# Cheyenne Rodeo kills???



## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

You might want to do a little more research before you jump on the wagon...


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Those videos are what, from 2008? I think.

This is an old subject


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

*pulls out the popcorn popper*

My opinion: before you jump on THAT bandwagon, get a job on a working ranch. Or don't, but don't go bashing our sport, cause we could just as easily bash yours. 

Please, OP, go on.

I double doggie dare you.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

OP, you might want to consider who makes those videos and uploads them. PETA, SHARK and ALF are extremists and terrorists that use shock value to influence opinions of those who do not know better.


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

I don't know much about rodeos, never really get to go see
/but I DO know, those bulls. The good ones at least
Are taken VERY good care of.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Broncs live a better life than most horses, LOL.


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## Reno Bay (Jul 8, 2012)

As I have never been behind the scenes of a rodeo, I cannot give any facts. I would _hope_ that the animals are well taken care of outside of the event. I can't really imagine that a horse or bull would enjoy bucking around like a maniac...though that's a far cry better than horse-tripping *cringe*


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Please do expand on this - offer facts, statistics and, most importantly, first hand information to support your claims....


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## WyomingRallyRacer (May 2, 2012)

I go to CFD every year (I live in the Cheyenne area) and what happens at CFD injury wise could happen every single rodeo I have seen.
The stock is very content, well fed, and love their jobs.
As I said on another thread. The only ones abused/roughed up is the cowboy/girls that compete

_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

The rodeo stock are carefully bred for their jobs, and they like it. It's like how drafts are bred to pull, racehorses are carefully bred to run, and so on. 

The horses and bulls are bred carefully, as I just said. Conformation, skills, disposition, ect, are all considered, just as if you were breeding saddle horses. 

And as for being treated well, I dont think I know a horse that wouldn't love the life of a bronc. What's so bad about being trailered around for while, bucking for a few seconds, run around the arena and putting on a show and hang out in the back pens and eating for the rest of the day until it's time to go to the next place? 


And the rest of the rodeo stock (calves, steers and bulls) they live a pretty good life too. Sure, some get hurt, but they just get sent to the feedlot and get eaten like any other cow, or if it's too bad for that, they'd get shot like any cow would on a ranch.
The bulls, in particular, get treated as good as the horses. They're pretty spoiled.

I'm sure you like your steak and leather saddles, so you just gotta face it and understand that raising cattle ain't sunshine and lollipops, and rodeo stock kind of get a "Get out of Jail Free" card XD


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

I dunno...looks pretty tough on the horses...(shamelessly borrowed from another thread)




























Thanks to the folks who posted on http://www.horseforum.com/horse-talk/oh-you-rode-horse-once-116522/














































Ah, rodeo...where sometimes it is payback time!


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## Reno Bay (Jul 8, 2012)

*shrugs* Maybe they do like their jobs.

I guess it's the bad places that ruin the reputation for the rest of 'em. Accidents can and will happen, Murphy's Law. I once saw a video of a bronc that flipped over and broke its back...poor thing was in obvious pain, trying to move its legs to get up, and these idiots just sat on its head and dragged it out of the ring O_O Yeah, dragging it out I could understand...but...sitting on it's head? Unless that serves some kind of purpose, I just don't get it.

Rodeo will probably never really be my thing, but as long as the animals aren't intentionally harmed I have no issues.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

Reno Bay said:


> *shrugs* Maybe they do like their jobs.
> 
> I guess it's the bad places that ruin the reputation for the rest of 'em. Accidents can and will happen, Murphy's Law. I once saw a video of a bronc that flipped over and broke its back...poor thing was in obvious pain, trying to move its legs to get up, and these idiots just sat on its head and dragged it out of the ring O_O Yeah, dragging it out I could understand...but...sitting on it's head? Unless that serves some kind of purpose, I just don't get it.
> 
> Rodeo will probably never really be my thing, but as long as the animals aren't intentionally harmed I have no issues.


Sitting on a horses head is actually a form of restraint to keep the horse down, I've had to do it before, and a horse has a lot of strength in its neck! If he can't get his head up, then he can't get up......sometimes it's cruel to be kind.

Also, had someone raving at me for a vid they saw of a man jumping up and down on a horses ribcage, it had apparently had a heart attack.....the man was doing 'equine' CPR.....and if your not breaking ribs on people or a horse during CPR then your not doing it right.....broken ribs - punctured lung? Or the alternative - cardiac arrest resulting in death???


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Reno Bay said:


> *shrugs* Maybe they do like their jobs.
> 
> I guess it's the bad places that ruin the reputation for the rest of 'em. Accidents can and will happen, Murphy's Law. I once saw a video of a bronc that flipped over and broke its back...poor thing was in obvious pain, trying to move its legs to get up, and these idiots just sat on its head and dragged it out of the ring O_O Yeah, dragging it out I could understand...but...sitting on it's head? Unless that serves some kind of purpose, I just don't get it.
> 
> Rodeo will probably never really be my thing, but as long as the animals aren't intentionally harmed I have no issues.


You sit on the head to keep them from beating their head on the ground. A horse will thrash trying to get up( they use their head for balance when getting up). They did the right thing by sitting on his head.


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## Tracer (Sep 16, 2012)

The bulls in particular at rodeos are treated as well as any world class performance horse. These animals are often a persons livelihood, and they can't make money if they get hurt.

I've seen injuries at rodeos, for sure. The worst human injury was a broken back. The worst animal injury was a horse tossing its head in the chute, catching on something and essentially slicing some skin down the front of its face. This horse was promptly released and ushered back to the pens to be treated.

As for the horses being abused... They are bred and trained to buck. Whereas your average riding horse would be praised for behaving, these horses are praised for 'misbehaving'. It's essentially bred into them. The old act of electric rods and such is very rarely used any more, and the annoyance of the flank strap is their cue to go. Take this for example - where I go trail riding acquired a drop dead gorgeous paint gelding a couple years ago I asked some questions, and found out that he was an ex bronc. He just didn't have the personality for it - he'd give a couple bucks then just plod around. He is one of the sweetest horses I've ever met, and almost anyone that knows the basics can ride him. Of course, you don't want to touch his flanks though xD

In terms of the calves and steers... I've seen more injuries at team penning, where in one weekend two calves had to be put down after slipping and breaking their backs.

A bigger concern in my opinion is the sport of bullfighting. That's inhumane no matter which way you look at it. If it goes right, the bull gets stabbed with spears and killed. If it goes wrong, the horse or rider gets gored. People should spend their time complaining about things like that.


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## Reno Bay (Jul 8, 2012)

COWCHICK77 said:


> You sit on the head to keep them from beating their head on the ground. A horse will thrash trying to get up( they use their head for balance when getting up). They did the right thing by sitting on his head.


But it wasn't able to move its head is the thing. So there was no need...it's injury was just that severe...


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Reno Bay said:


> But it wasn't able to move its head is the thing. So there was no need...it's injury was just that severe...


I am sure they were doing to just in case he decided to try to thrash or get up.

Sitting on their neck doesn't hurt them, you don't stick your knee in their windpipe. It is also a safety measure for those on the ground, if you ever had a horse or cow on the ground that wasn't restrained properly and they go to swinging their head they can easily break a leg or foot. I made the mistake once with a horned heifer and she punched a lovely hole in my boot. I was lucky she missed my pinky toe and she just caught the boot and sock


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## Reno Bay (Jul 8, 2012)

COWCHICK77 said:


> I am sure they were doing to just in case he decided to try to thrash or get up.
> 
> Sitting on their neck doesn't hurt them, you don't stick your knee in their windpipe. It is also a safety measure for those on the ground, if you ever had a horse or cow on the ground that wasn't restrained properly and they go to swinging their head they can easily break a leg or foot. I made the mistake once with a horned heifer and she punched a lovely hole in my boot. I was lucky she missed my pinky toe and she just caught the boot and sock


I guess even though he obviously was unable to really move save for twitch his legs they didn't know his spine was pretty much gone at that point.


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Reno Bay said:


> I guess even though he obviously was unable to really move save for twitch his legs they didn't know his spine was pretty much gone at that point.


With a situation like that you proceed as though the animal MIGHT get up, thrash, move, etc - it is for everyone's safety and to keep the animal as calm and controlled as possible until you can end their suffering. Even if you are 99.999999999% sure the animal is completely unable do so, you take necessary precautions to be sure they don't.


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

I believe sitting on a broken neck is done for protection, you can't talk to a horse and reason with it - heck we can do that with people and we still put them in a neck brace and back board.
They would have put the minimal weight possible on the horse to secure it. 

I believe that is the kind thing to do, and it's what I would do with my own horse or dog in that situation. 


The bucking horses at rodeos are worth at least 10 times the value of my horse. The very best are worth the value of my house. Of course, as with any animal, heck even children, wives etc there will be some abuse from sick people - but the majority are well taken care of. Usually at the very least, they are valuable and treated as such, at best they are genuinely cared about.


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## spurstop (Mar 22, 2012)

Reno Bay said:


> As I have never been behind the scenes of a rodeo, I cannot give any facts. I would _hope_ that the animals are well taken care of outside of the event. I can't really imagine that a horse or bull would enjoy bucking around like a maniac...though that's a far cry better than horse-tripping *cringe*



They quite enjoy it and are taken care of well. 

Brother, who is a famous bareback horse of JK's, was injured a few years ago (unrelated to bucking) and they had a rather expensive surgery done on him and turned him out for a year until he got well before bringing him back. Most horses needing a plate and screws would have probably been put down or would have suffered while the owner tried to heal it. They just took him in and had it done, kept him up until he wasn't sore, and kicked him out in the pasture to hang out with his buddies while he got well. He came back really strong and kept bucking.

Skoal's Frontier passed away in January of 2012 at 29 years old. He was famous not only for his bucking ability, but because he wore bell boots. His owner noticed that he was bucking well as a young horse because he was knocking himself, so they put bell boots on him and the rest is history. He retired from bucking at 21. Khadafy Skoal was retired at 21 at the same time as Frontier, and he's still living out his days (and was inducted into the Hall of Fame). 

A friend of mine raises bucking bulls and actually bucked some of his stock at Cheyenne over the summer. Those bulls are about as pampered as you can imagine. One of his bulls is really cool -- outside of the arena, his 10 year old daughter can pet on him, feed him treats, and even has sat on him. When he goes into the chute and the music is on, he is a different bull. He knows what his job is and he gets in the zone. He gets amped up for it. 

When I die, I'm either coming back as a halter horse, a bucking bull, or a rich old woman's lap dog, because those ones seem to have the life.


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

Animals are killed everyday in every situation. Trail rides, rodeos, horse racing, shows,getting out of pasture and killed by vehicle, running through the pasture and breaking leg, colic, etc. Dogs are killed in the line of duty, running loose and getting hit by cars, they bloat and die. 
You hold an animal down, any animal down to keep it from hurting itself. It is not cruel. You can't say" please horse, lay still till the vet comes" You can't tell and injured dog not to bite. It is in their genetic makeup to get up and run. That is why race horses that have broken legs, if they can, will get up and try to finish the race.
Accidents happen and that is life. There are not many sports that are cruel, accidents happen and the animals are treated extremely well.
(exceptions to that would be horse tripping for sport, bull fighting for sport, etc)
PETA, SHARK, HSUS all try to make it look like the animals are killed for sport, not the animals are killed/injured while doing some performance event.


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## WyomingRallyRacer (May 2, 2012)

If stock is not taken care of then they don't perform.
If they don't perform, people won't be interested in watching.
If no one watches, no one makes money.
Its in the stock contractors and rodeo producers best interest to take care of them.


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

Reno Bay said:


> As I have never been behind the scenes of a rodeo, I cannot give any facts. I would _hope_ that the animals are well taken care of outside of the event. I can't really imagine that a horse or bull would enjoy bucking around like a maniac...though that's a far cry better than horse-tripping *cringe*


It's actually really interesting to watch the stock at a rodeo- you can always tell the experienced ones from the rookie stock. The experienced stock go, do their job for their 8 seconds, then quit and jog over to the chute to go back to their hay. They know their job and exactly how hard they need to work. The young stock will goof around and burn a lot of energy running about. I wish I only had to work 8 seconds at a time!


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