Spills, Chills, Thrills Rope Rodeo Riders : Cowboys: Competitors test their Old West skills at the Conejo Valley Days event, which continues today.

Riding an angry, bucking, snorting ton of hamburger isn’t as hard as it looks, according to Simi Valley cowboy Frank Torgerson. “You try to stay on for eight seconds, the bell rings, and then you hop off. You’re judged by how well you ride and how hard the bull bucks.”

The main idea, however, is not to let the bull step on you once you hop off, Torgerson said. “Horses try not to step on people, but bulls like to go after you.”

Torgerson should know. In the 11 years since he took up bull riding, the 26-year-old carpet installer has broken his arm and finger, fractured his ribs, knocked out his teeth, torn a muscle, suffered a concussion and bruised his heart.

“I still have hoof prints on my arm and chest,” he said.

Like other rodeo contestants, Torgerson doesn’t let the danger of the sport keep him from coming back for more. And he got lucky when he competed Saturday in the Conejo Valley Days rodeo in Thousand Oaks. He didn’t get hurt. But he didn’t manage to stay on the bull for the required eight seconds.

The rodeo is part of Conejo Valley Days, an annual event that includes a parade, carnival rides, food and games, concessions and bands. The rodeo finals will be held today, with shows at 1 and 4 p.m.

Rodeo cowboys and cowgirls are sensation seekers, said Don Andrews, co-owner of Mobile Sports Medicine, which provides medical treatment for about 55 rodeos nationwide. “They’re not thrill seekers, out to kill themselves . . . but they like to push themselves to the edge.”

The rodeos provide an opportunity for the would-be Marlboro men and women to nostalgically experience the lifestyle of the Old West, Andrews said. “Roping calves and breaking horses is something that’s done on the ranch every day,” he said.

It’s also an opportunity for rodeo contestants like Torgerson to hurt themselves very badly, maybe even fatally, Andrews said.

In bull riding, the most dangerous of the rodeo events, the size of the competition can be 2,000 pounds, while most bull riders tip the scale at 140 to 160 pounds, said Torgerson, who weighs 165 himself. It’s a lopsided contest, and the most common injuries bull riders suffer are to the spine, knee, shoulder and thigh areas, Andrews said.

Two bull riders were badly hurt Friday night during competition, said Scotty Brown, a Simi Valley rodeo clown who witnessed the incidents. Aaron Clinton, 20, of Fillmore was stepped on by a bull and had his kneecap broken, but he refused to go to the hospital, Brown said.

Robbie Killman, 17, of San Bernardino was also knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion, Brown said. “As he was coming off, the bull reached back and hit him with his horns,” Brown said Saturday. “He had a rodeo to go to tomorrow and he wanted to go, but the doctor said no.”

Because injuries are the most severe and most common in “rough stock” events like bull riding, bareback- and saddle-bronc riding, most competitors in those events start looking at retirement when they reach age 30, Andrews said.

Twenty-five-year-old Slaton Reynoldson, however, has no plans to retire from bareback-bronc riding, despite being dragged and stepped on by a horse in Saturday’s competition.

Showing off ugly red scratches on his chest and stomach, the Marine corporal from Camp Pendleton said being stepped on by a horse is the worst injury he has suffered. But, he said, “I’ve seen guys get messed up worse in football.”

Timed events like calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling, which are considered less dangerous, can contribute their share of injuries, said Andrews, who has seen fingers and hands sliced off in calf and team roping. “You meet some old ranchers--most of them, well, they don’t have all 10 digits,” he said.

Newbury Park cowboy Steve Farmer, who has wrestled steers for two years, has already twisted his knee, torn his shoulder and had a horn raked across his face. The trickiest thing, he said, is dismounting from a horse galloping 30 to 35 m.p.h.

Many riders are injured during dismounts if they don’t land properly, said Matthew Taylor, a 20-year-old Westlake Village resident who is competing in his first rodeo this year. Taylor, who works as a movie stuntman, said his experience in falling helped prevent any major injuries so far.

Learning how to land properly and keeping in good physical shape are probably the only defenses rodeo contestants have against injury, Andrews said.

Fatalities in the industry average less than one a year, Andrews said. But “we’ll never be able to prevent injury, because of the nature of the sport, because of the size of the competition.”

Contestants still prefer to go into the arena wearing the traditional pair of chaps, long-sleeved shirt and hat, Andrews said. The appeal of the sport is the risk, he added. “Dollar for dollar, the rodeo contestant earns his (winnings) more than any other athlete. They risk their lives.”