Bareback Bronc Riding Pictures - Page 1 of 2
Bareback bronc riding is a rodeo event in which a rider tries to ride a bucking horse, called a "bronc," for eight seconds.
Bareback bronc riding is one of the "roughstock" events of rodeo, which also include saddle bronc riding and bull riding. All of the roughstock events are judged events, which means the winners are determined by judges that score the riders and the bucking animals on how well they perform.
For more information on bareback bronc riding please scroll down below the pictures.
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Bareback Bronc Riding Pictures
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Bareback Bronc Riding Pictures - Page 1
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Bareback Bronc Riding
In bareback bronc riding the bronc rider rides the bronc, just as the name of the event implies, bareback without a saddle. The rider does use a "bareback rigging," a special piece of equipment designed just for the event. The bareback rigging goes around the bronc's girth and has a handhold at the top. Contestants sit behind the bareback rigging, holding on with one hand in the handhold of the rigging. The other hand, the "free hand," is not allowed to touch the rider, the bronc, or the bareback rigging.
Below: Photo of a bareback rigging. The rider sits behind the rigging and places one hand in the handhold at the top.
Bareback Bronc Riding - The Difference Between Men And Women
While bareback bronc riding is competed in far more commonly by men than women, there are women bronc riders. The rules, however, for men and women are 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 on with one hand only in the bareback rigging.
- Women are allowed to hold on with one hand or two hands (there are one-handed and two-handed bareback riggings), but how a woman starts is how she must finish. In other words, if a woman starts a ride with one hand in the bareback rigging she must finish the ride with the same one hand. If she starts the ride with two hands she must finish the ride with two hands.
- Men compete under the "mark out" rule. This means that in order to make a
qualified ride and be eligible for a score from the judges they must have the
rowels of both spurs in front of, and touching, the break of the bronc's
shoulders on its first move out of the chute. The rider's feet must still be in
this position when the bronc's front feet hit the ground for the first time.
This is called "marking a horse out." If men fail to mark a horse out
with one or both feet they receive a no score.
- Women also compete under the mark out rule. However, if a woman fails to mark a horse out she will have five points for each side not marked out deducted from her score instead of receiving a no score. For photographs of bronc riders as they mark a horse out, see this page: The markout rule.
- In professional rodeo men compete in saddle bronc riding and bareback bronc riding. In women's professional rodeo women compete in bareback bronc riding only.
