Rodeo Terms Explained: A Working Glossary for an Evening at the Cody Nite Rodeo
Published
- For
- First-time watchers
- Covers
- Announcer terms
- Use
- Read before you go
Rodeo commentary assumes a shared vocabulary. These are the terms that do most of the work at Cody.
The ride
Mark out: in bareback and saddle bronc, the rider’s spurs must be above the horse’s shoulders when its front feet land out of the chute. Miss it and the ride does not count.
Rank: hard to ride. Said of an animal, and meant as praise.
The draw: which animal a competitor has been allocated. The draw is a substantial part of a rider’s night.
Covered: completed the required eight seconds.
The people
Pickup men: mounted riders who collect a bronc rider off the horse at the end of a qualified ride and clear the animal from the arena.
Hazer: in steer wrestling, the second rider who keeps the steer running straight so the wrestler can make the catch.
Bullfighter: protects a thrown bull rider. Not the clown, though the costume overlaps.
The money
Day money: the payout for the best result in a single performance, as distinct from the overall standing across a whole rodeo.
Entry fees: what competitors pay to take part. They fund the purse, which is why the sport is self-financing and why a rider who does not place has lost money.
The arena
The chute: the gated pen a bucking animal is released from. The score line is the barrier point in timed events, and the catch pen at the far end is where stock is collected after a run.
The grand entry opens the performance, with riders circling the arena behind the flag. It is ceremonial, not competitive, and it is the point at which most first-time visitors work out that the evening has a fixed shape they can follow.
Terms that only make sense once
A handful of words carry more meaning than their length suggests, and they are the ones that leave a first-time spectator behind.
Mark out. In the two bronc events the rider must have both spurs set above the animal’s shoulders as it leaves the chute, and hold them there until its front feet land. Miss it and there is no score, however good the following eight seconds were.
The barrier. In the timed events a rope across the box gives the animal its head start. Leaving before it releases carries a ten-second penalty, which no timed run survives.
Turn out. A competitor who has entered and does not compete. It carries a fine, because the rodeo has built its performance around the entry.
Day money. What is paid for the best result in a single performance, as opposed to the average, which is the aggregate across the whole rodeo. A cowboy can win one and place nowhere in the other.
Permit. The status a competitor holds before full membership, and the reason the arena sometimes holds people you have never heard of who are visibly very good.
Scoring language
Marked out and covered describe a legal ride. A no-score means the ride did not count, whether through a missed mark-out, a touch with the free hand, or coming off early. Split is what happens to the day money when two competitors tie, which at hundredths of a second is rarer than it sounds.
The average. The aggregate across every round of a rodeo, and the thing the serious money is usually attached to. A cowboy can win a single performance outright and finish nowhere in the average, or place third every round and take the rodeo. Announcers use the word constantly and almost never explain it.
Common questions
What does it mean to mark out a horse?
In bareback and saddle bronc riding, the rider's spurs must be above the horse's shoulders when its front feet first hit the ground out of the chute. Failing to do it disqualifies the ride.
What is a rank bull?
One that is very hard to ride. It is a compliment to the animal and good news for a rider's potential score, because the bull's difficulty is half the mark.
What does 'the average' mean at a rodeo?
The aggregate over all rounds, as against any single performance. Winning one night outright and placing nowhere overall is an ordinary result, and so is placing third every round and taking the whole thing.
What is day money?
The payout for the best result in a single performance, as distinct from the overall standing across a whole rodeo. Entry fees are what competitors pay to take part, and they fund the purse — which is why the sport is self-financing, and why a rider who does not place has lost money on the night.