Rodeo Superbowl: The National Finals Rodeo is Here!

The crowd roars, the horses whinny and the cowboys whoop! It's the beginning of the NFR, National Finals Rodeo. From December 4^th until December 13^th Las Vegas Nevada is cowboy city. The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is celebrating its 50^th anniversary with ten days of rodeoing, 120 qualifiying cowboys, and a total purse of $5.62 million.

There will be the timed events of team roping, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing where rider and horse compete against the clock and the rough stock events of bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding. Most people who follow rodeo have a favorite event. Mine is saddle bronc riding.

Saddle bronc riding is considered the "classic" rodeo event. Mainly because the skills needed to stay on a saddled bucking bronc are rooted in the work of the ranch cowboy who had to break new horses. It takes a lot to master saddle bronc riding because unlike bareback and bull riding it takes more than physical strength, it takes skill.

First and foremost the rider must mark out right from the opening of the chute or they will be disqualified. When a cowboy marks out his feet start at the horses should and swing back to the skirt of the saddle in a fluid motion. He continues that motion as he rides. One hand holds the hack rein and the other hand must not touch any part of the horse. How well the cowboy keeps his seat and how well he moves with the horse are factors in his half of the total score of the ride. The other half of the score is dependent on how well the horse bucks—height, vigor, motion.

Thirty-two year old Utah cowboy, Cody Wright, is going into the National Finals Rodeo as the saddle bronc earnings leader over Bill Etbauer, five time NFR champ. Having joined the PRCA in 1998 and with career winnings topping $1 million this year, this will be Cody's sixth National Finals Rodeo. I started following Cody's career in 2005 admiring the 5'8", 145lb. cowboy's grit after breaking his leg over fourth of July. The father of four boys, he is the eldest of seven brothers, all of whom are saddle bronc riders except the youngest.

Tomorrow I'll profile forty-five year old Billy Etbauer, the number two man going into the saddle bronc competition. Who said rodeo is a young man's sport?

Who Held The First Rodeo? First A Little History....

When was the first rodeo held? History isn’t clear on this and it’s hotly contested.

Rodeo came into being when cowboys from different ranches engaged in friendly, and not so friendly, competitions of skill after long cattle drives in the late 1800s. Such a cowboy gathering was a good place to blow off steam and a form of needed entertainment. When the Homestead Act and barbed wire fences brought an end to the open range, cowboys would gather at stock shows and compete.

Payson, Arizona claims it’s the oldest continuous rodeo (1884). But when the game Trivial Pursuits upheld Prescott Arizona’s documented claim as the oldest organized rodeo (1888) it was Pecos, Texas that threatened to sue based on its documented eye-witness accounts of a rodeo that took place there in 1883. However, all three may be have lost out by about fourteen or so years, according to the New York Times, since it appears Deer Trail, Colorado may hold the bragging rights as they held their event in 1869 when an Englishman, Emilinie Gardenshire, successfully rode a horse named Montana Blizzard and took home a new set of clothes as his reward. Rodeo is still going strong in big cities and small towns not only out west but throughout the United States. My own eastern town throws a rodeo the first weekend of June every year. Even New York City hosts an annual rodeo at Madison Square Garden.

In my new book, Re-ride at the Rodeo, from The Wild Rose Press, part of the Wayback, Texas, series, rodeo is the element that both brings the couple together and threatens to tear them apart. You see, the hero, Clay Tanner is a saddle bronc rider looking to make some money and have a good time. He spies a pretty little blonde who looks like she could use some fun. Trouble is she turns him down. Dusty Morgan wants nothing to do with rodeo riders. Her late father rode broncs and he was never there for her—until he learned he was going to die. Now she’s looking for happily ever after and despite her attraction to the strapping cowboy, she’s not interested in a hit and run with a footloose rodeo man. But Clay's betting he'll get a re-ride and walk away with more than a new pair of clothes. You can purchase Re-ride at the Rodeo at The Wild Rose Press.

Cowboy Superstitions: Bad Luck at the Rodeo

Seems since Halloween is coming up, it's a good time to talk about superstitions. Like anyone else, cowboys have their superstitions, particularly rodeo cowboys. And those are the kind of cowboys you'll find hanging about in Wayback, Texas looking for a Re-ride at the Rodeo, the name of my new book from The Wild Rose Press. Here's just a few superstitions and feel free to add some of your own.

-Never put your hat on a bed or you'll have bad luck. Now they don't say whether that bad luck extends to the lady whose bed you've just set your hat on!

-A saddle bronc rider always puts the right foot into the stirrup first.

-Never kick a paper cup in a rodeo arena; it could spook the horses nearby

-For as many steps as you take wearing only one boot, you will have that many bad days to come.

-It's bad luck to put your left boot first

-Never compete with change in your pocket, that might be all you'll win

-If a cowboy wears his boots while his baby is born, it will be a boy.

-Eating a hot dog before you compete is good luck

-In winter, if you sprinkle red pepper in your boots it will keep you warm

-Entering the north end of an arena is bad luck

-If you put your boots on the table, you'll get into an argument. (Of course you will, your gal is going to tan your hide for a stunt like that!)

Good things for a cowboy to remember, especially if you're planning on rodeoing. And since a lot of supersitions revolve around the boots, let me add one more just for Clay, the hero of Re-ride at the Rodeo, remember whose bed your boots are under. Only kidding!:)

You can purchase Re-ride at the Rodeo for $3 at The Wild Rose Press and find out how Clay's luck holds out with a very little firebrand called Dusty.

The Origin of the Term Maverick

This political season there’s be a lot of talk about mavericks, a term that’s come to mean someone who is a rebel or outlaw or, according to Trivia Library, someone who couldn’t be trusted to remain one of his group. Some of you may remember the television series by that name with James Garner as one of the Maverick brothers. But did you know that it is Samuel Augustus Maverick that we have to thank for the term?

Maverick, by this time a rancher, refused to brand his cattle saying, according to Wikpedia, that he didn’t wish to inflict pain. Others suspected that not branding cattle allowed him to claim all unbranded cattle as his own. However, Terrillita Maverick, now 82 and a resident of San Antonia told the New York Times Sunday that it was because he was more interested in land than the livestock on it. Regardless of the reason, the term maverick in the 1800s came to mean any steer that didn’t bear a brand.

According to the New York Times article, Terrillita Maverick is quite miffed at how the term is being bandied about and used in the political arena. Perhaps it’s because Samuel Augustus Maverick helped organize the Democratic Party in Texas after the Civil War or that a later generation Maverick was labeled a communist by the opposition when he ran for congress during Roosevelt’s time or that a recent Maverick was a civil libertarian and lawyer who took up the cause of those scorned by society, his last column at his death attacking the coming war in Iraq. Or that she herself is part of the board of the local American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
Politics aside, it is fascinating to note that the Mavericks of Texas still appear to be Mavericks in name and in deed.

Re-ride is Released—Available Now ; Two New Contests!

Re-Ride at the Rodeo is NOW AVAILABLE at The Wild Rose Press. Just $3 will get you a front row seat at the Wayback rodeo where saddle bronc rider, Clay Tanner, is going to try his luck with feisty Dusty Morgan. When he gets shot down, he asks for a re-ride, but it may cost him more than he’s prepared to lose.

And there are two contests going when you get your e-copy of Re-ride at the Rodeo:

Sony E-Reader Contest from The Wild Rose Press
I love my Sony E-Reader! I can have up to 300 books and my favorite tunes all in one slim, compact device. No books to find homes for when I’ve finished reading them. I can bookmark pages, never lose my place when I’m reading and can change the type to large (so no one knows I need glasses—LOL) You'll have a chance to enter when you buy a copy of Re-Ride at the Rodeo. Once you make your purchase, just e-mail a copy of your order number, the title purchased and the date purchased to:
sonyreader@the wildrosepress.com and you’ll be entered! The contest runs until December 15, 2008. More information is on the purchase page of Re-Ride at the Rodeo


Re-Ride at the Rodeo Contest-$15 gift certificate
After reading Re-ride at the Rodeo, all you have to do is send an e-mail to me at anne@annecarrole.com with contest in the subject line and tell me if you think Jesse should have told the truth to Dusty about what he and Clay did. He said it was in her interest to know—but was it?

Anybody who sends an answer by November 30th will be entered into a drawing for a $15 Amazon gift certificate! I’ll draw the winner at the end of November, right in time for the holidays.

One new story to read, two chances to win!

Rodeo Tidbits for Your Re-ride at the Rodeo

Wayback, Texas is The Wild Rose Press Series centering on the town of Wayback, Texas and its rodeo. For Texas towns, the rodeo provides not only something to do but a way to earn some much needed money. So you can keep up with what everybody is talking about in Wayback, I've compiled a list of western talk and rodeo terms listed below. How many do you know?

And don't forget that Re-Ride at the Rodeo comes out October 3rd! In Re-Ride at the Rodeo, Clay Tanner is a saddle bronc rider when he’s not tending to his ranch and Dusty Morgan staffs the beer concession for the Blue Bug Saloon when she’s not looking for a teaching job. Despite her work, Dusty has an aversion to all things rodeo, given her upbringing, and to rodeo riders in particular. Clay’s just looking for a good time and can’t imagine any woman turning him down, especially not the tempting little blonde spitfire. But Clay shouldn’t ask for a re-ride unless he’s prepared to bite the dust.

So here are some terms I compiled for you to ponder (and feel free to add your own!)

Arm Jerker: An animal that bucks with a lot of power

All Hat, No Cattle: All talk, no substance—think Washington politician

Bail Out: A horse that comes straight up on its hind legs when it leaves the chute before it starts to buck.

Bailing Out: Not to be confused with the above, this is when a cowboy intentionally jumps off a bucking animal.

Bite the Dust: Just what you think it means; that cowboy got bucked off that bronc and landed face first in the dirt. Ouch!

Buckaroo: A cowboy who does ranch work for a living. (A professional rodeo cowboy’s sole occupation is rodeo competition.) Clay is a buckaroo.

Blooper: Bet you could guess that this is an animal that doesn’t buck much; maybe just kicks a little and runs around the arena. The rider may stay on but the score won’t be a good one unless the animal is a good bucker. Half the rider’s score comes from how well the animal bucks. Tougher animal, better score and more chance to win big.

Cantle Boarding: When the backward stroke of the legs of a saddle bronc rider’s spurring motion reaches the saddle’s cantle.

Chasing the cans: My sisters’ event—barrel racing

Cowboy up: It means get ready to ride but also the grit, hard work and strong determination that marks the character of a cowboy.

Crow Hopper: Kind of fun to imagine how this term got coined. It’s an animal that doesn’t buck so much as jumps around stiff-legged instead. Bet they ask for a re-ride when they get one of these.

Go-round: A round of rodeo competition. A rodeo in which each contestant competes once has one go-round. The Wayback rodeo has two go-rounds. Clay has to stay around because his friend placed in the first go-round in bull riding. That’s how he gets to know Dusty just a little bit better.

Ground Money: Purse money split evenly among all event contestants because no single contestant qualified to win the purse.

Gully Washer: an extraordinary amount of rain. Guess Hurricane Ike, Gustav and Katrina would qualify.

Hang-up: When a bull rider falls off the bull and his riding hand gets stuck or “hung-up” in his bull rope. He often gets dragged along by the bull as a result. Hard thing to watch but amazingly, the bull riders usually walk away with just their pride hurt.

Jam: When a saddle bronc jumps high off the ground.

Out the back door: When a rider is thrown over the hind end of the animal—ouch!

Pick-up man: Mounted cowboy who helps bareback and saddle bronc riders off when the ride is completed and leads the horse out of the arena.

Pulling leather: When a bronc rider holds on to any part of the saddle before the eight-second buzzer. This disqualifies him. Clay would never do that!

Re-Ride: If the bull doesn't do his job and the judges agree, you can get a second chance--a re-ride. Catch is that if you got a score, though likely a low one, on the first bull, you might get bucked off on the next ride for a no score or score even lower. It's the re-ride's score that will count, not the best of the two. So the choice for the cowboy often is--do I keep this low score or try for a better score knowing I risk getting no score at all on the re-ride. Much like Clay's dilemma regarding going after Dusty--again.

Rowel: A small wheel that forms the extremity of a cowboy’s spur. In rodeo, rowels are required to be free-wheeling and blunt so they don’t mark the horse. A competitor that uses spurs that will cause a cut is disqualified.

Rank Bronc: a bad one

Seeing daylight: When the rider leaves the seat of a bucking horse

Slick Heeled: A person not wearing spurs (see rowel above)

Slinger: A bull that tries to hit the cowboy with his head or horns while the cowboy is riding him. Ouch again!

Spurring Lick: When the rider’s movements are in rhythm with the bucking action of the animal.

Turn Out: When a rider passes on riding an animal he has drawn or the officials decide to give the rider a different animal. The bull or horse is released from the chute, without a rider, so he can be corralled back into the holding pen.

Walking in Tall Cotton: Doing real good, thank you.

Now that you're all set for Wayback, Texas, got any terms of your own you want to share? Any one of the above that tickled your fancy?

Re-ride at the Rodeo, October 3rd, The Wild Rose Press

Will he get a Re-ride? Find out on October 3rd.

Just found out that my book, Re-ride at the Rodeo, will be out in just 14 days!!!

Then you can find out if true love can exist between an footloose cowboy and a cowgirl who wants home and family. This romantic love story turns HOT when they decide to take a risk--on themselves and love. But sometimes those risks are more than either bargained for. Maybe they both need a life lesson. Here's the blurb:

Saddle bronc rider Clay Tanner is looking for a good time and the tempting little blonde at the rodeo looks like she could use one—except she turns him down. Feeling like he's been bucked off before the eight second buzzer, Clay's betting he can score if she'll give him a re-ride. But qualifying may call for more than he's prepared to give.

Dusty Morgan is determined to resist the sexy rough stock rider staking out her station. She's vowed never to get tangled up with someone who makes their living through rodeo and she's not interested in a hit and run. Though he may be what she desires, Dusty knows from experience he isn't what she needs—or is he?

Just $3 to take a Re-ride at the Rodeo. Available October 3rd at The Wild Rose Press

Re-ride at the Rodeo is the latest installment in the popular Wayback, Texas series.

Now you know why I've been late in posting!