Postby Hot4Spots » Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:39 pm
Yes, they are a bit uncomfortable, not painful. For 8 seconds. 8 SECONDS. For horses that, for the most part, would end up at meat auctions if it were not for their considerable value as rodeo stock. Now, granted, there are some contractors who raise bucking horses - the Calgary Stampede for one; an organization that owns(ed) - I don't know if he's still alive - a bucking stallion (named Grated Coconut) that is gentle to handle, but just can't be ridden. So those are horses that have not been "spoiled" and only can find a home as rodeo stock. But many, many broncs would be dead if they didn't have the value they have as rodeo stock. It's a pretty easy life, other than, I suppose, a lot of travel. But most don't travel that far, except, perhaps the very best - who may have to make that long trip to Vegas once a year for the NFR. I note when watching the PBR that if it's an event in the western part of the country, you will get a lot of bulls from Julio Moreno, who is based in California. But if the event is on the east coast, it will be different contractors and rarely Moreno, so there even are limits on how much they ship the stock. Objectively, can you tell if it "hurts?" As I said, some horses keep bucking the moment it comes off, some keep bucking even after it's removed, others stop bucking the minute the rider is off, whether or not the strap remains, some quit the moment they year the 8 second whistle (union horses?) whether or not the strap is unfastened. If it were truly painful, presumably they would not stop until it was removed.
Again, the vast majority of rodeo broncs would buck whether or not the strap was used, but it would probably be in a circle, head down, without the high kick. They wouldn't instantly become nice little saddle horses just because there was no bucking strap.
If a horse had a choice ....I think a lot would choose the easy life of a bronc over that of a dressage horse, LOL!!! I had a horse that LOVED jumping. If you turned him out in an arena with jumps, he'd canter around jumping them on his own. He HATED dressage - but he could do canter pirouettes. During the 11 years I owned him, I struggled with the dressage phase of eventing, but he rarely had a fault on cross-country or in stadium. When I retired him, I gave him to a friend and she trail rode him until he was in his late 20s. He was innately lazy and probably would have LOVED being a bronc - you merely had to touch him a little too far back when asking for a flying change or the like, and he would give out a buck. 8 seconds, maybe a total of 12-20 minutes a year - he would have LOVED that. (Of course, he was a contrary Appaloosa. A more sensitive "blood" horse - well, who knows. There have been some well bred saddle horses that ended up as rodeo broncs.)