What To Know About Rodeo

As students at FMHS, we have a variety of people among us. But we often overlook the students who do rodeo and what their life is like. Rodeo is becoming less and less important to the community, and people are beginning to not understand what rodeo is and how important it is to some.

Rodeo has been around for a long time. Longer than Football, Baseball, and all the other popular sports we have today. Sure there has been some changes on the way people partake in rodeo but all in all it’s the same rough and tough sport it was back in the day. FMHS student Sommer Amos says, “To be a cowgirl or cowboy, it takes a certain amount of horsemanship. Respect. And grit. To be able to have this lifestyle and to be a cowgirl, you have to mold yourself to be tough and gain workmanship to have what it takes.”

Overall the rodeo really does take guts because the animals could easily kill you if they wanted to, and you have to constantly be on your toes. If you mess up just one time it could potentially end your career or life, depending on how bad it the accident is. “The biggest danger is getting in your own head. Thinking about what could go wrong, has a bigger chance of going wrong.” Said Amos,“I stay focused and every time before I run, (barrel racing) I blast hard core rap music, so I can stay focus and stay in my head of what my job is”.

Rodeo is a sport people enjoy for many reasons, FMHS, student Kelby Kaufman said,” I do rodeo because the friends you make are better than any friends you’ll make somewhere else, and I enjoy being out on a horse and all the excitement.” Rodeo is a very “edgy” sport because all the different events are fast and all the energy keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, wondering what’s going to happen next, because nothing in rodeo is the same, like snowflakes each one is different.

Many people think that rodeo is easy, and all you do is sit on a horse, but they are wrong. In order to be successful, you have to work hard whether it is competing in the arena or practicing at home, you have to constantly work to make sure you and the horse are prepared. “ You have to ride your horse everyday, making sure that you and the horse are together,” said Kaufman, “ You can’t just get on your horse the day before the rodeo and expect him to perform like you want. You have to start months before the rodeo.” Rodeo is not a sport you can only practice whenever you feel like it, you have to be dedicated 24/7, there are no shortcuts to success.

So what is rodeo? Rodeo is a sport where your teammate is a 1200 pound animal with the ability to turn wild any moment, and you have to put in work everyday towards you and the horse to become a successful competitor.

Picture Credit: Ruby’s Inn