Armed with a straw hat, spurred leather boots and a single glove, a 145-pound man mounts his opponent: an erratic beast weighing at least 1,700 pounds.

The duo starts inside the gated steel chute, a staging area barely tucked away from the roaring crowd. As soon as the cowboy eases the creature through the entrance to the arena – a dirt ring averaging 85-feet by 140-feet – the battle begins.

Immediately, the brute leaps, spins and kicks while the man attempts to maintain control and position on top. His gloved hand firmly grips a rope tied to the bucking animal, while the other raises high above his head to keep balance.

Sometimes the match ends instantaneously with the man, hurt, sprawled in the dirt and the beast wildly roaming the grounds. Other times the creature is wounded, to the horror of animal rights activists.

A successful round ends with the rider still mounted, releasing the ropes. He can score up to 100 points based on his performance and agility.

This sport is bull riding, and a single ride never lasts more than the predetermined time limit of 8 seconds.

“Most people black out their first few rides,” said Lane Dixon, a bull rider from New Mexico. “It starts fast. Usually the first second has two large jumps [from the bull] that you, the rider, react to.”

For professional riders like Dixon, it’s difficult to explain a typical ride because of the speed and intensity.

“When you get ‘tapped off’ [a term riders use to describe being in sync with the bull and in control of the ride] everything slows down. You are able to anticipate the bull’s movements and move yourself into a position to take the force and stay on until the end,” he said.

“It’s thrilling,” adds rodeo aficionado and rancher Connor Myllymaki. “You never know what’s going to happen. It could really be that death-defying act.”

Taming the Bull: From the Minoans to the Rodeo

Bull riding has roots in ancient Minoan civilization; in 1450 B.C. acrobats domesticated and rode bulls for show. In 16th century Mexican culture, contests emerged called jaripeo, a form of bull fighting in which a “vaquero” rides a bull to death.

But modern bull riding, which does not result in the animal’s slaying, originates from the day-to-day work of American cowboys.

Rodeo folklore holds that in 1869 two gangs of rival cowboys met in Deer Trail, Colo. to settle a dispute over who was best at ranching. An audience from across the state watched them go head-to-head at basic farming tasks: calf roping, saddle “bronc” riding and wild horse training.

Gradually these competitions developed into what we know today as the rodeo sports – bull riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping. Events are a salute to traditional ranching culture.

“This is how the cowboys worked before the machinery came along,” Myllymaki said.

Rodeo culture grew substantially in the 20th century, and so did the incentives. The pool of prize money for winning contestants increased as the rodeo circuit and community flourished. A sub-culture was born for modern cowboys to show off their skills in front of audiences that could revel in the thrill.

In 1936, a group of cowboys united to create the first rodeo organization with industry standards for prize money and judges. They called themselves the Cowboys’ Turtle Association, but in 1945, the group rebranded into the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The PRCA is one of the premier rodeos in the country with more than 600 events per year in 37 states and three Canadian provinces. In 2009, they paid out more than $38.2 million in prize money to victorious cowboys.

The Professional Bull Riders (PBR), is the other titan of the sport. PBR provides more than 300 competitions in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia and Brazil. This group formed in 1992 with the intent to make bull riding a stand-alone event. And, like in the PRCA, participants have the prospect to earn big; in 2011, more than $100 million will be paid out to the winning bull riders.

This modern culture offers a common emotion for cowboys and the attendees: exhilaration.

“It’s two-and-a-half hours of nonstop action,” said Dustin Elliott, current member of the PBR and 2004 PRCA World Champion bull rider. “It’s comparable to NASCAR: fast-paced but at every corner there might be a wreck.”

The Modern Cowboy: Showman, Businessman, Family Man

Cowboys from large organizations like the PRCA and PBR tour 10 months per year, hitting cities of all sizes from New York City to St. Louis and competing for money at each stop.

“This has turned into a sport that people can make a living off of and retire from,” said Elliott.

Participants have little free time during their season and are constantly away from home.

“We started the first week in January and we’re solid every week until May 20,” Elliott said. “We have a summer break. But I’ll be going to Australia for a few weeks to do bull riding. I might also try to go to Brazil.”

At home in North Platte, Neb,. Elliott has a wife and two 4-year-old twins. He arranges all travel himself so he can spend more time with his family on the farm and still make major events.

“With bull riding and rodeo, you’re basically an independent contractor, so there’s no guaranteed paycheck,” said Elliott, who got on his first bull at the age of 10. “If you stay home, you’re not making money.”

Two-time PRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif. has been a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys since 2000. He, like Elliott, spends most of the year on the road, traveling to rodeos in a Dodge Ram pick-up with a trailer on back that holds four horses.

“I love rodeos, but driving to them can be a pain in the butt,” he said.

Branquinho has two children (4-year-old Mark Cade and 2-year-old Jameson William) and wife Lindsay at home. Occasionally they travel to see the competitions, but Branquinho said it’s tough with the two youngsters.

Although the separation gets difficult, his wife understands the importance of rodeo: she competes in events as a barrel racer.

Rodeo puts financial strain on families, too.

“This is an expensive hobby with no guaranteed contract,” Elliott said. Cowboys front the cost of plane tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and food.

“We are one of the only professionals who pay to compete in their sport,” Dixon said. “Rodeo is one of the least paying sports and most dangerous.”

Medical expenses must also be factored into the cost of living.

“[PBR] provides an insurance, but it maxes out,” said Elliott. “So if you go to the hospital, just figure it’s maxed out.”

But Elliott’s event, bull riding, is not the only risky aspect of rodeo.

Branquinho’s sport, steer wrestling, requires the cowboy to dismount a horse in the arena while traveling at 30-40 mph. Once grounded, he grabs the steer’s horns and digs his boots into the dirt to slow down.

“It’s a wrestling match but instead of with a man, it’s with a steer,” he said. Steers – males that have been castrated before maturity – are significantly smaller and lighter than mature bulls, which is why the cowboy tackles them on foot instead of mounted. “Steers can weigh between 150-600 pounds, and it’s just a match to get him on his side as fast as you can.”

This can result in a range of injuries, most commonly in the shoulder or knees during the dismounting process. Branquinho wears a brace on his left knee for extra protection.

And since there is money on the line, he does wrestle through injuries.

“It’s one of those deals where we don’t get paid unless we compete,” Branquinho said. “Whether you have cracked ribs, a broken wrist, anything minor like that, you still compete.”

His advice: fight through the pain and hope for a paycheck.

Animal Safety

In recent years the rodeo leagues have taken measures to ensure animal safety and uphold their reputations. However, some groups remain concerned for the welfare of the animal athletes. They view these types of sport as torture.

“Human athletes are willing participants; these animals are not,” said Heather Hamza, an animal rights activist and registered nurse in Orange County, Calif. “The rodeo is simply a cruel pit stop on the way to the slaughterhouse.”

Hamza has protested rodeos throughout Southern California, and said these animals sustain broken bones, torn ligaments and excruciatingly painful injuries without proper medical treatment.

But Dixon, who stopped riding professionally to pursue a veterinarian career, disagrees.

He maintains that cowboys and cowgirls do this because they love animals and competition, and that rules against sharp spurs prevent serious animal harm.

“We respect the bulls and those who don't are not thought of as true rodeo cowboys,” he said

Elliott said that the animals get treated better than the men: “I’m starting to raise bucking bulls of my own, and I probably take care of them better than I do my dogs.” 

Montana: A Mecca For Modern Cowboys

But beyond the violence and danger lies a community and homage to traditional Western American values. In ranching states like Montana, rodeo culture is an endangered way of life.

“We don’t have the farm families like we used to,” said Rep. Jesse O’Hara (R-Montana). “There’s been a lot of migration into the cities. But in recent times there’s a movement to continue our roots in the rodeo culture and farm environment.”

There are small-scale rodeos across Montana every weekend during the summer. O'Hara has worked on legislature not only supporting local rodeos but also instating rodeo athletic programs in public schools.

“These events bring a lot of people to the towns from all over,” he said. “It results in a lot of economic development. They have to eat in restaurants, stay in hotels, so it’s quite a boost.”

The enthusiast Myllymaki, who lives Stanford, Mont., said that the few  bars around his area make more than half of their money during one weekend because there are so many people buying drinks before, during and after the rodeo: “It’s a big party”.

Rodeo lovers say the recession has not put a damper on the sport, which sustains its own miniature economy across the continent.

“PBR still continues to raise the prize money,” Elliot said.  “And I haven’t seen a huge decline in fan numbers in the seats. After all, you can see bull riding pretty cheap, for $10 a seat.”

“Rodeos aren’t just about the sport themselves,” Myllymaki said. “They are about community. It’s a place to mingle with other people of similar interests and watch something exciting.”

And for the traveling cowboys, it’s a family away from home: “The camaraderie of the sport is unbelievable,” Branquinho said. “That’s the best thing about rodeo, even though you’re competing against each other, you always try to help each other too. Your fellow cowboys are your lifelines.”

Reach Holly here.