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 for eight seconds. If the rider makes the eight second time he will receive a score from two different judges for his riding skills, and the bull will receive a score from the judges for his bucking skills. The two sets of scores are added together with the highest total score being the winner. While bull riding is competed in by men far more commonly than women, there are women bull riders.

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 onto 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 at about the center that the rider hangs onto.

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. After the rider puts his hand through the handle and the rope is pulled tight, he wraps the tail of the rope around his hand, sometimes weaving it through his fingers. The idea is that 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 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.

In the photo above, the bull rider has just been bucked off.
#1 - The handle of the bull rope. This bull rider was using a pad, and the handle is on top of the pad.
#2 - The bell. The weight of the bell will help the bull rope fall free from the bull now that the rider has let go of the rope.
#3 - The tail of the bull rope. Since the rider has let go of the handle and the tail, the bull rope should now 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 come made for riding right or left handed.

Bull Riding Scoring

If a bull rider makes a qualified ride on a bull for eight seconds he and the bull are eligible to receive a score from the judges (the clock starts when the bull's shoulder or hip crosses the plane of the bucking chute and stops when the bull rider's hand comes out of the bull rope or they touch the ground). 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.