29 July 2011, 8:14 pm
Rodeos have always been such a big part of my life. I live in Cheyenne, WY and the "daddy of em all" gets a bad name from people who don't know the slightest about rodeos. I love to compete and I compete in barrels but several of my friends do bull riding and roping. Animal welfare is practiced in the sport of rodeo. The average bucking horse or bull works less than five minutes per year in the arena. The PRCA has very strict rules in place pertaining to animal care. As for hurting the animals with straps, our skin is 1mm-2mm thick, horse hide is 5mm thick, and bull hide is 7mm thick.The flank strap is fleece-lined in the flank area, which can be compared to the waist of a human. The straps do not cover genitalia in any way or cause pain to the animal. If the strap were tightened too tightly, the animal would refuse to move, much less buck (if you were around these animals you would realize this) Most of the people who write these "Facts" have never been to a rodeo, let alone hundreds like I have. Most have never owned and cared for a horse themselves. I've been to many rodeos, as a spectator, or with a competitor (in barrel racing-- in the competitor's area you often get to go behind the chutes area and see what's going on in the back, so that was really helpful). A flank strap can't even reach the balls and anyone found beating, hitting, or prodding a horse would be subject to fines and probably suspended from rodeo. I have never, even in the cases when a horse is crushing a rider's leg against the chute, seen a cattle prod or any other such devise used to move the horse. Think about it logically: You're in a tiny chute with a 1,200 pound animal. If that horse gets mad or upset-- you could be KILLED. Do you want to, even if you could, aggravate the horse? NO. If the horse gets too nervous, he could easily smash the rider against the sides of the chute, or worse yet, trample the rider beneath his hooves. Cowboys are regularly seen stroking, patting, and whispering to horses in chutes as an effort to CALM them. That's right-- they try to CALM horses in chutes. Why? Because the horses are excited and pumped with adrenaline. Horses that are in pain do not buck, why would you want to move on an injury? In ANY event you can find abuses going on. I can say it certainly isn't the norm in rodeo, but it is possible. Abusive people are found everywhere; we cannot punish an entire sport for the actions of a very few bad people. If I see abuses going on in a rodeo, I WILL inform someone and try to make it stop. I am 100% against animal abuse. I have, in the hundreds of rodeos I've been to, not seen anyone doing any of the abuses that ARA's claim. I have only ever seen one injury which was caused by an accident. Veterinarians are ON HAND to handle any injuries that might occur, and that is what happened.... Read More »
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