Today, rodeos are performed by professional athletes competing for big stakes in huge arena filled with cheering fans. Present day rodeo has come a long way since it’s origin in the 1800’s. But whether it was a hundred years ago or today, it takes a special kind of cowboy or cowgirl to live the rodeo life.

Rodeo means “to surround” in Spanish. During the late 1700’s and early 1800’s Spain held much of the land that is the American west. At this time there was a flourishing cattle market. Skilled horseman were needed to handle and manage herds. Spanish padres passed on their skills and expertise to workers, known as vaqueros. After the Civil War the cattle herds spread throughout the west. It was then that the ranks of the American cowboy grew.

Today's rodeo got its start when cowboys would annually round up and brand cattle. Cowboys worked driving cattle to the stockyards of fast-growing towns. This event was always an occasion for display of horsemanship and roping. When the roundup work was done, there was usually an exhibition and contest of skills by the cowboys. In these days there were many informal competitions between cowboys in the stockyards. Cowboys would challenge each other to see who was the best at bronco busting, cutting a cow, or roping. Spectators gathered to watch the action.

Americas fascination with the wild west was turned into a business when showmen like Buffalo Bill Cody began to organize these events. There stock horse shows or rodeos began popping up in small towns all over the west. However, this era was short-lived. Railroad cars replaced cattle drives and open range land was divided by barb wire. Even though the need for a good cowboys to drive and roundup cattle was diminishing, rodeos continued to be held and today are the remnants of that era still living on. The lusty blood of the cowman is not dead. It surges through the veins of the rodeo cowboy, and gives life to the sport that makes a focal point of the west, still leaping, pitching, and twisting in the golden sunlight of the rodeo arena.

The cowboys that made their living competing in rodeos saw a need to set standards, establish rules and make regulations for the events. The present day PRCA traces its roots back to 1936, they were then called the Cowboy’s Turtles Association. There were two reasons for this: they were slow to organize but finally stuck their necks out for what they believed was right. In 1945 they changed their name to the RCA and in 1975 they became the PRCA. Rodeos throughout the country may vary when it comes to the events they have. The most popular rodeo events consist of three rough stock riding events. These are bull riding, which is the most dangerous, bareback bronc riding, and saddle bronc riding. There are four main timed events, these are team roping, calf roping, steer wrestling, and barrel racing which is dominated by female equestrians.

Author Unknown