By KATIE LACKEY
Student Writer
He pushes his hat down snug around his head. He climbs into the bucking chute and slowly slides down on to his saddle. He nods his head. The gate pulls open. The horse explodes out of the chute. The announcer’s voice roars and the crowd goes wild just like the dust on the arena floor.
It was always Robert Etbauer’s dream to ride a saddle bronc horse at the National Finals Rodeo. Etbauer started competing in professional rodeo in 1985. By 1988, Etbauer made his dream a reality. He went on to ride many bucking horses at the NFR, and he won world titles in 1990 and 1991.
To a spectator, rodeo may look as though it has moved through time unchanged, but the sport is not what it used to be. What began as a way to showcase one’s cowboy skills has now become a multimillion-dollar sport.
According to the Texas State Historical Association, the town of Pecos, Texas, was the first rodeo to give prizes in 1883 and Prescott, Arizona, was the first rodeo to charge admission in 1888. One of the earliest cowboy organizations was the Cowboys Turtle Association established Nov. 16, 1939. Rumors said the name was given because of how slow all the cowboys were to unite. Regardless of the name, this association was the beginning of what would later morph into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
Gary Ledford, a nine-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier back in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, was in his tractor cutting hay on a Wednesday afternoon in September. His days of bright lights and long all-night drives are over.
“Back then we had directors [in the PRCA] that had authority,” Ledford said. “It doesn’t seem like directors have as much authority now as they did.”
Back in the ‘70s, the PRCA board of directors were all elected and were not paid a salary like they are today.
“Stock contractors and committees have more control now than what they did when I was going,” Ledford said.
Ted Harbin, founder of Rodeo Media Relations, agreed with Ledford’s opinion of the stock contractors hand in rodeo.
“It is still a stock-contractor-guided board of directors,” Harbin said. “The board is askew from where it needs to be. It needs to be a higher representation of its highest membership, which would be its competitors, and it’s not.”
Harbin lends the PRCA’s lack of growth to part of the problem.
“PRCA has changed minimally and has not grown with the times as need be,” Harbin said. “But as a governing body, it is still the preeminent governing body in the sport of rodeo. It garners the support, but there needs to be some tweaks that happen.”
Stockton Graves, a seven-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and rodeo coach at NWOSU, built his life around the PRCA.
“They are the best thing we have got,” Graves said. “My career has been through professional rodeo, and I wouldn’t be here without them. I think there could obviously be improvements, and they could be better to the cowboys.”
His perspective on the PRCA as a governing body has changed over the years.
“I know when I was 22 I didn’t care what they did up there; I just wanted to rodeo and make the NFR,” Graves said. “As a 38-year-old semi-retired, looking back on it, I feel like I should have gotten more out of my career.”
Guy Forell, a former professional bareback rider and bull rider in the ‘80s, has seen the PRCA be forced to evolve over the years.
“They have really had to adapt,” Forell said. ”Part of the adaptation is because of the individual events, like the Professional Bull Riders. They have challenged [PRCA] with coverage of the same events, and they are competing with those same dollars. The American, a rodeo in Texas, has also really made the PRCA step up competitively and try to figure out how to get those media dollars and more money for the contestants.”
Professional Bull Riders was founded in 1992, and according its website, it is one of the fastest growing sports properties in the world. The American is the newest of the three sanctions. It is a one-day event that pays out $2 million.
“And back in the ‘80s, [the PRCA] was an organization that the cowboys put together collectively so they could get the rules and livestock consistent,” Forell said. “Nowadays it is all about marketing and how many dollars can we grab. So that is probably the biggest change— everyone is competing for dollars.”
As the PRCA changed over time, so did its members.
Ledford said: “I really believe guys were closer to each other. They were friendlier, we borrowed horses off each other, we got in each other’s rigs and everybody seemed to be tickled when you won. It wasn’t just all about me. We really had a good group of guys. They were probably more consistent than they are today. We didn’t tie calves as fast because we roped over longer scores and bigger calves.”
The comradery among cowboys wasn’t the only aspect that underwent a change.
“The guys dress a whole lot fancier,” Ledford said with a chuckle. “They wear boots that cost more than my first horse did. They are just a higher class now. We didn’t iron our britches; we would just go to the laundry, throw them in, wash them and put them on. Today, everyone has to have starched jeans and alligator boots to rope. It has changed a lot.”
Forell didn’t start his professional rodeo career until almost a decade after Ledford, and he could note obvious changes as well.
“A lot of [competitors] were just cowboys and farmers that started that way,” Forell said. “They just didn’t have the athletics that they have nowadays. The young people now are really conditioning. They spend a lot of time in the weight room. Back then, you just showed up. Athletics wasn’t that big of a deal; you just had to know livestock. We didn’t realize how important [conditioning] was back in that day.”
Forell mentioned knowing livestock because every event in rodeo involves livestock. The importance of livestock in rodeo cannot be ignored, and it had its fair share of changes as well.
From a steer wrestler’s perspective, Graves said it has become more difficult to get quality steers. Steer wrestler’s prefer large-horned and large-framed steers for their event.
Graves said the growth in the team-roping event has affected the ability to find large quality steers for steer wrestling
Ledford said they roped much larger calves in the ‘70s and not only were the calves larger, they were usually fresh and inconsistent.
“They are cross breeding calves now, and these calves probably run a lot harder than they did when I was going,” Ledford said. “We used to rope a lot of native calves.”
The calves weren’t Ledford’s only concern as he also had his horse power to consider.
“I don’t think you have to have as good of a horse as you did then,” Ledford said. “We had to have hard stopping horses. We had to jerk calves down.”
The equine athletes of rodeo have also seen changes over the years.
Professional barrel racer Ivy Hurst said: “I think it is getting micromanaged down to the hundredth of a second when it comes to preparing your horse and the things that we can do. The medicine and care for [the horses] has gotten better, and just people talking to one another and becoming more aware.”
As barrel racers were becoming more aware of their horses, stock contractors were working on their horses as well.
Harbin said, “Back in the late ‘80s, there were a lot of good bucking horses, but now you have a lot more of those elite bucking horses and that allows for better opportunities for cowboys to cash in.”
Since rodeo competitors in all events of rodeo use livestock to make a living, the sport does not go without its critics. PETA, the largest animal rights organization in the world, is known as an adversary of rodeo.
The PRCA livestock program administrator Jed Pugsly said: “Every once in a great while, we have some issues with activists from these large animal rights organizations. They are openly against rodeo or animal usage in general. They will always be against rodeo, and we will always be against them. They are trying to shut down not only our livelihood, but who we are as individuals and people. We are to the point where we just have to agree to disagree. We know we are doing what is best for our animals.”
Pugsly was right when he said rodeo is more than just a livelihood. Etbauer’s bronc riding career has long been over, but his involvement with rodeo has continued as he coaches the Oklahoma Panhandle Rodeo Team.
“[Rodeo] has been a good, long road, and I have enjoyed every minute of it,” Etbauer said. “I have met a lot of really good people and seen a lot of beautiful country.”