Barrel Racing 101: A Complete Program for Horse and Rider
by Marlene McRae
from The Lyons Press
Wild Ride
by Joel Bernstein
from Gibbs Smith, Publisher
Wild Ride presents a fascinating history of rodeo from its rugged beginnings in Mexico to today's professional circuits. This book captures the mystique of the cowboy and his place in Western folklore, from the early days when groups of cowboys from neighboring ranches met to settle arguments over who was the best at performing ranching tasks to the multimillion-dollar prizes and endorsements awarded to today's professionals all over the world including Canada, Brazil, and Australia.
Blacktop Cowboys: Riders on the Run for Rodeo Gold
by Ty Phillips
from Thomas Dunne Books
Steer wrestling is an adventure that entails riding into an arena at 25 mph, sliding off a horse while taking hold of a 500-pound steer, and then throwing the animal to the ground. The best cowboys often accomplish all this in less than four seconds. The two main characters of Blacktop Cowboys are Luke Branquinho, a young carefree cowboy on a quest for his first title, and his best friend, Travis Cadwell, a veteran trying to make the NFR one last time.
Chasing the Rodeo: On Wild Rides and Big Dreams, Broken Hearts and Broken Bones, and One Man's Search for the West
by W. K. Stratton
from Harvest Books
The rodeo is in W.K. Stratton's blood. He attended his first one in utero just days before he was born (on Will Rogers birthday, naturally). He is also the son of a bull-riding cowboy that left him and his mother when Stratton was an infant. The search for this elusive "rodeo bum" father is an underlying theme of Chasing the Rodeo but its main focus is on the action in the ring. Stratton spent a year following the professional rodeo and bull-riding tours and he explores the circuit with a keen and sympathetic eye. He writes about the history of the sport and its place in the mythology of the West, cowboy legends, current stars, and classic rodeo towns, such as Prescott, Arizona, and Pecos, Texas--both of which claim the title as the true birthplace of rodeo. He also looks at the growing popularity of rodeo and bull-riding and what it means for its future now that major events have corporate sponsors and are held in Las Vegas casinos rather than fairgrounds. While acknowledging that the big money prizes are good for the athletes, Stratton worries that marketing considerations will force the sport away from the very traditions that make it interesting. As proof, he bemoans the fact that helmets and Nike shoes are starting to replace Western hats and boots at some rodeos. Still, he encounters plenty of true Western spirit and memorable characters during his journey to keep his love for the rodeo alive and his enthusiasm for his subject proves contagious. Even those who have never considered attending a rodeo will likely find themselves enthralled by this wild ride of a book. --Shawn Carkonen
As much a tribute to the famed characters of the old West-Freckles Brown, Lucille Mulhall (the first cowgirl), Wild Bill Hickok, Lane Frost-as it is a riveting look at today's superstars who are triumphantly rocketing the sport to NASCAR fan levels, Chasing the Rodeo is a bucking, riveting, glorious ride.
Rodeo in America: Wranglers, Roughstock, & Paydirt
by Wayne S. Wooden
from University Press of Kansas
Rodeo in America celebrates a great national pastime and tradition. Taking the reader "behind the chutes," Wayne Wooden and Gavin Ehringer reveal the essential character of rodeo culture today and show why it retains such a strong hold on the American imagination.
As the authors detail, contemporary rodeo has evolved into a much publicized big-time phenomenon even as it strives to stay close to its fundamental cowboy roots. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) now sanctions 750 to 800 annual rodeos worth more than $22 million in prize money, attended by nearly 20 million spectators, and watched by millions more on ESPN and TNN. The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) alone offers more than $2 million in prize money and is attended by 170,000 spectators every December in Las Vegas.
Filled with telling anecdotes and insightful observations, the authors highlight rodeo's glamour and glory, hazards and hardships, while clarifying its many dimensions as sport, profession, business, community event, family tradition, and pop cultural icon. Bareback and bull riders, calf ropers and steer wrestlers, barrel racers and saddle bronc busters, bullfighters and arena clowns, stock breeders and local organizers, judges and journalists, the famous and aspiring, winners and losers--all are given their due in a work that reflects the enormous allure and demands of rodeo life.
Based on research and interviews conducted at the National Finals, as well as at rodeos large and small in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Cheyenne, Calgary, Dodge City, Pendleton, and Prescott, among many others, Rodeo in America provides an entertaining and highly readable guide for aficionados and novices alike.
Professional Bull Riding Fan Guide
by Stephen Linn
from Sports Publishing LLC
Professional Bull Riding?? is the fastest-growing sport in America, with television viewership and event attendance nearly doubling over the past decade. The PBR Fan Guide is the ultimate resource for fans of this growing sport. Author Stephen Linn guides fans through all aspects of the PBR. The guide includes a PBR 101 section, which details the history of the sport, the lifestyle of the riders on the tour, and the key names???both cowboys and bull athletes. Also included is a section providing fans all the details needed to understand the sport, including rules, what happens where in an arena, how judges score, how riders earn their money, and more. There is a section on tailgating, featuring recipes from some of the best-known names in bull riding. The book closes with a travel section, providing fans everything they need to hit the road and enjoy their next PBR event. Including an introduction by Flint Rasmussen, the seven-time Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association Clown of the Year,
Ring of Fire : The Guts and Glory of the Professional Bull Riding Tour
from Triumph Books
Cowgirls: Early Images And Collectibles (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
by Judy Crandall
from Schiffer Publishing
The saga of the American cowgirl, unlike that of the cowboy, is not well-chronicled, but their history is as appealing as it is colorful. The First Ladies from the Great American West live again in this comprehensive pictorial chronicle. Many of the photos are printed here for the first time. Detailed captions provide the reader with rodeo lore, as well as biographical accomplishments of these extraordinary women never before presented in a cohesive format. A true reference work, Cowgirls: Early Images and Collectibles includes three dimensional collectibles along with hundreds of original photos which pay tribute to these dedicated, gallant women. This volume is a joy for the serious Western/Americana collector, and fascinating to anyone interested in women's history.
Team Penning: A Guide to Competing Successfully In The Popular Sport
by Phil Livingston
from Western Horseman
Buffalo Bill's Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History
by Joy S. Kasson
from Hill and Wang
Canada, and Europe. Crowds cheered as cowboys and Indians--and Annie Oakley!--galloped past on spirited horses, sharpshooters exploded glass balls tossed high in the air, and cavalry troops arrived just in time to save a stagecoach from Indian attack. Vivid posters on billboards everywhere made William Cody, the show's originator and star, a world-renowned figure.
Joy S. Kasson's important new book traces Cody's rise from scout to international celebrity, and shows how his image was shaped. Publicity stressed his show's "authenticity" yet audiences thrilled to its melodrama; fact and fiction converged in a performance that instantly became part of the American tradition.
But how, precisely, did that come about? How, for example, did Cody use his audience's memories of the Civil War and the Indian wars? He boasted that his show included participants in the recent conflicts it presented theatrically, yet he also claimed it evoked "memories" of America's bygone greatness. Kasson's shrewd, engaging study--richly illustrated--in exploring the disappearing boundary between entertainment and public events in American culture, shows us just how we came to imagine our memories.
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