I’ve seen quite a few rodeos on tv and I was wondering about the bulls that the cowboys ride…are the bulls the cowboys personal bulls or are the bulls just part of the competition and are supplied by the rodeo?
What is the length of rope used to tie the cowboy onto the bull?
Do rodeo clowns get paid a salary for saving the cowboys? If so what would their average pay be?
Bulls are owned by ranches which breed them specifically to take part in the rodeo. The bulls have individual names and distinctive styles, and so have differing reputations - a cowboy would be more respected for riding on a bull that’s known to be a tough one, than for making eight seconds on a bull generally thought to be easy. Which bull a cowboy is on for a particular ride is up to the luck of the draw.
Bull ropes are about 15’ long, I think.
Rodeo clowns do get paid, but they’re not salaried, because they don’t work all the time at one specific venue. They work by the gig and usually get $100-200 a show. Also, they prefer being called “bullfighters,” even though that makes most people think of toreadors.
Bulls are bred by ranches, but most of them in rodeos are actually owned by stock contractors, who buy them from the ranches. The stock contractors are people/companies who provide all the stock (animals) used in the rodeo (except for the cowboy’s own personal horses). They provide the bulls, the steers & calves that are roped, the bucking broncos, etc.
The rodeo operator hires a stock contractor for their rodeo, and there’s a lot of competition between stock contractors. Rodoes will switch quickly if they are dissatisfied. Stock Contractors are generally judged based on 3 main items:
Also, it’s not just that a cowboy would be “more respected” for lasting the 8 seconds on a tougher bull – they are actually judged on the quality (toughness) of their ride. Sometimes, a top cowboy can end up low in their score because they drew a ‘cold’ bull that day – one that was rather passive, and didn’t fight very hard today – not many points for that!
Should also point out that a bullrider’s score is based, in part, on the bull’s performance.
Their are two judges (left and right of the chute) and each judge scores a maximum 25 points for the rider and 25 for the bull. A perfect score is 100 but anything over 80 will normally get you to the “pay window”.
The NPRA’s website expands a bit on the answers already given.