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Top cowboys in Vancouver for world-class rodeo

Xinhua, May 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Top cowboys and cowgirls have come to Cloverdale, just outside Vancouver, to compete this weekend in one of Canada's largest and most competitive professional rodeos.

The weekend-long event, the 68th annual Cloverdale Rodeo, has a total prize of 375,000 CAD (310,000 U.S. dollars) in events such as barrel racing for women, and the bone-breaking sports of saddle bronc, bareback riding and bull riding.

The historic rodeo draws rodeo athletes from the top North American pro-rodeo standings.

You can't rodeo without the horses and bulls that fool the riders and amaze the crowds with their power and speed. The livestock is transported by a family company from rodeo to rodeo around North America for 12 months of the year.

Greg Kesler, who manages the livestock, said each horse or bull has their own unique personality, and is treated like a member of their family. But rodeo horses and bulls have different temperaments and instincts, and must be handled as such.

"A horse doesn't want to hurt you. A horse wants to, you know, be your friend -- if you want to say that -- or help you, but bulls are different. Bulls think way different. They've got a mindset and they can hurt you big time and so you have to be very careful in handling the livestock," he told Xinhua.

Scott Byrne, the rodeo's bullfighter and protector of the riders, said people usually are trained to run away from danger, but bullfighters are trained to run into the danger.

"Our job first and foremost is protecting cowboys. So when a bullrider gets thrown off, it's our job to take the hit for him. Make sure he gets up and get back to the chute safely," he said.

Professional bull rider Dakota Buttar has been riding bulls since he was 15. He said he grew up in a rodeo family and always felt a connection to the rodeo culture and the excitement of climbing on top of a bucking bull to earn a living.

He's hoping to draw a good one so that he can compete for the top cash prize when the Cloverdale Rodeo finals wrap up on Monday.

"It's pretty cool. Nothing that I've ever done really compares to it. It's pretty cool and you feel pretty good after you're done riding," he said. Endite