page_title: Steer wrestling
section_title: Modern event
hierarchical_section_title: Steer wrestling / Modern event
caption_attribution_description: English: Steer wrestler Luke Branquinho, one of eight Army-sponsored cowboys in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, leaps off his horse and onto a steer at the Pace Picante Pro Rodeo Chute Out in Las Vegas May 15. Branquinho won the steer wrestling competition and took home more than $20,000 from the rodeo.
context_page_description: Steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo event in which a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops from the horse to the steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it falls to the ground. The event carries a high risk of injury to the cowboy. There are some concerns from the animal rights community that the competition may include practices that constitute cruelty to animals, but the injury rate to animals is less than five-hundredths of one percent. A later PRCA survey of 60,971 animal performances at 198 rodeo performances and 73 sections of "slack" indicated 27 animals were injured, again approximately five-hundredths of 1 percent – 0.0004.
context_section_description: The event features a steer and two mounted cowboys, along with a number of supporting characters. The steers are moved through narrow pathways leading to a chute with spring-loaded doors. A barrier rope is fastened around the steer's neck which is used to ensure that the steer gets a head start. The rope length is determined by arena length. On one side of the chute is the "hazer", whose job is to ride parallel with the steer once it begins running and ensure it runs in a straight line, on the other side of the chute the "steer wrestler" or "bulldogger" waits behind a taut rope fastened with an easily broken string which is fastened to the rope on the steer.
  When the steer wrestler is ready he "calls" for the steer by nodding his head and the chute man trips a lever opening the doors. The suddenly freed steer breaks out running, shadowed by the hazer. When the steer reaches the end of his rope, it pops off and simultaneously releases the barrier for the steer wrestler. The steer wrestler attempts to catch up to the running steer, lean over the side of the horse which is running flat out and grab the horns of the running steer. The steer wrestler then is pulled off his horse by the slowing steer and plants his heels into the dirt further slowing the steer and himself. He then takes one hand off the horns, reaches down and grabs the nose of the steer pulling the steer off balance and ultimately "throwing" the steer to the ground. Once all four legs are off the ground, an official waves a flag marking the official end and a time is taken. The steer is released and trots off.
caption: Steer wrestling at the 2004 National Finals Rodeo.
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