Summer is prime rodeo season, and a must-see event happens in baker every year. Get ready for bronc and bullriding this july!
The Baker City Bronc & Bull Riding committee originated its event in 1995 to produce a one-day bull riding to raise funds for charity. The bronc and bull riding event is Baker City’s largest annual event. The bull riding consists of multiple entrants in the first go-around. Of those, the top 10 riders by qualified ride and score advance to the final championship go-around. The one-day saddle bronc riding competition was added in 1997. The bronc riding consists of multiple entrants in the first go-around. The top 10 qualifiers in the first go-around advance to a winner-take-all championship go-round. Contestants in each event will be competing for $25,000 in total prize money.
The events have attracted cowboys from throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.
Mark your calendars: Bronc and Bullriding returns to Baker City July 17-18.
Saddle Bronc Riding
Rodeo’s classic event – saddle bronc riding was truly born in the Old West, where ranch cowboys would test themselves against one another and unbroken horses.
Rodeo contestants attempt to ride a bucking horse (bronco) for eight seconds. The horse is equipped with a regulation saddle with stirrups and a six-foot braided rein attached to a halter and held with one hand. The rider must “mark out” (position the spurs over the horse’s shoulders) until after the first jump to give the horse the advantage.
The rider’s spurs have no sharp edges, and the more the contestant spurs the horse, the higher the score.
Disqualification occurs if the rider loses the stirrup or rein, is touched by the free hand or touches the horse or any part of the equipment with the free hand or is bucked off before the whistle blows. The rider is scored by judges for skill, control and technique, and the horse is scored for difficulty. The two scores are combined, and the rider with the highest total wins.
Judges score the horse’s bucking action and the cowboy’s control of the horse combined with his spurring action.
Bullriding
Bull riding is perhaps one of the most exciting and unpredictable events to watch. A cowboy tries to ride a bull for eight seconds while holding a bull rope looped around the bull’s midsection with only one hand.
The rider wraps a section of the flat rope around one hand and wrist, as well as back across the gloved palm, locks the fingers down, and sits with arm bent before the bull is released from the chute. No stirrups, bridle, or saddle are used; the rider’s arm absorbs the full force of the bull’s bucking. A weighted cow bell attached to the rope pulls it free when the ride is over.
The rider is not required to spur, but doing so may result in a higher score. Disqualification occurs if the free hand touches the rider’s body, the equipment, or the bull, or if the rider is bucked off before the whistle blows. Scoring is based on a possible perfect score of 100 points, with half deriving from the contestant’s efforts and half the bull’s. Sounds simple enough but it’s not.