It is pretty tough to go to college and not be exposed to the world of athletics in some way, either by being personally involved or by having friends who are. Well there is one area of college athletics that you may not be familiar with, rodeo. Now it is not your fault if you have never heard about your college’s rodeo team, we tend to be off to the side doing our own thing while trying to keep up with all the demands of college life. To help you learn about what it means to be a rodeo athlete on the collegiate level, here are my top five answers to your burning questions.
1. The college does NOT provide its rodeo athletes horses to compete on.
I have been asked this many times by a number of people, and I chuckle a little each time. It would be nice to not have that added expense, since a good horse can cost thousands of dollars. But, no, each competitor brings his or her own horse(s) to school to compete on, or in some cases they will borrow another teammate’s horse(s).
2. We are responsible for taking care of our horses.
One major difference between rodeo, and say basketball is that in basketball, the athlete is responsible for themselves and making sure they have everything they need to perform at the best of their abilities. Whereas in rodeo, the athlete is not only responsible for making sure they themselves are in tip-top shape, but also their equine partner as well.
3. We drive ourselves to all of our competitions across the nation.
This is another frequently asked question I have had, and when I tell the person that we are responsible for getting ourselves to our competitions there is usually a mouth drop followed by disbelief. There is no school bus or van with a driver to get you where you need to be, that’s all on us. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have travel partners that you can haul with to help with the costs and the driving, but finding partners can be difficult and mostly done by trial and error.
4. We have a lot on our plate a lot of the time.
That chemistry test you spent all weekend studying for? Not only did we have to study for that, but we also had a few hundred miles to drive, horses to take care of, and we had to compete in multiple events in a matter of hours before turning around to drive all night to make it back in time to take that test.
5. We are addicted.
We love this sport, and for most of us we grew up with it. Even though it is difficult and frustrating at times, it is one of the most rewarding sports out there. We travel thousands of miles, spend entirely too much money, but we would not have it any other way because of the memories we make.
So now you know a little about what it means to be a college rodeo athlete.
“It’s guts and love and glory, one mortal’s chance at fame. His legacy is rodeo and cowboy is his name.” --Baxter Black
