Ropes, Reins, and Rawhide All About Rodeo.

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.
• Position: Book review

ROPES, REINS, AND RAWHIDE All About Rodeo BY MELODY GROVES UNIVERSITY PRESS OF NEW MEXICO 2006, 171 PAGES, $34.95

"Ride 'em cowboy!" That is what you will holler and hear at a rodeo, but you also will hear, "Bring 'em home!" to exhort the women riders in the barrel races. Although associated with the American West, rodeos are popular nearly everywhere in the world. The first structured rodeo was held in Cheyenne, Wyo., in 1872. An "extreme sport," it worked its way into the warp and woof of entertainment. Each year, there are 2,000 such events in Canada and the U.S. prize money comes to about $26,000,000 a year. It takes a lot of lettuce to organize rodeos, as a good bucking bull can sell for $80,000 and a fine roping horse for as much as $50,000.

Author Melody Groves is a freelance rider and rodeo participant who gives an exciting account of what rodeos are about. Her book is chock full of action photos, and make no mistake--rodeos are action-packed. She details the various standard events--bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, steer wrestling (bulldogging), team roping, calf roping, and barrel racing. Bull riding far and away is the most dangerous event, accounting for 49% of the injuries in rodeos. Supposedly, a prospective bull rider is told to start his career with 10 marbles in his mouth, spitting one out every time he rides. After spitting out all the marbles, he is a bull rider!

Rodeo stock is expensive and carefully attended to. Veterinarians check the animals over regularly and the straps on their bodies are meticulously padded. The animals are well fed and housed and rarely abused. The clowns, meanwhile, are more than entertainers, as they risk their...