Bucking mad about rodeos

The country's best bull riders, steer wrestlers, and bareback riders will be struttin' their stuff at the Manfield Agri-Event stadium in Feilding this weekend for New Zealand's championship final rodeo, JILL GALLOWAY reports.

Rodeoing is not for the faint-hearted. Riding bulls, wrestling steers, roping calves and riding a bucking horse bareback is more about the adrenaline rush than the prize money or kudos.

That's what the Bird family from Kimbolton say, and they should know. They are among a handful of people who breed bucking bulls for bullriding.

The Birds have been involved in rodeos for years.

The Parklee bullriding operation is run by Roger Bird, his wife Karen, and their son Shane.

Coming up with bulls that buck is essential for the riders, who have to last a maximum of eight seconds on a bull. Riders hold on to a special rope with one hand. The other hand is used for balance and is not allowed to touch the bull, or the rider's body. If it does the rider is immediately disqualified.

The bull rushes out of a chute, rider on top, and then all hell breaks lose.

Judges award marks for the cowboy's ride and the bull's bucking ability. So finding a laid-back bull – if there is such a thing – is not an option.

Good bucking bulls are not mad as many people presume, Mrs Bird says, rather they are quiet in the paddock, and good to handle.

"The truck drivers say they would rather transport these bulls for rodeos than friesian bulls which scrap all the time in confined spaces," she says.

Once a bull throws a rider it is happy to walk away, rather than cause any more damage to the person it just dislodged, Mrs Bird says.

"It's a sport to the bulls. They are not mad at all. But they do get excited the night before a rodeo," she says.

While the bulls are not mad or bad, they are dangerous. Many riders sport scars from injuries received when a bull's horn pierced skin or suffer broken bones, cuts and grazes.

Some gun riders in the United States have died from injuries they got riding bulls.

But performance is fun for the bulls and the good ones know what is expected once in the chute. Some of the best bulls are trucked from the Kimbolton farm to Gisborne, Opotiki, Bulls, Masterton, and Hawera.

Getting bulls that buck well consistently has been a bit hit and miss. Some of the Birds' best buckers have been from a line of young bulls brought in from the saleyards. Some have been straight friesians, some bits of other breeds.

As well as bulls, with names like Shudder and Dustbuster, the Birds have a core 45 breeding cows, which they have running with a brahman-cross-romangnola bull.

"Over the years, brahman bloodlines have been consistently good at bucking," Shane Bird says, so they are trying to guarantee more good bucking bulls by having their own herd.

Breeding their own, should shorten the odds Shane Bird and father Roger Bird hope.

And a good strike rate of buckers – "100 per cent" Shane Bird laughs. In reality it is likely to be 60 per cent, his Dad says.

"If it was 100 per cent, we'd only need about 20 cows," Roger Bird says.

Are bull calves the most desirable then? "No, we need good heifers too, to be the basis of the breeding herd," he says.

They can be tested to see what their bucking ability is with a mock rider – actually it is a weight which is tied on, with the young bull, or heifer trying to dislodge it.

"If a heifer shows bucking ability, it is more likely her offspring will show that too," Roger Bird says.

Sometimes straight friesians will buck but only about one in 100 do, Shane Bird says.

`If they stay bucking, the bulls go into the rodeo line. Ideally we're looking for something that will do at least six to eight seasons," he says.

A good-bucking bull gets to live a long time, provided he keeps on bucking and doesn't injure himself.

"Once they stop bucking, they become hamburgers," Roger Bird laughs.

"Shudder is one of our best, he's a and is about seven years old. Another bull operation has one bull that is still bucking well and he is over 10. Shudder must be close to 900 kilograms, " Roger Bird says.

We checked out the bulls from the farm ute. Some had attitude, keeping an eye on us, heads held high. They were often the best bucking bulls, and one young one, as yet unnamed, kept us in his gaze.

Some of the bulls were in a paddock with a donkey.

"He's the enforcer. If any bull starts getting stroppy, the donkey sorts him out," said Roger Bird says.

Talk soon moved back to bucking bulls and it seemed there was no easy bull to ride.

At a rodeo, the riders draw a bull. It is random.

"Some people think a big bull is harder to ride because he has more power. Smaller bulls are often more agile," Shane Bird says.

Was he a bull rider?

"I tried it, but I wasn't very good."

What about Roger Bird?

"I did a bit when I was a young fella."

Neither claimed bullriding was their forte, But breeding the bulls and training riders is a big deal for them.

"Parklee brings over an experienced bullriding coach from Australia each year and runs two training workshops of two days each for interested riders," Roger Bird says.

It started when the Birds' youngest son started riding bulls when he was 16, and had no training.

They set about rectifying that, giving bull riders a chance to learn without a crowd watching.

The youngest riders they have had for training are 13- and 14-year-olds. The oldest was over 30 – Davey Hughes, from Swazi in Levin. His ride was 1.9 seconds.

Parklee also runs a bullriding contest each year.

But that is separate from its training school. There you can also learn to be a bullfighter or rodeo clown.

This is a specialist field, as clowns have to be very skilled. Their job is to entertain, but mainly to protect the rider.

So do family members worry about someone being hurt, in such a dangerous pastime as rodeoing?

"Only mums," Shane Bird says. "It is better to tell your mother how many stitches you got, rather than ring her from the hospital when you're getting stitched up. "

Rodeos and bullriding are really big in the United States, home of the cowboy.

There, students can get rodeo scholarships to go to university.

"The money is good enough to mean good rodeo people can be professional. It's huge in the US. They have been breeding bulls for years and have a breed that is called American bucking bull," the Birds say.

But rodeos are not so huge in New Zealand.

"You do see the same people at competitions every weekend."

They hope Friday and Saturday's national championships will attract more people because it is being held after the Central Districts Field Days, and those supporters will still be in Feilding.

The six main sections of a rodeo

Bareback

The rider attempts to stay on the back of his horse using only his balance and a suitcase-type handhold, known as rigging. There is no saddle.

Steer wrestling

Steer wrestling, or bulldogging as it is sometimes known, has the objective of the steer wrestler using his technique and strength to wrestle the steer to the ground, in the fastest time possible.

Barrel racing

A female-only event, the objective is to ride a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels as quickly as possible. The time starts when a barrel racer crosses electronic timers on her horse. She then heads for the barrels and makes sharp turns around them.

Team roping

This is the only team event in a rodeo. There are two ropers, a header and heeler. They aim to rope a steer and start on the back of their horses in the timed event.

Saddle bronc

This is the event that started rodeo. It originated from the necessary job of breaking in and training horses to be used on ranches in the days of the Wild West. The rider holds on to a braided buck rein which is attached to the horse's halter. Like in other rough stock events he can hold on with only one hand, as touching anything with his free arm will get him disqualified. He holds on to this rein while trying to keep himself squarely and securely in the saddle while the horse bucks.

Bull riding

This is usually the last event to be held at a rodeo, and is the most dangerous. The rider holds on to a flat braided rope with one gloved hand, this rope is known as a bull rope. It is wrapped around the bull's chest, just behind the bull's front legs. The rope has a bell attached to it which helps the rope come loose and fall off after the rider has dismounted. Bull riders may wear helmets, and some do.

Calf riders

You have to be under 40kg and those who weigh more but are under 15 years, may move on to junior steer or junior bull riding.

GENERAL

There are divisions for rodeo contestants.

Rookie is for beginners; Second division is for those who have earned less than $2500; Open is for those who have earned more than that.

Total earnings for a good rodeo winner in New Zealand might be $12,000 to $13,000 in a season, which runs from October to March.

The costs of competing and the gear, usually exceed what is won. Chaps cost about $500; Spurs $80; Gloves $80; Bronc saddle $3000; Bull rope $500; Boots, hats, and western shirts, cost whatever you want to spend on looking right.

Then there is the cost of getting horses to rodeos, or paying someone if their horse is used. It has to be housed and fed. Then there is accommodation for contestants.

Some contestants go to rodeos in both the North and South islands and transport is not cheap.

Competing in rodeos is an expensive business, so they are not in it for the money.

- © Fairfax NZ News