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Dubious Choices
Sells, Arizona
2025

Bronc riders choose that even knowing that they are probably quite often going to be thrown violently onto the ground by an unappreciative mount. Steer wrestlers on the other hand choose to intentionally throw themselves from their horse, counting on a steer (hopefully not its horns) to break their fall. Me, I wouldn’t choose either, even if I were still young and stupid. (Being old and stupid comes with a bit more caution in most cases.) Once in my twenties I jumped on the back of a larger donkey thinking it would be docile enough to ride bareback. He immediately advised me otherwise and I found myself dumped on the ground. Even after all these years, I still remember how much that hurt. If I had any ideas about how exciting it might be to participating in rodeo events (which I didn’t), that fall would have taken care of any such notions.

Hatless Cowboys #4
Sells, Arizona
2025

Safety Crew #2
Sells, Arizona
2025

The rodeo clown, another important member of the crew that keeps fallen cowboys safe. Rumor has it this guy also makes a pretty good stand-in for a missing or injured barrel during the barrel races, although we did not see him in that role.

Safety Crew #1
Sells, Arizona
2025

They don’t call these guys the safety crew, but one of their main jobs is to get the broncs away from a thrown rider as quickly as possible. After that, they’re simply wranglers trying to get the horse out of the arena as quickly as possible so that the next ride can begin.

Good Enough Vision
Sells, Arizona
2025

This cowboy is legally blind. (His vest says “Blind Bandid” on the back of it.) But his sight was good enough to know those kicking legs were uncomfortably close to him.

Cowboy Tube Man
Sells, Arizona
2025

You know what I’m talking about here. Not the best style to put in front of the judges I don’t imagine, but at least he kept his hat on the whole time, however short his ride was.

Hatless Cowboys #3
Sells, Arizona
2025

Hatless Cowboys #2
Sells, Arizona
2025

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.

Hatless Cowboys #1
Sells, Arizona
2025

At the end of our stay in Arizona, we went to a combination all-Indian rodeo, fair, and Indian pow-wow. The bronc riding even at the rodeo was the most fun to watch, and the most punishing to the participants (at least the cowboys, I’m not sure about the horses). In addition to having a hard time staying on the horses, the cowboys had a hard time keeping their hats on. The horses did a pretty good job of getting rid of both the cowboys and their hats, although the cowboys tended to stay on longer than their hats did.