The Independent-News, Volume 93, Number 49, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 2 May 1968 — Page 17

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Professional rodeo long has been identified with the West and southwest. Among family farms of the Midwest, however, the horse railer pulled behind a car or pickup truck only recently has attracted । ttention. The rodeo circuit is long, hot, and dusty. Contestants and their amilies must be mobile and hardy. Orrville, Ohio, cowboy Bill Cuningham, a director of the Midwest Cowboys’ Association, reports that we cowboys wear out a car or pickup truck each year, towing a horse railer on the rodeo circuit. He drove 40,000 miles in the 1967 rodeo Lason. What kind of men are rodeo cowboys in the Midwest? Generally, n hey are not farmers, although most live on small farms in rural areas, ;ays Cunningham. He notes that no single occupation is typical of a I- 'odeo contestant. Nearly all cowboys have jobs which allow them to e schedule long summer vacations. । Rodeo offers some financial incentives for a top cowboy. Each par- ' icipant in an event pays a $lO-SSO entry fee. These fees are added Io a purse provided by the rodeo sponsor. The total is then divided b live or six ways. The winner of a rodeo event usually wins $l5O. A successful cowboy probably will win S2OOO-$2500 in a summer Reason. The top money-winner in the MCA (the “All-Around Cow--3 l>oy”) may win approximately SSOOO.

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IN THE OVIST t 1.1 11 p™ world by the tail. I 1 ■ HHV V \ ' tMu I IW BULL RIDING is the *-r most dangerous rodeo * event. A high-flying bull asHI » turn on a rsfe/i? ** cowboy unless the rodeo , , iri _ t 1 i A \ Take an off-beat island, lake a way-out city. Take a far-flung continent. Call a Pan Am* Travel Agent and take off on the world's most experienced airline. Ran Am makes the going great.

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The MCA will not allow its members to participate in a “Wild West Show.” Bad checks and participation in a “Wild West Show" may cause expulsion from a rodeo association. Rodeo cowboys Ixlieve that their competitive sport is threatened by “Wild West Shows” which use paid performers, pay no prizes and use the same livestock at each performance, says Cunningham. The livestock used at a rodeo probably will not be found at a neighbor’s farm. Stock contractors who provide livestock for use in rodeos often buy Brahma or part-Brahma bulls and cross or unbroken horses in the West and Southwest. Approximately 15-20 calves, the same number of bucking horses, 10-12 steers, and an equal number of bulls will be needed at a single rodeo. A stock contractor will transport several semi-trailer loads n* animals hundreds of miles to a typical rodeo; he will receive approximately SIBOO-S2OOO for three rodeo performances. Most stock can be used only five or six times during a season or it will not perform well. Rodeo is an expensive hobby; travel expenses are only part of the story. A novice cowboy can not expect to perform well with an inexperienced horse; the price of a horse good enough to compete well in a rodeo will begin at SIOOO, says Cunningham. How then can an aspiring cowboy get a start? He learns the ropes by buying “a good horse to learn on” which, according to Cunningham, is a horse with at least five years of rodeo experience. The horse is not quick enough to win consistently at a rodeo, but it is experienced and dependable and can teach the cowboy the fundamentals, Cunningham stresses.

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