Rodeo Festival puts premium on animal safety

The atmosphere in a rodeo arena is electric to say the least. The participating animals, the competing cowboys and cowgirls, the thousands of spectators all converge to make an exciting and high quality rodeo competition.

 

This is exactly what happens at the Rodeo Festival that is being celebrated every April of each year in the province of Masbate, the Home of Philippine Rodeo. This year’s Rodeo Festival is slated from April 1 to 15. For only Php20, anyone can troop to the Grand Rodeo Arena in Masbate City to watch the different competitions.

 

Amidst all the excitement, Rodeo Director Leo Gozum reminds everyone that the Rodeo Festival is a showcase of the animal handling skills of cowboys and can actually be best described as an elaborate display of the science of animal handling.

 

“The cowboys are the equivalent of paramedics in a ranch. The animal handling techniques that they perform during the rodeo competition have definite uses and importance in the day-to-day ranch activities,” said Gozum.

 

Also a seasoned rancher himself, Gozum has been the Rodeo Director at the festival for more than five years. During those years, Gozum said that he could not recall any incident when a participating animal was hurt or was seriously injured.

 

“This is proof that the Rodeo Festival puts premium on animal welfare and safety,” added Gozum.

 

There are also two medical teams on stand-by during the Festival, one from the Red Cross Masbate Chapter and another from the Masbate Provincial Hospital.

 

The competitions during the Rodeo Festival are divided into two, the cattle events and the non-cattle events. The cattle events include: Casting, Carambola, Bull Riding, One-man Wrestling, Steer Wrestling from Horseback, and Steer Lassoing from Horseback. Whip Cracking and Load Carrying comprise the non cattle events.

 

Each event has a specific rationale as well as different sets of rules and regulations. The rules for each event were created and written by Dr. Nelson “Doc Nat” Natural. Doc Nat’s expertise in rodeo stemmed from his being a professor of Animal Science in U.P. Los Banos where he specialized in animal and cattle nutrition. Doc Nat also got his PhD from the University of Texas. Each event is therefore properly and carefully planned with the animals’ welfare as the top priority.

 

In lassoing events, a lasso or rope is thrown to properly catch an animal. The animal is then roped around the neck, wrestled to the ground and its three feet are bound together. The lassoing technique is used in a ranch to properly restrain an animal on the event that it needs medical treatment such as when an animal gets injured and would require medication.

 

The carambola event which involves two to four cowboys wrestling a 450-kilo cattle to the ground without the use of a lariat or rope is used when an animal accidentally escapes from the coral. This technique is used by cowboys to properly and safely bring a medium-sized animal back to its coral.

 

The casting down event involves four cowboys whose goal is to catch the animal using their lariats. The animal needs to be thrown using a single hitch. The animal can only be lassoed, hitched and cast down if it is standing on its four legs. All legs of the animal must be properly tied using a 4-meter rope. The casting down technique is used in a ranch when restraining a big (usually 500 kilos and above) and wild animal. These types of animals are too strong that they cannot be restrained without the aid of a rope.

 

The bull riding event is also a team event. The bull rope and the flank strap are tied by any member of the competing team. The flank strap is a strap/rope that goes around the flank of the bull. Its purpose is to enhance the natural bucking motion of the bull and to encourage the animal to extend its hind legs while trying to get his rider off its back. The bull rider takes his ride while the bull is inside the bucking chute. Only one of his hands shall grasp the riding rope when the animal is turned loose. The rider must stay aboard his bull for eight seconds. Bull riding is one of the basic skills of cowboys.

 

The whip cracking is an individual event. A player can use one or two whips or switch from one bullwhip to another as he/she sees favorable and seems fit. A player is given a maximum of 2 minutes. The participants are judged based on style/showmanship, sound, and fluidity of movement. In a ranch, whip cracking is used to drive herds of cattle.

 

The load carrying event is a team event. Each team has four players. Each team is assigned five sacks of sand, each weighing 50kg for men and 25kg for women. On the first run, each member carries a sack to a designated point in the arena. Afterward, the player runs back to the starting point and passes the cowboy hat to the next player. This is repeated until all five sacks are carried to the designated point. The load carrying technique is used by cowboys to manually load sacks of feed and fertilizers.

 

Participants for both the professional and student categories in the upcoming Rodeo Festival 2013 will come from all over the country such as Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Benguet, Leyte, Bohol, Negros Occidental, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Camarines Sur, Dumaguete, Misamis Oriental, Marawi, North Cotabato, Cebu, Manila, and of course, Masbate.

 

With 26 teams joining the professional division and 34 teams participating in the student division (men and women) the office of the Rodeo Director believes that the Rodeo Festival 2013 will surpass the number of participants from last year’s Rodeo Festival. All of them will vie for the chance to get a belt buckle, the equivalent of a trophy or a medal for other sports. A Rodeo King and Queen will also be chosen from the cowboys and cowgirls who got the highest accumulated score during the different competitions. Press release and photos from Rodeo Festival