Landings Aren’t Horseplay in the Rodeo

To the tourists fanning themselves with rodeo schedules on a hot day at Cheyenne Frontier Days, the cowboys seemed to fly off their animals and land without rhyme or reason.

They fell on their feet, backs and heads. They did accidental somersaults and back flops. Perhaps most dangerously, they slid beneath the belly of one-ton stomping, spinning bulls.

When they would limp away in one piece, “I just thought they were getting lucky with physics,” said Kim Zmistowski, 28, a golf professional from Red Feather Lakes, Colo.

But in fact, the way cowboys touch down can be a mark of individuality, a demonstration of grace and an important way to avoid getting kicked, stomped, gored or even killed.

Bull rider Tanner Trujillo, 20, of Los Alamos, N.M., was carried out of the arena on a stretcher because his hand got stuck in his rope and he landed too close to his bull, which hit Trujillo’s head with its horn.

“Kinda knocked me silly,” Trujillo said half an hour later.

On the same day, bull rider Cody Custer, 33, of Wickenburg, Ariz., topped off an 84-point ride by landing on his feet and walking away grinning. The 1992 world champion said he was elated by the landing because he typically tends to “bend the hatch”--land on his head.

Landing, Custer said, “is as important as riding good. If you can’t get off well, your career is going to suffer.”

From a historical perspective, how cowboys fall off their animals was never all that important. Whatever injuries they incurred were seen as the luck of the draw, and as for style, judges only are interested in the ride, not the dismount.

Then in the 1970s, as rodeo was growing in popularity, the art of falling became prominent in part because of three-time world champion saddle bronc rider Monty “Hawkeye” Henson of Mesquite, Texas.

A popular cowboy turned country singer with a customary feather in his hat, Henson finished his rides with what became known as the “flying dismount.” He flew off the side of his horse, landed on his feet and flung his hat into the air to the roar of the crowd.

Bailey Hat Co., based in Fort Worth, Texas, later developed the “bailoff” award for the best dismount, giving cowboys a certificate for a free hat if they landed with style and flair. It became a popular award that was distributed at Midwestern rodeos.

Ty Murray, 29, of Stephenville, Texas, seven-time all-around world champion, said he spent years performing gymnastics in part so he could perfect his dismount. But even practice cannot make everything perfect. During Frontier Days, Murray landed on his shoulder after being thrown from his bull before the whistle. He reinjured an elbow that had been hyperextended at another rodeo three weeks before.

“You don’t get any points. The judges don’t score you on [landing]. It’s just part of being a good cowboy and part of taking good care of yourself,” Murray said, wrapping ice packs around his right arm.

Landing is important in the three “roughstock” events: saddle bronc, bareback bronc and bull riding. Riders must stay on the animal for eight seconds, and the rider’s free hand cannot touch the animal during the ride. A good ride is 70 to 80 points.

The wrong landing can at times mean death. This year, Cheyenne Frontier Days commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the death of Lane Frost, a world champion bull rider whose devil-may-care landing style used to make rodeo officials hold their breath.

The popular, successful cowboy was killed after being thrown from a bull and landing face first in the dirt at Frontier Days on July 30, 1989. The bull swung around and gored him, breaking a rib that severed an artery.

Frost had a tendency to land on his back, side or whichever way the bull flung him, friends remember.

“Something about Lane, he never got off good. You know some of these guys are so focused on that eight seconds that once the heat is off they relax, and whatever happens, happens,” said Rick Chatman, 43, of Rio Vista, Texas, a bullfighter who was in the arena when Frost was killed.

The proliferation of rodeo schools helped instill the importance of landing into recent generations, but cowboys still cannot avoid the inevitable injuries.

Three years into his rodeo career, bull rider Levi Yoder, 22, of Wautoma, Wis., said he will never forget his scariest dismount, during a rodeo in Memphis, Tenn., in January.

“I knew he was mean,” he said. “He was chasing after me. He had run both clowns over. I looked back at the bull and his horns were huge and his eyes were looking at me. I had 40 feet to make it to the barrel, but it seemed like a mile.”