. It's clearly torture to yank and twist on the animals' tails for long periods of time for the purpose of invoking speed at release.

Flank and bucking straps are used in rodeo performances. These are cruel and intended to irritate the animals. By irritating them in this way, the animals give the crowd what they want to see, and that is a meaner, nastier, wild animal, intent on throwing the rider. These straps are cinched tightly across the abdomens of the animals causing them to buck the way they do. The straps cause injuries to the animal. When the strap is removed, the animal, although oftentimes injured, goes back to its naturally calmer state.

So who is in the most danger during a rodeo? The cowboys or the animals? It seems as though the cowboys have purposely provoked the animals and have clearly asked for danger. The animals, though, do not ask for such abuse and injuries. Injuries and death are common for these animals. Besides being bruised and suffering broken bones, bulls, horses, and steers suffer from visible injuries such as bloody open wounds and raw sores.

Rodeo supporters say that the rodeo is another all-American sport. Is brutality the American way? A real sport is one in which ALL participants are willing. I think if the animals could speak, they would likely tell you they would prefer to go out to pasture instead.