Mia Hopkins | A City Girl’s Guide to Rodeo

Howdy, Fresh Fiction fans!

In my latest release, the erotic romance COWBOY RESURRECTION, Monica Kaur is a marketing executive who’s tasked with planning and promoting a rodeo. She’s also a city slicker who has no idea what a rodeo is. She enlists the help of a local rancher’s son, Dean MacKinnon, who’s a professional bullfighter. Together, they get the show up and running…and spend some private meetings getting to know each other one-on-one.

So what is a rodeo anyway? I attended my first rodeo in my twenties, so I can understand a newbie’s confusion. You drive up to the arena, not knowing what to expect. You park your Prius among all the giant dusty pickup trucks. You pay for your ticket, find a seat in the stands, look around and think, “What happens now?” And maybe, “What am I doing here?” And also, “Who are all these cowboys?”

Team ropers at the Clovis Rodeo

No worries—I’ve got you. Here’s a quick and dirty city girl’s guide to rodeo.

HISTORY

In the 1800s, Mexican vaqueros and American cowboys worked the vast cattle herds in the west. A couple times a year, they rounded up the herds and drove them hundreds of miles to stockyards, where the cattle were bought and sold. To celebrate a job well done, the cowboys held friendly competitions, challenging each other’s ranch-related skills like roping and “cutting,” or separating one cow from the herd. Spectators gathered to watch.

ASSOCIATIONS

Railroads changed the nature of ranch work, but the shows lived on, evolving into today’s rodeos.

Today, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) presides over most major rodeos. Standard events at these rodeos include calf (tie-down) roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, and bull riding.

In response to the popularity of bull riding, in 1992, a group of bull riders formed the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), which holds bull riding-only events.

At rodeos sanctioned by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association (WRCA), only cowboys who work on ranches are allowed to compete; they aren’t paid to rodeo.

The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) promotes female athletes in the sport, including world champion barrel racers and ropers.

THE EVENTS

There are two kinds of rodeo events. First, roughstock events are scored by a judge. These involve cowboys trying to ride bucking things that really don’t want to be ridden. Second are timed events. These are the speedy events like barrel racing, tie-down roping, team roping, and steer wrestling. YouTube videos should help you understand how all these events work. Pretty exhilarating stuff.

As for winning, scores and times determine which athletes advance to the next round. Participating in rodeos is expensive. To my knowledge, few competitors find profit in competition. The biggest motivator seems to be love for the sport.

WHY I LIKE IT

As Garth Brooks sings, “It’s the broncs and the blood, it’s the steers and the mud…and they call the thing a rodeo.” Rodeo is an extreme sport. It’s exciting and family friendly. Local rodeos are generally inexpensive to attend, and they bring the community together. Going to a rodeo feels like going to a county fair—low key, a little dusty, and lots of fun.

P.S. I know what you’re thinking, city girl. What to wear? I recommend searching Pinterest for “rodeo outfits.” That’s a good place to start.

ATTEND A RODEO

In addition to the big shows like Frontier Days in Cheyenne and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, there are tons of smaller events held throughout the year. Check out these associations’ schedules for a rodeo near you!