HOW TO SPECTATE A PITCHING SHOW.

How to Spectate A Pitching Show By WITH Studies in Cowshow Photography BY MAX KEGLEY

HERE is a superstition among rookie cowboys and cowgals from extraneous sections of the country that if one once masters the authentic pronunciation of the word "rodeo," that's all there is to know the lowdown on cowboy sports. But nothing (except political campaign promises) could be further from the truth. The nuances and technique behind the events of a Western pitching show demand intricate and pain ful study on the part of both the spectator and the contestant intricate on the part of the spectator, and painful on the part of the contestant. Ignorance of the rules for and the motives of the performing competitor, may result in an even more scarlet complexion for the innocent onlooker than even the sunny balm of the desert climate might excuse. Like the feminine winter visitor who was witnessing her first exhibition of bulldogging at the Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson and who followed the motions of the bulldogger with apparent fascination as he took his running leap and twisted down his steer in winning time, only to remark to her escort, "That certainly is the most awkward cowboy I have ever seen. First he falls off his horse and then he gets in the way and trips up the steer!"

The four major events of rodeo competition are the brone riding, the calf roping, the bareback riding and the bulldogging. There are also complementary events, according to the program policy of the show, such as wild cow milking, team tying and bull scramble-and noncompetitive exhibitions such as trick riding, trick roping and the low comedy of the rodeo clowns and their educated mules. But a grasp of the rules of the first four should entitle the student of rodeo to the degree of M.R.S. (Master of Rodeo Spectating).

Let us take up these events one at a time, as viz: In the bronc riding (saddle bronc riding, to be descriptive) the critter that resembles a hoss is put in a chute and the cowboy contestant who has drawn him by number from a sombrero advances cautiously or gingerly, according to his intelligence, and gets the saddle on the mount by subtle chicanery or by mere profanity and brute force. Then he climbs over the chute as the hoss tries to do likewise in the opposite direction, and takes a firm grip on the halter rope with one end and a firm grip on the saddle with the other. Often he lights his hat, chews his cigarette or waves his gum to gain an attitude of composure and then shouts to the arena official, "Turn 'im out!" The hoss makes a momentary survey of the festive vista before him and then proceeds to explode with carefree abandon. Every time he leaves the ground, the hoss grunts and (Turn to Page 23) Brahma bull riding, to most spectators, should be listed as one of the cute and clever ways of committing suicide. The sacred cow of India has come a long way via the channels of evolution to become a prize spectacle of the American rodeo of today. On the left you see Paul Carney making a stiff ride. Carney was leading the Nation's rodeo performers in 1938 until he was hurt in the Madison Square Garden show. On the right you see what happens when a "waddie" hits the dirt. The idea is, of course, to ride the brahma and not let him ride you.

Bronc riding is probably the most spectacular of rodeo events. A bucking bronc is a thing of beauty, a thing of strength, a mad poem in wild, kicking, twisting, turning horseflesh. Bronc riders must be tough and wiry as the horse they try to hang on to, and only through years of riding do they learn their business well. Ken Hargis is riding "Hell-to-set" on the left, and Milt Moe is making a tough ride on the right. Both are among the nation's best bronc riders.