On Friday, January 31st and Saturday, February 1st, Xcel Energy Center hosted the Cinch World’s Toughest Rodeo. I was at the Saturday night rodeo.  

Gates opened at six and the crowds filed into the stadium. For the first hour after the gates opened, rodeo fans, including myself, my boyfriend, and his family, were able to enter the arena to get signatures from rodeo stars, take pictures of the horses and bulls, and even try your luck at throwing a lasso.

The rodeo officially began at 7:30pm with the announcer introducing himself and explaining the layout of the night. The Cinch rodeo consists of bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, as well as barrel racing. 

The crowd sang the national anthem and said a prayer for the riders and the events began. 

The first event of the night was saddle bronc riding. In this event, cowboys sit in a saddle and are holding onto a rein attached to the horses halter. Cowboys receive points for how the horse is bucking, as well as his own performance for a max of 100 points. 

If the cowboy is not bucked off after the eight seconds is up, two attendants who are also on horses, ride up to the cowboy to help him get off of the horse. The horses have a soft strap around their stomachs which encourages them to buck. The attendants take the soft strap off so the horse stops trying to buck. Then the horse is ushered back into the pens, but sometimes the attendants have to lasso the horse to get it to cooperate. 

The next event of the night was bareback bronc riding. As the name implies, cowboys ride the bucking horse without a saddle, making it trickier to stay on the horse for the full eight seconds. These cowboys have a custom fit suitcase-like handle called a “riggin” that they hold onto.

Both saddle bronc and bareback bronc riding were developed in the early American West. A typical job of western cowboys would be taming wild horses, with or without a saddle, often resulting in the horses trying to buck them off. In the late 19th century, it evolved into a competitive sport. Point systems were developed, equipment was created for the safety of the rider and animal, and people started watching the events for fun.  

Next in the lineup for the night was bull riding. Cowboys climb onto these 2,000 pound beasts to try their luck to bring home the winning prize money. Cowboys lower themselves onto the bull that is held in a small chute. Similar to bareback bronc riding, the cowboy has a singular handle strapped onto the bull. Once the cowboy is ready, the chute gate opens and the bulls burst into the area attempting to buck the cowboy off.

After these three events there was a 15 minute intermission. Spectators flocked to the concession lines then returned to their spots, popcorn or hotdogs in hand, to watch the next event, barrel racing. This event consisted of only cowgirls.

Barrel racing started in 1928 in Stamford, Texas. Originally, the race consisted of only two barrels and the horses would run around them in a figure eight pattern. Then, in 1935, a third barrel was added. Barrel racing was performed for fun throughout the first 20 years of its history, as it did not become an official sport until 1948. You can read more about the sport, ideal racing conditions, and the best breeds of horses for the race here.

At the very end of the night, all of the athletes were recognized, including the horses. All of the horses were released into the area and paraded around under the spotlight. Overall, I really enjoyed the show and was entertained for the duration of the event. All of the rodeo results can be found here. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the entire night. Each event had me on the edge of my seat. The music throughout the night kept the crowd lively and ready to cheer on the cowboys and cowgirls performing. I would highly recommend attending the Cinch Worlds Toughest Rodeo next year!