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Joining them each fun-filled night are clowns, specialty acts, bands and more to ensure the entertainment lasts all night long. The rodeo’s event staff scours the country every year for the best acts it can find, bringing in top-level talent to keep you on the edge of your seat. They’re some of the best in the business,” says Rodeo Series chairman Brent Romick, adding that a good bullfighter has to be funny and banter with the announcer all while protecting the cowboys. To fill in the gaps between the bucking and riding, clowns and various specialty acts take the stage, featuring an all-star line-up from across the country.

In timed events, if the cowboy breaks through the barrier before it is released by another rope tied to the steer or calf, a 10-second penalty is assessed. Initial contact rule – Term used in bareback and saddle bronc riding referring to where the cowboy’s heels, or spurs, are positioned on the animal when it leaves the chutes. Rodeo – Held in Kissimmee, Florida, April 8, 9 and 10, 2016, and featuring contestants from each of PRCA’s 12 geographic circuit systems, this rodeo awards more than $1 million in cash and prizes, including $20,000 vouchers off a new Ram truck to eight different winners in eight rodeo events. This year, the biggest rodeo of the year, held every December, ups its purse to a whopping $10 million, thanks to a new contract with host city Las Vegas.

Top-notch stock is what lures top-notch riders, and the Steamboat rodeo series brings in only the best. animal needs are subcontracted to some of the best stock contractors in the country, providing fresh mounts at every event — something not many rodeos offer. The Steamboat rodeo uses a bunch of different stock contractors, so they always have great horses,” says three-time Pat Mantle Memorial Bronc Riding award winner Colin Stalley. Quality animals are the key to a great rodeo,” says stock provider Kirsten Vold, whose 32,000-acre Avondale ranch houses more than 600 horses and 150 bulls.

At the end of every season, the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series’ top six saddle bronc riders face off in the annual Pat Mantle Memorial Bronc Ride — a single-ride event paying homage to the late Pat Mantle, a cowboy with long-running ties to the local rodeo series. The last three years I’ve been able to make it down to Steamboat enough times to pull off the win, and I’ve had great rides at the last event,” Stalley says. The contest celebrates Mantle, a Marlboro Man look-alike who grew up raising cattle and horses on his family’s ranch in Dinosaur National Monument and represents all things rodeo in Steamboat. He was so tough, in fact, that once, while working a rodeo in Boulder, an ornery bull named Long John known for jumping the fence threw a cowboy and made straight for the railing where two little girls were sitting.