Dear HCN,
Rebecca Clarren’s review
of the book Riders of the West (HCN, 10/8/01:
Indians are cowboys), about the Indian rodeo circuit, contained a
sentence I found most disturbing: “It depicts how rodeo helps
Indian youth create a legacy of hope and pride, transcending the
severe poverty and rampant alcoholism that often await them beyond
the arena.” This is eerily reminiscent of the argument that was
employed for cockfighting, another animal “sport,” by its
proponents in the 2001 New Mexico Legislative session: that
cockfighting is a wholesome family activity which keeps youth from
turning to drugs and gangs.
In reality, the
institution of the rodeo, so popular in the West, promotes rampant
animal abuse. Devices such as electric prods, sharp sticks, caustic
ointments, and the bucking (flank) strap are employed in order to
induce rodeo animals to perform. Calf-roping is particularly
egregious. These young cows sustain severe bruises, broken bones,
internal bleeding, and even paralysis, often having to be destroyed
after only one rodeo because of injuries. Many horses suffer a
similar fate. And it’s an established fact that people who practice
violence toward animals often move on to commit violence toward
humans.
Romanticizing the rodeo and claiming that
it’s a healthy activity for kids is unjust, unfair, and simply
untrue, both to the animal victims that are forced to participate
and to the rodeo participants themselves.
Ardeth Baxter
Santa Fe, New
Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Romanticizing rodeo abuse.
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