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| Jimmy Maritz Photography |
So you've got this animal, bred to buck. But part of his job is to stand in a narrow chute with people on all four sides, and usually a few leaning over him as well, allow a rope to be tied around his flank, let a cowboy sit on his back and pull another rope around his chest, and then come out of the chute bucking. He's supposed to look in the right direction, give the rider time to get ready, wait for the gate to open, and come out bucking as soon as it does.
A lot can go wrong in there. He can lean, look the wrong way, rear up, fall over, lay down, come out too fast, come out too slowly, come out backwards, not come out at all. What's amazing is that any of it ever goes according to plan at all.
How are they trained to settle in the chute? Most people give young bulls plenty of chances to get used to it. Some let yearlings go into the chute with a buddy for a while before giving them a shot at going it alone. Some let a group of yearlings live for a week or two in the bucking arena, feed them in there, and let them stand for a while in the chutes on a regular basis. Some people brush them with brooms (which they like), give them a little alfalfa (which they like), and play music (which they may or may not like). The idea is to accustom them to the chute, desensitize them to the stimuli, relax them, and get them used to what it's going to be like. One friend of mine calls it "summer school."
With all of that, some bulls still need a little help. You've seen the clanking on the gates (to distract them), the rope rubbing under their necks (to pacify them), the rope "halo" (Lincoln Electric's Bring It), the nose ring (Moon), the ropes crisscrossed over the chute, the ropes looped around the horns. Some bulls the rider has to slide up to the rope slowly, some the gate man has to open the gate latch really quietly.
The younger ones are worse (you want to see a bunch of tantrum-throwing four-year-olds, watch an ABBI Classic), and some never settle down in there at all, but an event depends on running bulls in and getting them out with as little drama as possible. And about 100 times in a Built Ford Tough event, that's exactly what happens. Kind of surprising, when you think about it.
