Tied On Tight
Sells, Arizona
2025
Most of the cowboys in the bronc riding even were unsuccessful (sometimes spectacularly so) in staying on their horse for the required eight seconds. Despite appearances however, this guy (the same as in yesterday’s post) did make it the required time, and he put on quite a show of it. Using continuous shooting mode on my camera, I got about 30 shots of him during his ride. In the first six or seven he looked very much in control of the situation. But in the rest of the photos he looked as gone from that horse as he does in this one, or worse. In each one you would swear the next photo would show him on the ground. But he kept hanging on with this right hand, with the rest of his body flopping back and forth all over the place. I don’t know how many style points he got, but it was an impressive eight seconds of acrobatics. I also imagine he immediately went and iced his wrist and arm given how much abuse it took.
It’s amazing how clear these photos are despite the obvious action. Guess it’s the challenge but hard for me to imagine why you’d put your body through such abuse/risk. 8 seconds doesn’t sound like a long time but in this situation it probably seems like a long time.
A bright day and fast shutter speeds is what makes the photos so sharp despite the movement. I think there are a lot of old rodeo cowboys out there who are also wondering why anyone would put their body through such abuse. I’m sure all the old injuries have a way of catching up with them as they age.