Pago 6
Daily Nebraskan
Women want piece of rodeo
action, challenging old image
"It s incredible that a lady would be
allowed to endanger her neck in com
petition. " Sam Savitt, Rodeo: Cow
boys, Dulls and Drones.
"Today, the women's pro rodeo has
2,000 members. " Lydia Moore, exec
utive director for Women's Profess
ional Rodeo Association.
Times have changed.
Women athletes who once were rele
gated to volleyball or tennis now lift
weights, run marathons and compete
in rodeos all-girl rough-stock rod
eos, with bulls, saddle-broncs, calves
and everything.
The word "rodeo" conjures up images
of lanky, tough-as-nails cowboys pit
ting strength and grit against unman
nered livestock in a re-enactment of
life in the Old West. Rodeo, since its
beginnings in the late 1800s, always
has been a man's sport.
The occasional woman who dogged
a steer or rode a bronc was considered
doing a man's job.
George Pfeiffer, UNL rodeo club spon
sor, remembers a lady who rode saddle
bronc in an exhibition.
"It was kind of sexist," Pfeiffer said.
"They treated it a little like Mark
Twain's talented dog, the one who
could stand on his hind legs. You were
surprised not that he could do it well,
but that he could do it at alL"
Pfeiffer said the woman was a
spectacle.
Women simply were not taken serious
ly as participants. Indeed, barrel rac
ing, the event most fans associate with
women and rodeo, was added in 1945
as an afterthought; a chance for
women to show off their sequins, in
stead of their abilities.
"Back then, femininity was held up
permost in mind," Moore said. "Now,
the dress is much more casual."
And the women are much more
serious, because a living can be made
in the Women's Professional Rodec
Association.
"The top all-around cowgirl last year
earned $51,000," Moore said.
Although barrel racing still is the
standard women's event, and the only
one on the men's pro rodeo circuit, the
WPRA has 12 all-girl rodeos, with a
final in Fort Worth, Texas, every year.
Along with barrel racing, college and
amateur rodeos have incorporated ad
ditional women's events, like break
away calf roping and goat tying, an
event similar to the throwing and tying
of a calf, except with a goat.
Deb Walker, captain of the UNL
women's team, participates in all three
events and also does some team roping.
Walker says the qualities necessary
for women's rodeo are a good horse
and physical ability.
"YouVe got to keep the horse tuned
up," Walker said. "Plus, it's just like any
other sport, you've got to be in pretty
good shape so you wont get injured."
When she was younger, Walker rode
a steer at an all-girl's rodeo, but she
said she does not plan to make it a
habit.
"I think they're going away from the
rough stock because it's so easy to get
hurt," Walker said.
Moore agrees with Walker's assump
tion. "The women aren't built to with
stand the punishment," Moore said.
"Ropers and barrel racers can last for
years, but the rough stock riders are
around for only one or two."
Moore said new girls are not attract
ed to all-women rodeos because the
purses are small.
The biggest thing right now is to get
equal money," said Glory Ann Kurtz,
editor of the Women's Pro Rodeo News.
"Only the 'daredevil' type of woman
participates presently because the
money isn't there."
Kurtz said times have changed, but
not to the extent that rodeo is no
longer a man's sport.
"Number-wise and event-wise, the
men dominate," Kurtz said. "But women
don't want to take over the sport. They
just want a piece of the action."
Story By John Meissner
Photos By Craig Andresen
Clockwise from upper right: Rodeo clown Steve
Mewry takes a break from the action. Rodeo per
formers prepare for upcoming events outside the
Coliseum. Bronc-buster Shane Cowan of South
Dakota State winces in pain after his s&ddle-bronc
riding event. Cowan broke his foot when the horse
he was riding rolled over on him. It's the end of the
trail for this dismounted cowboy.
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