08/11/2026
One of my articles for this week. Food for thought….
Re rides and re-runs
I don’t mean to gripe, but there’s a huge unfairness in rodeo. Contestants that ride ba****ck broncs, saddle broncs or bull ride have what’s called a “re-ride” option. For instance if a bull or bronc doesn’t buck hard enough the cowboy can see what the judges score him and then ask for a re-ride if the score isn’t high enough. The bronc and bull riders argue since half of their score is determined by how hard the animal bucks, they should get a re-ride. I argue the re-ride option should also apply to the roping and steer wrestling events as well.
For instance, several years ago Cody Ohl was winning the average at the National finals rodeo and the calf he drew didn’t run out of the chute. It walked out of the chute, Cody broke the barrier and missed the calf. It cost him a world championship. Steer wrestlers can draw a steer that refuses to fall, or they can draw a steer that stops and ducks it head when the horses get close to catching it. Team roping steers can duck their head or drag their feet so a heeler cannot catch the feet. Some steers and calves ran much harder than others.
This past week I watched as Bryce Derrer’s calf fell down at Lovington, New Mexico. There was no re-run option for him although he had zero chance of winning on that calf.
The economics of rodeo for a rough stock competitor is much different than for a timed event competitor. A bull or bronc rider only needs their bull rope or bronc rigging or saddle, some chaps, maybe a vest and a helmet if they choose. They can drive a car that gets thirty miles to the gallon or they can fly to a rodeo if it’s far away.
A timed event competitor has to have a horse, truck, trailer, saddle, saddle pads, bridles, ropes, feed and water for their horse and all of their clothes. A timed event competitor is lucky if their rodeo rig cost less than a hundred thousand.
The largest two sectors of the western sports industry are barrel racing and team roping. At pretty much every rodeo in the world the timed event contestants make up the vast majority of the rodeo, specifically team roping and barrel racing bring the most contestants.
After spending a few days reflecting on it I came up with three questions to ponder.
1.) How much would the rough stock guys win without a re ride option?
2.) How much would dominate timed event competitors such as Shad Mayfield, Haven Meged, and Riley Webb win with a re run option?
Who would win the all around championship if the re-run / re-ride option applied to all contestants?
It sure makes for some interesting thinking as the summer rodeo season winds down.
James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.
