Bullriding

Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal attempts to buck off the rider.

In the American style of the sport, the rider must stay on top of the bucking bull while holding onto the bull rope with one hand for eight seconds and not touching the bull with his free hand. A bull rope is a fiber rope wrapped around the chest of the bull directly behind the bull's front legs, which the rider grips while riding. If he does that, it is a qualified ride. If he gets bucked off before eight seconds, it is a no score. In most bull riding circuits, four judges mark scores for the rider and the bull. Two judges score the rider based on his ability up to 25 points each for up to a total of 50 points. The other two judges score the bull on his bucking performance for up to 25 points each for a total of up to 50 points. Thus, the ride is scored up to 100 points. Most professional riders score between the mid-70s and high 80s. American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports."

Outside of the United States, bull riding traditions with varying rules and histories also exist in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Australia and New Zealand with the majority of them following similar rules, especially with the Professional Bull Riders organization.

The taming of bulls has ancient roots in contests dating as far back as Minoan culture. Bull riding itself has its direct roots in Mexican contests of equestrian and ranching skills now collectively known as charreada. During the 16th century, a hacienda contest called jaripeo developed. Originally considered a variant of bull fighting, in which riders literally rode a bull to death, the competition evolved into a form where the bull was simply ridden until it stopped bucking. By the mid-19th century, charreada competition was popular on Texas and California cattle ranches where Anglo and Hispanic ranch hands often worked together.

Many early Texas rangers, who had to be expert horsemen and later went on to become ranchers, learned and adapted Hispanic techniques and traditions to ranches in the United States. Many also enjoyed traditional Mexican celebrations, and H. L. Kinney, a rancher, promoter and former Texas Ranger staged what is thought to be the first Anglo-American organized bullfight in the southwest in 1852. This event also included a jaripeo competition and was the subject of newspaper reports from as far away as the New Orleans Daily Delta. However, popular sentiment shifted away from various blood sports and both bullfighting and prize fighting were banned by the Texas legislature in 1891. In the same time period, however, Wild West Shows began to add steer riding to their exhibitions, choosing to use castrated animals because steers were easier to handle and transport than bulls. Additionally, informal rodeos began as competitions between neighboring ranches in the American Old West. The location of the first formal Rodeo is debated. Deer Trail, Colorado claims the first rodeo in 1869 but so does Cheyenne, WY in 1872.

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