5 Uncommon Modern Day Rodeo Terms For Cheyenne Frontier Days

Cheyenne Frontier Days is upon us again, which means rodeo. There are a lot of modern day rodeo terms that folks may not be familiar with. Don't worry, help has arrived.

Whether you're listening to the announcer in the arena, or on the radio, you might hear some rodeo terms that you're not familiar with. Not to worry. We'll highlight 5 of them right here for you.

1. Initial Contact Rule - This term is mostly used in bronc and bareback riding competition. When the bronc leaves the chute, the cowboy must have his heels positioned in a certain place on the animal.
   The cowboy's feet must be above the horses shoulders in order to keep a judge from throwing a yellow flag. If the judge throws the yellow flag, then the ride is considered null. Having said this, it does not apply in the bull riding events.
2. The Barrier Rule - This rule gives the animal a bit of an advantage during this event. The way it works is that the 'barrier' consists of two pieces of rope connected to kite string in front of the chute. During the timed events, if a cowboy 'breaks the barrier' before being released by another rope, then there is a 10 second penalty for the cowboy.
3. Slack Event - If there are more rodeo cowboys than slots for competition, then we have what is called the timed event slack. So what does 'slack' mean? It doesn't mean they're lazy or any thing like that. It simply denotes that the cowboys who are not scheduled to compete during the regular rodeo events, have their scores posted during the 'slack' event. This typically takes place during the early morning before the actual rodeo. However, the scores made during the slack event are counted and posted just like the regular rodeo events.
4. All-Around Cowboy - This is the guy who has competed in multiple events and won lots of money in those events.
5. Rank - This term is typically used among the cowboys. No, it doesn't stand for how they smell either. If there is a vicious bucking horse or even a bull who behaves the same way, the cowboys refer to them as 'rank.' In actuality, this is a respectful term because the 'ranker' the horse or bull, the higher the score. Keep in mind that during the bronc and bull riding events, there is 25 points for the animal and 25 points for the rider.

Hopefully, when you hear these terms, it will help you during your times at the rodeo. Again, these are just 5, but hopefully they'll get you off to a great start at Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeos.