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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1913)
Twenty-four Pages East Oregonian Round-Up Souvenir Edition Man's Primitive Love of Thrilling Strife Makes Crowds Applaud Daring' Work , Those Who Depict Dangers of the By Range DaxwIaAm f- ! H M Tl 1 r x t v . m r Kuuiciuu. tiicvuuian. i nunnav. nrpmnpr i i iui i ifssn i nrw - - - - - - w ' 9 " W WJ w fAw r & ' . ' - -- - t ff ' ' S sarTd? ftV ,he a"Pea- thou- ' era8'? Amp'-lca, citizen ho Journey to Pendleton each yeal 1ng of a bucki,1(c horse. the roping of Id steer, or the bull-dogging of a Texas Lons H..m, the three primal attractions of the frontier exhibit' Any one or nil throe of these things can he seen almost any lav in the cow country, and on the open ranges. U the latest respond to the call of the wild? Fully one;hulf of the people who stand on their feet and yell them selves hoarse during the bucking con test, do not know the difference be tween on outlaw, a trained bucker and a fchow bucker, the three classes of bucking horses of the Round-up and the ranges. There are manv ihas r.r Ing contest which are Interesting but slightly undertood. A champion horse Rives an exhibition of Jos than forty- ivo aeconas- duration. Generally "peaking the best horse will unload his man within thirty seconds or not at all. Then again the old accepted V. .;i4-.''l-:i i dive, one of I cnt type as the show bucker but he Viiii.s his stunts. If he can't unload hi muii one way he tries another, and still another, until he wins or the pick-ups pull the rider from the sad dle. While the Judges may allow u show bucker to work as Ion h.. feels so Inclined, the outlaw Is never I permitted to run over forty-five sec onds and If he works good from the llrst Jump he Is generally relieved of his burden wllhln thirty seconds To permit him to go longer would spoil him; that is, It would make him mean nnd he might become a "fall back." the most dreaded and danger oua of all bucking horses. The trained bucker is the n.lddla class between the outlaw and the show bucker. He Is sometimes a champion horse and sometimes only a semi-final. The show bucker Is nev er a semi-final. The term "trained " when uaed In this connection, Is an absolute misnomer. The process of mis training is very simple and when one can readily see how the horse Is not trained but simply encouraged and induced to excel In his wicked ways. The cowboy In breaking out the spring herd gets on n horse that does some new or fancy or difficult stunt. No effort is made to ride him after this He Is allowed to rest up a day and then Is saddled with a slip short cinch; that la. a cinch that will sl cp so the saddle Is not secure. The horse Is turned loose and allowed to buck the saddle off, generally alldlns it off over his rump so that it tan sies up with his hind feet; and this makes him wild. For perhaps three days he Is allowed to rid himself of the saddle in this manner. During all this time he Is closely watched for any new or difficult trick. Now suppose the horse shows tendency towards developing the high theory that a horse which lowers his nose between his front feet and goes to it is a hard bucker has long been exploded. lie Is a good show bucker, but for hard riding cannot compare with th trained bucker or outlaw the biggest bucking stunts securely but a slip knot Is put in the cinch to which Is attached a long rope o that when the man Jerks the rope the saddle U loosened and comes off. Now the bucker Is given his head, Away he goes The second that he makes the high dive the rope is Jerk ed and he sends the saddle Into the with his head In- the air, tall up and air. This Ls repeated for throe or four all four feet off the ground making days, always the saddle being slipped V to m the high dive, the double or the side wind, the corkscrew or any other of the real fancy feats of the hard buck ing horse. While the audience Is go ing Into three different kinds of cat fits over the persistent efforts of a show bucker to unload his man the Judges smile tolerantly and let him go. The pick up men are slow to act and generally let the horse wear him self out, which takes perhaps two min utes. The audience has got Its mon ey's worth and the rider ha perhaps got his daylights Jarred loose, but otherwise no damage has been done. The outlaw is of the same persist- when he makes h v live, or whatever stunt he excels In. Notice the result. After four or five davs of this sort of thins the horse learns that he can rid himself of the saddle by making the high dive. Conse quently, the next time the saddle Is put on him he eliminates all the In termediate stunts and plunges Into the high dive at once. Thla horses Is now a trained bucker. The first man up will probably be unloaded within ten seconds. If the high dive Is a good one. So one can readily see that training a horse to buck Is not train ing him at all He La Just as wild as I ,,? ... A fxli Pi' it -4xSK U ' iiW'y f CP ' - - fr'r ttrn yr ; . i t ft - - mlirhiiunr li i i ' , ,- - - - ' ........ I rncouragen to be Cake-walking or hot-footing is one In the relay raees one can easily understand wherein the appeal lies. In these races with their quick changes of mounts and saddles, more depends on the ability of the rider, his or her skill and strength, than in the speed of the mounts. A good string of horses is necessary but the prime requisite is a good ridei. Thee are the features, the big ar.1 prominent features of the Round-up that have the pull and the punch. And Just why they do have It Is a o.ues tion that will never be answered for I hundreds upon leaving the grand stand have been asked to tell what j there Is in the exhibition that appeals i to them and what the appeal or em otion is and not a single one hai his own satisfaction or the satisrac-i Hon of any one else. It Is simply there, irresistible and unfathomable, but as strong and persistent as the call of the wild, and the thousands CHAPS SPURS ever, but wilder. has been Hut In this sutiie sense of the term all bucking horses are more or less ! shown Cuke-walking or hot-footing is one of the most showy stunts in the whole category. Tills pi. ture of Hot Font I trained buckers. They are used for that one purpose and that one only. Take horses like Steamboat and Roosevelt of the Cheyenne Frontier, and Angel, Long Tom, Bunker Keani. plke Hennessey, Hot Foot, Black Diamond and others of the Pendleton Roundup, whose only value Is in theii. bucking ability, and this makes them far more valuable than the cow pony, t a idle horse or plow horse. In fact they are worth more than the ordi nary horse simply because they can Luck. No one can say for sure what an outlaw Ls going to do, but It is a lead pipe cinch that whatever he does he will do with nil his might. For that reason the outlaw Is the top-notcher, the highest priced bucker in the bus iness. By studying the action of the horse one can get some Idea of what body as If going to kick out good and strong. But the horse Is not going the term "high dive" means. Notice the picture of Minor on the outlaw Angel. This is the concluding step in the second phase of the high dive. lou will see that the horse has all four feet off the ground, the front feet extended forward with stiff knees and the hind feet drawn up under the to kick and doesn't kick. While the horse Is In that position, free from the stunt time. man, mi Bur win come unwn and g up with a side motion and a straight away buck in between, but she will lemaln on her hind feet for from five the uninitiated, tut U is the swing ing of the lariat in its large .sweep-, ing circles that gives the thrills. Thisl an art older than the American I civilization for it was practiced who make the Journey to the Round- at Pendleton suffer the same the principal feature of J.".iis . . Hot Foot W 1 do thi .vn- . ' " '" -. no... .nrf h.. .nn.. ,.i v.... civilization for it was practiced byiup r.r she will come down and ri "e 1 '""'"n inu.uns ai me time or i emotions, thrills, and pleasure and go i m- iut-M ami me cow- country away with the same undefinable vague I people have simply borrowed it ani and unappeased yearning for more j utilized it. No difference how ex-' and more of it, and yet it is nothing No. Constance, a broncho Is no re lation to the tango. But the move ments of the one might be an Inspi ration to the devotees of the other. The bucking stock of the Round-up were quarreling In their paddocks. "If you'd get a wiggle on you, you mirht amount to something as a bucker." said Sunfish Molly to Buck, the bull buffalo. "Did you ever trr getting a hump on yourself?" was tha reply of the prairie monarch. Le Page's glue should help soma In acquiring a close seat. Hell ridden. hath no fury like an outlaw which makes it vvrj j to ten seconds, spectacuU r. Kven the best bucking horses will; not "work" every time. When a j horse refuses to work there is nothing! that can be done except take him out of the list. You can't make them work. Old teamer was mounten oil., nines uiKl year, ana worked on ly three times. When they refuse to work there Iff always danger of mak ing a run-away or a fall back out of them if forced continually in the list. And either a run-away or a fall back Is worthless as a bucking horse. The run-away is easily understood. The horse Instead of bucking simply runs away. If he does this two or three times he is soiled and will run away every time thereafter. So great care Is taken not to make run-aways of good buckers. The fall-back is the most danger ous of all bucking horses. Take the outlaw and the trained bucker. They are determined to unload their rider. They put forth every effort and go through every stunt they know to ac- "Papa." said Young America, "what do they mean by 'pulling leather?' "That, my son." said the father who was also a husband, "is what your ' jj .' .' ' ""''V- "-'!'' ' ' dill rf Ti 'i ir f -i ' ' -j-f' - n-- urn , , , u pert the roper Is If his pony does not work he ls out of the running en tirely. The time limit ls two min utes, but all classy roping and tieing ls done right around 15 seconds. In the steer bull-dogging the thrill Is where the cowboy rides up along side the running steer, leans over, grabs the horns, drops to the ground while the pony goes free and brings ground, the entire body wiggles with a swift undulating side motion from shoulders to tail, something like a dog shaking itself after coming out of the water. And you must remem ber that the horse is In the middle of a high spring or Jump Into the air. Now if this movement does not dislodge the rider, Angel hits the ground with all four feet, swirls half way round, makes a side spring into the air, goes through the same per formance and Is done. That Is all there Is to the famous high dive, but any rider will tell you that that ls a deep and abiding plenty. Look at the picture of Long Tom. He is doing what is known as the aide wind. That la hta special stunt It Is not ns showy a stunt as the high dive, but when performed according to Hoylo' no man can stick " it out. This side wind Is performed as fol lows: Lonjr Tom takes a straight away run for ten or fifteen jumps. Just as if ho was going to run an or dinary race. Then without warning he springs Into the air to one aide, strikes the ground with all four feet thrown from under him to one side. springs Into the air and comes down with his feet thrown out in the oppo site direction. He la generallv lean ing so far over when he strikes the ground at the conclusion of one of these side-winds that the rider tumb les off on his head. ... . j compllsh this. It requires perhaps! thirty or forty seconds for them to go through their repetolre. At the end ' of that time if they have not unload ed their man or he has not been plcked-up they become frantic and begin rearing on their hind feet and will throw themselves backward If the man persists In staying on. One or two of these fall backs with a man in the saddle and the horse Is ruined for he learns that that Is the easiest and quickest way of unload ing the rider. Consequently they are very careful never to allow a good bucker to work t exceed forty-five seconds. The history of the range ls replete with Instances where men have been killed outright by fait, back horses. Roping the wild steer, throwing him or "busting" him, and the hog tieing him, is an art that is as old aa the west and the cow country, but It has the same fascination, the same appeal to all claws. What the peo ple like about this exhibition is the dash of the cowboy swinging his lar iat, the swish of the rope, the drop over the horns, tha slipping of the riondo, and then the Intelligence of the cowpony as he holds the rope taunt, giving and taking Just as the occasion demands, while the rider on foot throws the steer by tallng him down if he has not been busted. TheJ tieing.. process is not Interesting to except a natural reproduction of every day western life, a performance iri which the actors have not one bit of training, an exhibition in which the climaxes are not worked up to but come unexpectedly and without any previous Intimation. Merely a page out of the life of the old west that has been painted on canvass, pictured in books and story since Am erican civilization began but still has the same undeflnable charm and at traction and loses none of Its n'.lure ment in retelling or reacting. the running steer to a stop, and bare handed throws him to the ground ana holds him with his teeth. It is from xnis sport that the terms, "bite 'em 1 up, nook em cow," and others are derived. mother does when she roes through, my pockets at night and gets tnr. purse." "Hotfoot. Ughtfoot, Long Tom. Wiggle. Sounds like a college yelL "Every little movement has a mean ing all its own" Is the official song of the bucking broncho. A buck In time saves nine, sayeth Llghtfoot. "Every man has a right to hold his own." said the cowboy as he grabbed the horn of his saddle. ' "Do you think you can stay on Iiong Tom's back," said the chaps to thu saddle. "It's a cinch Job," was the re Joinder. By watching an apple fall. Newtot discovered the law of gravitation. W j wonder what would have been the re sult in Sir Newton's philosophic mind if he had seen a buckaroo propelled, from the back of a broncho, "That steer's got my goat," sal I Hank McOrath last year when one of the Texas long-horns impaled hU mo hair chaps which were hanging on th fence. 1 I 3 i ! 1 1 1 I J