Rough Riding

ROUGH RIDING is a brisk look at rodeo riders and the techniques needed to qualify as a rough riding cowboy. Of particular interest are the calf roping, bareback riding horses that obviously are on the wild side with cowboys attempting to stay on past 10 seconds, and roping bulls that weigh 1600 lbs. and require the use of "clowns" to distract the bull when the cowboy is tossed off his horse.

It concludes with segments from various rodeos, clips that show rough riding rodeo stunts and make you wonder what these adventurous guys find so appealing about their work. Most of them end up tossed off their horses but they still come back for more.

Of interest to rodeo watchers primarily.

Rough Riding (1954)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A Pete Smith short showing us various events at the Casper, WY Rodeo. This brief history lesson of the events describes the different types of events, the different bulls and the rules of how long the rider must stay on. I'm not really a fan of the rodeo even though I went to a couple as a kid. This 8-minute short is still fairly entertaining even if you aren't too curious about the subject. Once again Smith does a great job at making the events seem more entertaining than they actually are. The best stuff in the movie deals with the clowns who must distract the bulls whenever a rider falls off. The film is in Technicolor, which is another plus.

This probably has to be one of the last Pete Smith specialty shorts ever done. MGM even splurged for color which we can be grateful for.

It's a nice instructive look at the sport of rodeo and the various event components. Fascinating for someone like myself who over the past several years has become a fan of the Professional Bull Riders.

8 seconds seems to be an accepted time. I learned it seems to be the standard for more events than bull riding. The bull doggers, calf ropers, and both saddle bronco horse and bareback bronco horse riders all have the 8 second stay on time for their events.

I even learned that some events can be timed for 10 seconds, that it was at least back in the day something that was occasionally done.

The PBR is looking for ways to spice fan interest. I expect one of these days a ten second ride on some kind of challenge dare to be offered. It would really be a dare because those riders have enough on their hands staying on a bull for 8 seconds.

Of course 8 or 10 seconds, it would all be in a day's work for such bovine athletes as Copperhead Slinger, Chicken on a Chain, Booger Butt, Doctor Proctor, and Cooper.

The newsreel footage of the rodeo in Casper, Wyoming was nice to see. And interesting to reflect on the kind of money that those cowboys rode for as versus what the PBR offers its bull riders now.