We’re headed to the WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO held by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association this weekend in Las Vegas. Follow us on Instagram to see all the shenanigans.
The word “rodeo” is loosely derived from the Spanish word for “round-up,” or literally, rodear, “to surround.”
For many colleges, particularly in the west, rodeo is an official team sport. Some of those colleges are UNLV, Tartleton State university, and New Mexico State.
In what should come as no surprise, Buffalo Bill, full legal name William F. Cody, created the first major U.S. rodeo and Wild West Show in 1882, in North Platte, Nebraska.
Today’s Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeos must include calf roping, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding and steer wrestling. Optional events are steer roping and team roping.
Rodeo is the official state sport of Wyoming and Texas.
There were undoubtedly many rodeos before it, but the first recorded rodeo was held in Arizona in 1864.
Back when rodeos weren’t held to a specific standard, cowboys and cowgirls often did not know the exact events they would compete in or the rules of competition until after they paid fees to enter the contest.
The bulls themselves grow quite a following, and some get well known for being harder to ride than others.
The bull named “Bodacious” is still known in the rodeo world as the rankest bull of all time, weighing 1,600 pounds and known to knock pro bull riders off in less than a second. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 1991, Wade Leslie scored the only 100-point bull ride in the history of rodeo. 100 is the highest possible score, and the harder the bull is to ride, or the harder it bucks, the higher the score will be.
Bull riding has become the rodeo’s most popular event.
