 How to Speak "Rodeo"
As with most specialized sports and professions, rodeo has its own lingo (terms and phrases that have a definition unique to rodeo. The following list will provide some insight into the vernacular of rodeo and aid in the understanding of the sport:
Barrier
-
A rope stretched across the front end of the box from which the roper's or steer wrestler's horse emerges. The barrier drops when the calf or steer achieves a predetermined head start.
Biting the Dust
-
Being thrown from a horse or a bull.
Buckaroo
-
A cowboy who does ranch work for a living. In contrast, a professional rodeo cowboy's occupation is rodeo competition.
Champion
-
The winner of the most money at any rodeo event.
High Roller
-
A horse that leaps high into the air when bucking.
Crow Hops
-
Mild bucking motions.
Bull-Dogger
-
The slang term for a steer wrestler.
Hazer
-
A cowboy who rides along beside a steer on the opposite side of the steer wrestler. His job is to keep the steer running in a straight line and close to the contestant's horse.
Flagman
-
The rodeo official who signals the end of time elapsed in timed events.
Hooey
-
A half-hitch knot used to tie a calf's legs together in calf roping.
Hang-up
-
When a bull rider falls off the bull opposite his riding hand which becomes stuck or "hung-up" in his bull rope.
Pick-up Man
-
A mounted cowboy who helps bareback and saddle bronc riders off when the ride is completed and leads the horse out of the arena.
Rowel
-
A small wheel with radiating points that form the extremity of a cowboy's spur. In rodeo, rowels are required to be free-wheeling and blunt.
Go-round
-
A round of rodeo competition. A rodeo in which each contestant competes once has one go-round.
Average
-
The aggregate or total score for each contestant at a rodeo with more than one go-round
Pulling Leather
-
When a bronc rider holds on to any part of the saddle, he is said to be "pulling leather." This disqualifies a saddle bronc rider if it is done before the eight-second ride is completed.
Seeing Daylight
-
When the rider leaves the seat on a bucking horse.
Hog
-
An expression bull-riders use to describe a large, unagile bull that is not considered a good draw.
Tenderfoot
-
What you are if you did not know the meaning of these words.
|
Tucson Rodeo Parade & Museum
Author: Paul L Grimes. Published by Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee (January 1, 1991)
Stories, memories, tales since 1925
|
|
|
Western Wear
Tucson Rodeo & Parade Books
|
|
|
|
|
