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Show Riding Wild Steers and Horses Is Risky l)ut Profitable Game j - -. ; " . ' : : , . - i' r : - ; :- , i '! . . 1 ' '' ... - ..- . .. ; : ' " .... 'X . .. - -! -. "(.. ' . - -.- I A - ' . I 6 V, ... .' . - , ? ,',.. s ! y 1 ' 1 Buttons Yonnick, a cowboy from Clarksville, Texas, Is rolling in the dust after being tossed by a wild Brahman bull in Madison Square Garden, New York city. These bulls are wilder and harder to ride than steers or broncs. Rogers declared that most of them are in the game to build up enough of a pile to buy their own ranch. "Good cowboys will average about $4,500 a year," he said, "and top-notchers top-notchers may haul down as much as $20,000. BuV It's like every other business, you know, it ain't all profit. You've got to pay off your expenses.' ex-penses.' Besides, rodeos are no soft touch. Starting off riding wild bulls at 10 years of age, Rogers was so crippled crip-pled up at 15, that he had to divert his attention to fancy roping., Just before joining Van Gray's wild west show in Chicago, Rogers had been badly banged up in Detroit, when a wild bucking horse ran into him and his mount while he was attempting at-tempting to pick up a rider. Now 22, Rogers, like most of the other cowboys, dreams of his own ranch. Good Rodeo Cowboys Can Average 84,500 A Year in Prizes. By AL JEDLICKA Lnnk, drawling Ken Rogers from Brady, Texas, stood at his ease on the green turf of Soldier Field, Chicago, Chi-cago, circling his lasso. Olf in the corral.s, wild buckln' hor.ses from Van Gray's G-Ranch pranced; hump-backed Brahman cattle stirred, and sleek, lean long-horns long-horns paced. "This rodeo's a big business," Rogers said. "More to it than meets the eye. Down in cattle country, where everybody's got a ropin' horse like almost every kid's got a baseball glove up here, it's all pretty natural." Rogers gave his wrist a slight twist and gently roped a bucket. "When they're holding big rodeos on the circuit," he said, "they've got to ship up fresh cattle to maintain main-tain the level of competition. "If good wild horse are ridden for short periods, some of 'em may last for eight or nine years, after which they're sold for farm work or the saddle," he said. "But stock won't last near that long." Rogers nodded over to the corrals. cor-rals. "Of course, they use wild horses from the west for buckin'," he said. "They'll capture a lot and pick out the better ones for breedin'. Then they'll ship in the broncs. "For wild cattle ridin' and ropin, they use Brahman steers and calves," Rogers revealed. "The steers probably weigh from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds and range from three to six years old. They're the cattle originally brought in from India and now raised in Texas and Florida. Don't see much of 'em up north here, but they sure make good eatin', and they put on lot of weight cheap. "For bulldoggin' (cattle throwing) they use them longhorns," Rogers said softly, twirling his rope. "They're a thoroughbred cattle, don't put on much weight, at all. There ain't many of 'em left on ranges anymore and they get most of 'em from Mexico." In conducting a show, Rogers said, some rodeo managers will secure stock right from the ranges, while others again may go to established western stockyards like at Fort Worth, Texas, where experienced hands will select the wildest cattle. Incidentally, all of the stock are shipped to the slaughtering block when they settle off. Rogers gently tossed his lasso against the broad hindquarter of his sturdy little chestnut lazily chewing hay alongside a trailer. "For ropin' and bulldoggin', etc.," he said, "cowboys use these quarter-horses, fast for short distances, and full of common-sense. They'll sell for anything from $500 to $5,000 down in Texas. "In ropin' calves, for instance, your horse is a mighty important factor," Rogers explained. "For, after you've lassoed the calf, and you're jumpin' to the ground to tie him, a smart horse will pull him over." Revealing that the good cowboy will average about $400 per rodeo. |