West by Southwest Ernie Bulow

RIDE ‘EM COWBOY

A SHORT HISTORY OF BRONC RIDING

rescott, Arizona, Pecos, Texas, Deer Trail,

PColorado, Even Santa Fe, lay claim to the first rodeo. All of them are correct for different reasons. One had the first paying audience; another was the first to award money prizes. And so, it goes. There is no disputing it was a popular sport. One area of question is the claim that rodeo was invented by Southwestern Mexicans, but in fact their rodeo

AN EARLY SIDE DELIVERY CHUTE

events are quite different. Actually, all of these were preceded many years by the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, but it isn’t known if the white cowboys invented the events or the Indians in the troupe. Later the 101 ranch out of Oklahoma dominated the rodeo circuit. It featured some major figures, like Bill Pickett. One persistent claim is that rodeo came out of the daily work of cowboys on the range. But that is only partly true, yes, cowboys roped calves and steers. Breaking horses was a regular chore, but no rancher raising beef would have allowed the animals to be ridden or thrown down. They were raising steaks, not athletes. The very first rodeos had no arena, no chutes, they just caught a wild horse and tried to saddle and ride the critter. This “event” continued to modern rodeos, though it isn’t done much today. Called “Wild Horse Chase” it had a threeman team. One roped the animal and tried to keep control. The second saddled the brute and the third got in the saddle and tried to get the wild horse across some finish line. I have seen a rider jump into the saddle without

even cinching it up. Good luck with that. It was easier to handle the livestock if there were holding pens and chutes. The simple chutes were little boxes where the horse was “dressed.” There were bucking straps that went around the flanks, a handhold strap for bareback, and of course a saddle for some events. Saddle broncs also had a headstall and a single rein for the rider. The first chutes were pretty simple—just a box the critter would fit. It was aimed at the arena. Ropers use a similar chute.

The problem with the “shotgun” chute was it caused a lot of damage to riders. Animals could scrape the rider going out. The

CEREMONIAL WILD HORSE RACE

Ernie Bulow

BILL PICKET WITH HIS SIGNATURE LIP HOLD

chute of today is called a “side delivery.” When the gate swung open the horse leaped into the arena. For many years a two-hand hold was the norm, though not as dramatic as having one hand in the air.

WILD HORSE EVENT FROM A SHOTGUN GATE

When I was a kid, a ride had to last ten seconds, now it is only eight.

Bulldogging —now called steer wrestling—was invented long after the first rodeo. The interesting thing is that it was invented by a black cowboy named

Bill Pickett. His signature move was to bite the steer on the lip to keep him down, you don’t see much of that these days.