Bronc Riding - The Difference Between Men And Women

In women's professional rodeo women compete in bareback bronc riding. In men's professional rodeo men also compete in bareback bronc riding, but the rules for men and women bareback bronc riders are somewhat different. Below is a brief overview of some of the differences.

• Men must make a qualified ride on a bronc for eight seconds before being eligible for a score from the judges.
  • Women must make a qualified ride on a bronc for six seconds before being eligible for a score from the judges.
• Men are allowed to hold onto the bareback riggin with one hand only.
  • Women are allowed to hold onto the bareback riggin with one hand or two hands, but how she starts is how she must finish. In other words, if a woman starts a ride with one hand she must finish the ride with the same one hand. If she starts the ride with two hands she must finish with two hands.

The Mark Out Rule

Like their male counterparts, women competing in bareback bronc riding compete under the mark out rule. However, there are some differences in the mark out rule for men vs. the mark out rule for women.

• If a male bareback bronc rider does not mark a horse out with one or both feet, he receives a no score.
  • If a female bareback bronc rider fails to mark a horse out with one or both feet, she will have five points for each side not marked out deducted from her score instead of receiving a no score.

If you need more information on the mark out rule you can see our page on it here: The mark out rule.

Scoring

• The scoring system for men and women bareback bronc riders is the same. If a bronc rider - male or female - makes a qualified ride on a bronc, both the rider and the bronc receive a score from the judges.
• There are two judges. At the end of a qualified ride their scores are added together to arrive at the total score.
• Each judge can score the bronc rider from 1–25 points (for a total of 50 points possible for the bronc rider) and the bronc from 1–25 points (for a total of 50 points possible for the bronc).
• Therefore, the total number of points that can be awarded to a male or female bronc rider is 100.