Bull Ropes and Bull Riding Vests and Helmets For Sale

Bull Riding Basics

Bull riding is a competitive event in which a rider tries to ride a bucking bull. While bull riding is competed in by men far more commonly than women, there are women bull riders. Men are required to ride a bull for eight seconds, while women are required to ride for six seconds. The time starts starts when the chute gate opens and the bull's shoulder or hip crosses the plane of the bucking chute. The time stops when the bull rider's hand comes out of the bull rope or when his/her feet touch the ground.

If a bull rider makes a qualified ride on a bull, the rider and the bull are eligible to receive a score from the judges. There are two judges, and at the end of a qualified ride their scores are added together to arrive at the total score. Each judge can score the bull from 1–25 points (for a total of 50 points possible for the bull) and the rider from 1–25 points (for a total of 50 points possible for the rider). Therefore, the total number of points possible that can be awarded is 100.

Bull Ropes

During bull riding competition a bull rider does not use a saddle. Instead, the rider sits directly on the bull and has only a bull riding rope to hang on to during the ride. A bull rope is a flat, braided rope that circles the bull around the chest, just behind the front legs. The bull rope has a handle braided into it for the rider to put his hand into.

When a bull rider is getting ready to ride, the bull rope is wrapped around the bull. One end of the rope (the "tail") is threaded through a loop on the other end. Then the rider puts his hand through the handle of the rope and it is pulled tight. Once the rope is tight the bull rider wraps the tail of the rope around his hand to hold it in place during the bull ride. When the bull rider opens his hand at the end of the ride or when he is bucked off the bull rope will fall off of the bull on its own. A bell is attached to the rope at the bottom to act as extra weight to help ensure it falls off freely.

A bull rope close-up, showing the handle

In the above photo a bull rider is
getting buck off of a bull.

This is a close-up of the photo to the left. You can see the bull rider's hand in the handle of the bull rope. You can also see that he has opened his hand enough to allow the tail of the rope to come unwrapped from around his hand. As soon as he opens his hand completely he should come free and the rope should fall off.

As this bull rider gets bucked off you
can see his bull rope is still on the bull.

This is a close-up of the photo to the left. You can see the tail of the
bull rope threaded through a loop on the other end. Now that the bull rider
has let go of the tail of the rope, the rope should unthread itself and
fall off on its own. The bell is for added weight to help the rope fall off.

Bull ropes are frequently made of polypropylene with other materials such as leather, parachute cord, or plastic cord used in smaller amounts. Bull ropes are made for right or left-handed riding.