Rodeo Roundup

Rodeo is one of the most exciting contests in the world. From bull riding to chuckwagon racing, discover what makes a rodeo so thrilling and what it takes to be a rodeo cowboy:

• Steer wrestling, or bulldogging, is a very fast event where cowboys try to wrestle a steer to the ground in less than 7 seconds

• A saddle bronc rider must stay on the bucking horse for 8 seconds, holding the reins with one hand and keeping the other hand high in the air

• In team roping two cowboys, the header and the heeler, work together to rope a steer’s head and back legs

• The rodeo clown has the most dangerous job of all; he tries to distract the bull after a rider has been bucked off

• In barrel racing a horse and rider gets a no-time score if they knock over a barrel or make a mistake running the pattern

• Mutton busting is an event where kids aged 4 to 7 try to ride a sheep

• Chuckwagon racing is one of the most thrilling rodeo events; the chuckwagon and the outriders have to race around barrels in a figure 8 without knocking them over

Duane S. Radford is a multi-award winning writer and photographer. He was born in Blairmore, Alberta but grew up in Bellevue, both small towns in the Crowsnest Pass. It was there he first got his taste of the cowboy life at nearby ranches, riding horses, bailing hay in the blistering sun, building and mending fences and doing farm chores. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Outdoor Writers of Canada. When he isn’t writing or taking photographs, Duane spends much of his time outdoors hunting and fly-fishing. He and his wife, Adrienne currently live in Edmonton, Alberta.