Then tell us Mr/Ms. Experience, what WAS your first rodeo then?

Answerbag. 

My first rodeo was my last.

It happened about 13 years ago, just two miles down the road.

A travelling rodeo had been invited to perform in the showgrounds of our nearest village.

Tiers of seating had been erected and a cafeteria opened. People came in check shirts, jeans, and Akubra hats.

Australian country and western music blared out misery in love over the loud speakers.

I saw portable rusty steel panels making up stalls, crushes, platforms, gates, and the arena.

Animals milled around in the separate corales, Brahman bulls and Clydesdale horses chewing alfalfa hay amid steaming piles of manure.

Boys from 15 years old and upwards paid $30 to ride for eight seconds, drawing their animals by lottery.

Only one boy achieved the eight. The animals were experts.

When a horse sun fished, he flashed his hind heels at the sun. Try sitting at 80 degrees.

When a bull twisted, he corkscrewed sideways in mid-leap, chucking his rider to beneath his feet.

Most survived their tumbles because of bullet-proof vests and helmets.

But one bull refused to buck.

He lowered his horns and charged the steel panels.

The rust gave way. Broken steel speared the rider and smashed across the tiers.

The bull trampled six spectators.

Crowds ran away while heros raced in.

The boy died and the spectators recovered.

But there are no more rodeos in the village.

And I, for one, am glad.

I went to the bad part of town once.

Me too.  You have come a LOOOOONG way, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was 13 or 14 years old, on a road trip with my family. We stopped at a high school in Wyoming and watched their rodeo.

Great story.  GREAT.  I am not a fan of any animal abuse.  This looks to be a story like that.  I don't give a crap about the casualties.  People should KNOW better.  People are unconscious and expect amusement parks and dangerous places and the caution needed around them  are not their concern because SOMEBODY else is responsible.  I hate that mentality.  If I were at a rodeo, I would expect that mentality is rampant. 

I had a cousin who rode for a rodeo. I had nothing but total admiration for him.  His ability to do that is nothing to belittle.  But to sit and watch animals being forced to act wild and then get punished for acting wild, drives me nuts.    You reap what you sow.

Thanks for a great telling of a great story though.

Rodeos are almost as bad in some areas as bullfighting.  Don't get me started on that travesty.  OH, LETS GO RUN WITH THE BULLS AND THEN GO TO A NICE BULLFIGHT where the animal has not a prayer of surviving no matter who wins.

 I wish those bulls would trample  anyone who thinks this is a great way to spend an afternoon.   Revotingly sickening.  Not macho.

yeah?  And what happened then?

S**t, I was born in the rodeo. 

Yeah?   You have stories? 

Tell us what you know, the inside story of what goes on behind the scenes, the good and the bad.

One horse trainer told me that the animals are the most pampered. they have to be super well-fed, fit, and in top condition because all that bucking takes so much energy. Apparently, there are rules about the b.ucking strap around the loins, tightness enough to make them buck but not enough to do any harm. I confess I do not like the sport, but I'd like to know the truth.