Title: "Rodeo: The High-Stakes Sport Balancing Tradition and Safety"

Calves wearing protective horn wraps being funneled into the shoot at the Willcox West Fest Ranch Rodeo & Chuck Wagon Cook-Off in Willcox on April 11, 2025.

WILLCOX – Football is often seen as the most dangerous sport with its history of head injuries and more, but another sport takes the crown from the gridiron game. Rodeo events are fast-paced and require a brave rider to mount a charging horse or even a bull. The dangers of the sport threaten the health of those who keep it running, but the industry is doing its part to make injuries a thing of the past.

Rodeo athletes are injured or die at higher rates than athletes from any other sport. The bull riding injury rate is over 10 times the rate of injury in football and over 13 times the rate in ice hockey.

“I’ve trained a lot of horses,” rodeo supervisor Larrie Todd said. “I’ve been bucked off quite a few times. I’ve had horses trip and fall and flip with me.”

The most common type of injury is a contusion, or bruise, and sprains and concussions are also normal in the rodeo world, but death is also a risk each time a rider competes. A 20-year study by the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine found an incidence rate of fatality of 4.05 per 100,000.

Far from Phoenix, athletes and spectators gathered in Willcox for the Willcox West Fest Ranch Rodeo & Chuck Wagon Cook-Off in mid-April. Located past Tucson on Interstate 10, Willcox is a town of over 3,000 people. The rodeo operated with a single competition area, a few pens and a grandstand.

No such protective equipment was used at the Willcox ranch rodeo. The ranch rodeo event brought out ranchers and other seasoned riders to the ring, and many relied on their wits to keep them safe.

“When I’m riding, I think the most basic thing is being confident in myself,” rodeo princess Adelaide Werkheiser said. “If I’m not confident, my body is going to show that, and I’m going to get nervous. So even though you may not realize it, if you’re subconsciously nervous, you’re going to hunch over, you’re going to make your legs relaxed, and you’re going to be unbalanced.”

Riders’ trust in their horses partially stems from their deep ties to their animal, as most have spent years on the back of their trusty horse. Riders often preach that confidence is key when riding a horse.

“Horses are very, very emotional,” Werkheiser said. “They can tell when you’re happy, sad, scared. There’s some horses I’ve been on that if I get in a bad mood, they won’t move, they will just stand there, and they won’t let me go anywhere because they know I’m not ready.”

Domestication has enabled horses to discriminate between happy and angry human facial expressions, according to a University of Sussex study. The same study found that a horse’s heart rate can rise significantly when humans make angry faces.

Understanding a horse’s mind is a necessity for any rider.

“If you’re going to use a horse, spend time with a horse,” Todd said. “To me, it’s your responsibility to build a relationship with them. To build a relationship with them, you have to spend time with them and also take the time to understand how a horse thinks.”

That experience around horses comes naturally for many in the rodeo world. Many grow up on or around ranches and even get on horseback before they are in grade school.

“I’ve been riding horses for 18 years,” Werkheiser said. “I’m 18 years old, so as long as I can remember, I’ve been riding horses before I could walk, and then I’ve been around the rodeo world for about 10 years. I started rodeo when I was eight.”

When tragedy strikes in or out of the ring, small towns like Willcox rally together. This year’s Willcox ranch rodeo was dedicated to the memory of Jeff Collup, a local man who died unexpectedly in December 2024.

“I had that experience,” Willcox rodeo organizer Cheryll Moss said. “My son had cancer and died of brain cancer. He was 28 years old, and this town was amazing. They were here for me, and so now I’m giving back to the town as well.”

Moss was in the early stages of planning her annual ranch rodeo when Collup died, and she quickly shifted gears to honor him with the Jeff Collup Memorial Roping event. On April 11, the event began with a moment of silence and ceremony involving a calf dragging a rope, symbolizing the loss of a rider.

“We’re a very close-knit town, and anytime something tragic like this happens, he was a big part of our event,” Moss said. “We want to dedicate it back to him and his family.”

Shoot helper Jason Herbert is the boyfriend of one of Collup’s daughters. He was inspired to see ranchers from around the Willcox area.

“It’s pretty rough, but it’ll turn out good,” Herbert said. “I’m grateful for all the teams that came out to support. It was very nice of them.”

The rodeo world is doing its part to minimize tragedies. A protective vest is the most common type of equipment used by riders. Historically, such vests were made with Kevlar, the same material used in bulletproof vests.

Now, modern vests typically use a combination of high-density foam and Spectra Shield ballistic material. The foam helps the vest absorb and distribute impacts. The Spectra Shield material is made from layers of unidirectional fibers and is 10 times stronger than steel while still being extremely light.

Additionally, a sturdy helmet is a proven necessity for rodeo athletes, but is a semi-recent development. Rodeo athletes once only donned cowboy hats while riding on speeding horses or rowdy bulls.

Manufacturers started creating helmets meant for bull riding by the early 2010s. Professional Bull Riders, the largest bull riding league in the world, then started requiring contestants born on or after October 15, 1994, to ride with a helmet. Those who were born before that date could wear a face mask or their favorite hat.

Ever since, research data has found that such efforts work, as riders wearing helmets suffer about 50% fewer severe head injuries than those who prefer cowboy hats. Helmet use helps bring down the rates of both catastrophic injury and fatality in the ring.

Still, rodeo events are a risk.

“You could have a steer that cuts back to the right, and you can run in front of the steer, or right in front of the horse, and you can have the horse trip up on them,” shoot helper Elijah Baltierrez said. “It’s a gamble, like any other sport there is.”

Today, rodeo organizations require all riders to wear protective equipment. The National High School Rodeo Association and Arizona Junior Rodeo Association rulebooks require contestants to wear a helmet, mouthpiece and vest.

While most rules are for humans, the health of their horses and bulls has also been examined. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association has over 60 animal welfare rules to keep animals safe. Most riders equip their horses with protective gear around their legs.

“Those are called bell boots,” ranch hand Justin Willard said. “A lot of times, these horses, their back feet will actually overreach and catch the back of their front. So it’s just a way to protect our horses.”

Such rules require a veterinarian to be on-site to evaluate animals and tend to injuries, and for animals to be inspected before participation. Excessive roughness or abuse of an animal is strictly prohibited, and animals cannot be given a stimulant to boost their performance.

A 2001 study of 21 PRCA events found an injury rate of 0.056%, or just 15 animals in 26,584. The PRCA, the world’s largest and oldest rodeo-sanctioning body, boasts a 99.9% safety rate with livestock, and less than 1% of livestock suffer an injury.

“A lot of people, if they feel their horse getting wild, they’ll pull back on their horse and not make their full run, because it all comes down to safety of the horse and safety of you,” Baltierrez said.

Rodeos involving calves and cattle require cowboys to run the animals into pens and prepare them for the next event. The shoot helper works to load calves into the shoot and ensure animals don’t slip back from where they should be.

“Those are horn wraps,” Herbert said. “And so if you go to rope, and these nylon ropes are a little rough on skin, it’ll rub the skin right off. So it’s to comfort the steers.”

The PRCA sanctions over 650 multi-event rodeos across 44 states and Canada. Not all rodeo events operate under the PRCA’s guidelines, as others are sanctioned by smaller organizations, while a small few are not sanctioned.

The organization influences rodeos run by smaller organizations by hosting conferences to change rules and improve animal welfare. For those in the rodeo world, the associated risks are the reality of the sport.

“I’ve been poked, kicked, rammed, the whole nine yards, mainly kicks,” Baltierrez said.

Despite all the dangers, rodeo is still growing for youth and professional athletes alike. The NHSRA has an annual membership of 12,500 students from 43 states, Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand. The youth organization sanctions 1,800 rodeos each year.

The PRCA boasts fewer rodeos and riders. The organization sanctions more than 700 multiple-event rodeos per year across the United States and Canada for roughly 6,600 cowboys. In 2023 alone, the PRCA sanctioned 790 events in 37 states and three Canadian provinces.

Rodeo is ready to grow in Arizona as the niche sport draws in more fans and more kids get on horseback. Bumps and bruises are the reality of rodeo, something all riders have to get used to and a lesson grizzled veterans like Todd have learned.

“Stay young,” Todd said. “As you get older, the harder it hurts.”