B2 Podcast: The Wild West: Cowboys and the Rodeo

Howdy! My name is Haley, and one of the more interesting things about me is that my family has a rodeo
named after us. It’s true! (I don’t really want to include it though, since it is my real last name!! Not sure
I want people to be able to search/find me online 😅) My great-grandfather was an honest-to-goodness,
life-on-the-range cowboy! A cowboy, in case you didn’t know, is a person who works on a ranch, over-
seeing the cattle and livestock, and is a term used for all genders. While some rodeo events used to be
male or female only, these days there are no gender limitations to any of the events.

My great grandfather was named John, but everyone called him “Scan’lous John” in his youth. But, as he
got older and became a father and a grandfather, he was known as “Pop John”. “Pop” is shortened version
of “papa” and has become an American term of endearment towards one’s father. Pop John was often
thought of as one of the last old-school cowboys in Texas, so when he passed away in the 1970’s, they
started a yearly rodeo in his town dedicated to him.

Rodeos are often thought to be something that only happened in the early 20th century with the Buffalo
Bill Wild West shows and people like Annie Oakley, the famous sharpshooter. But that was more like a
cowboy themed circus! Real rodeos are still happening today, and are a major event for ranch towns all
across the US. A real rodeo is a kind of performance where cowboys get to show off the skills they use on
the job and try to win prizes. They compete in events like: calf roping, barrel racing, and most famously,
bronco and bull riding.

Calf roping is pretty self-explanatory: calves are released into the arena and the cowboys round them up
and catch them with ropes. Barrel racing is another classic event! Cowboys race on horseback, but unlike
a traditional horserace where they just go around a track, a rodeo race involves barrels being placed
throughout the arena for the riders to go around in a very specific order. The cowboys take their horses as
quickly as they can through the course, going at full speed with their horses around each corner, making
incredibly sharp turns! They have to go all the way around each barrel before they can go to the next one
in the course! It is one of the fastest and most exciting events at the rodeo, and it takes a lot of skill!

Not everyone likes rodeos however. Animal Rights organizations have always had a problem with them,
and for good reason. The use of electric prods and other painful tools were once used during the bronco
and bull riding events. But starting in the 1950’s, regulations were put into place to try and help with the
welfare of any animals involved. Still, for many animal rights activists, using animals for entertainment is
wrong, and they will never approve of rodeos. And they aren’t alone: a few states, such as California and
Rhode Island have banned rodeos all together! But if you ask a cowboy, they’ll tell you: a horse is a cow-
boy’s best friend, and the cattle aren’t just livestock, but their livelihood.

Great job!
I didn’t leave my changes in red. They were minor and I just wanted to be able to read it without all of the
marks. Great podcast, love a rodeo! Used to go to bullriding competitions when I was a kid haha!