SHAWNEE The official logo of the International Finals Youth Rodeo features the outline of a cowboy riding a bucking horse.
Little surprise there. A bucking bronco is usually what comes to mind when most folks think of a rodeo.
Perhaps not for long. The two events that spawned the sport of rodeo are dying. Bareback riding and saddle bronc riding events are drawing so few competitors that some rodeos are dropping the events.
"A cowboy getting up on a horse to see if he can ride it is the original, No. 1 reason for rodeo," said Clayton Macom, a 30-year rodeo veteran and an International Professional Rodeo Association judge. "That's how it all started. 'Who can ride this horse?' Now, to talk about having a rodeo without those events just doesn't seem right, but that seems to be where we're headed."
At the IFYR, which concludes today in Shawnee, bareback and saddle bronc competitions are in the mix, but they have the lowest number of entries of all 10 events.
Saddle bronc has just 31 entries, while bareback has 42. Every other event except steer wrestling (81) has more than 100. Barrel racing has 207 participants.
"Right now it's down to being thankful if we can just get some (entries in saddle bronc and bareback)," said Ken Etchieson, general manager of the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center and a 42-year rodeo veteran. "It's the same away from rodeo. Today's method of herding horses has gone to one of ease and care. The great bronco busters are no longer out there."
Two main reasons for the decline in bareback and saddle bronc riding kept popping up from athletes and organizers Friday at the IFYR:
Bull riding has exploded in popularity. It features money and exposure unmatched by any other event, so it has the competitors;
Cowboys today aren't as tough as cowboys from generations gone by. Most claim saddle bronc and bareback riding are the most physically demanding and the hardest to master, therefore easier to steer away from.
Bull riding is now widely accepted as the glamour event of rodeo. Spurred by aggressive marketing by the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), bull riding competitions are now televised by NBC, ESPN, TNN and the Outdoors Channel among others. Moreover, the PBR offers huge money.
"That's why I ride bulls," said Clint Lewis, an 18-year-old competitor from Mount Pleasant, Texas. "PBR's putting a million dollars out there for the overall winner this year. You can make more placing in the middle of the pack on a bull than you can winning on a horse. And you can get famous riding a bull. You can't really say that about any other event."
Says fellow bull rider Clay Lewis, twin brother of Clint: "If a lot of money gets into saddle broncs, I guess I'll ride those, too."
Problem is, the money is generally in direct relation to the number of participants (entry fees make up a portion of the winnings), creating a Catch-22.
Then there's that other reason.
"Hey, lemme tell ya," said Clint Lewis, "Horses are crazy. They'll flip over on you. You can get beat up on horses."
Not that you can't on a bull, of course. But ...
"Twenty years ago, you had kids who would get thrown from a horse, hit the ground and jump up saying 'Let me try another one,' " said Macom, a five-time National Finals Rodeo participant. "Riding a horse is hard on every part of your body. A lot of kids these days realize they don't have to do it."
Comparing participants and payouts for bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding at the 2004 International Finals Youth Rodeo:
Saddle bronc riding
Participants: 31
Total prize money: $7,533.00
Top individual prize: $602.64
Bareback riding
Participants: 42
Total prize money: $8,556.00
Top individual prize: $684.48
Bull riding
Participants: 117
Total winnings money: $15,531.00
Top individual prize: $1,242.48
Archive ID: 1947665
