Frank Gugliotti, a bull rider, waits behind the chutes for his ride. He wants to rodeo full-time and has studied in the West with champion bull riders. His dream is to win the National Finals, held yearly in Las Vegas. All photos by Joseph Sorentino
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- Rodeo Drive
Mention the word "rodeo" and - if you're like most people
- your thoughts turn naturally to the wide open spaces of the
West; places like Texas, Oklahoma or Colorado. Places where people
still dress in cowboy hats, jeans and boots and speak words drawn
out by lazy drawls. It may be natural that rodeos are firmly linked
to the West but there are plenty of rodeos in the East. In fact,
the oldest ongoing weekly professional rodeo isn't even out West.
It's back East, at a place called Cowtown, NJ, a ranch about 40
miles and 100 years from Philadelphia.
As Dusty Cleveland, a rodeo announcer, tells it, Cowtown got its
start in 1929 when the 101st Wild West Rodeo broke down on Route
40, not far from the ranch owned by the Harris family. Broke as
well as broken down, they decided to call it quits. "They
had good broncs and bulls," says Cleveland, "so Grandpa
Harris bought them."
In 1955, the Cowtown rodeo turned professional and since then,
on every Saturday night from late May through the end of September,
contestants from all over the East Coast have been heading to
Cowtown.
L-R: Bob Hill, O.J. Jones and Thomas Lacy pose behind the chutes between rides. All three are bull riders from New Jersey. When asked why they do it, Lacy said simply, "I'm local. It seemed like the thing to do."
A Saturday night in Cowtown is something to experience. Men and
women who hold day jobs as managers, truckers, Army captains and
teachers climb out of their 4x4s, pull on their boots, pick up
their saddles and become, at least for a while, cowboys and cowgirls.
And it doesn't matter whether a person's from Albany, Hartford
or Philadelphia. As soon as they put on their cowboy gear, their
walk changes, men tip their hats to women, addressing them as
"Ma'am," and everyone speaks with just a hint of drawl.
There are seven events in the rodeo, including bull riding, bronc
riding, calf roping and barrel racing. The top four finishers
in each event win money but very few make enough to quit their
day jobs. All of the events have some element of danger but the
most dangerous by far is bull riding. The object for the cowboy
is to stay on a bull for eight seconds, a time that "feels
like a hundred years," according to one rider. The object
for the bull is to throw the cowboy off, and the sooner the better.
Even when a cowboy hangs on for the full eight seconds, he still
has to get off the bull and scramble away. "Nine of 10 bulls
are going to try and run you over if they can get you in their
sights," says Cleveland. That's where the rodeo clowns come
in. These men are paid to get the bull to charge at them instead
of at the rider. Many of the bull riders and clowns are understandably
religious. Others are fatalistic. "If I gotta die,"
says John Constantinople, "I wanna die in the arena. I'm
at home there."
Cowtown takes the cowboy image very seriously and anyone behind
the chutes - including photographers and writers - must wear jeans,
a colorful cowboy shirt and cowboy hat. Contestants also have
chaps, boots and spurs and they're definitely not wearing them
for show. Chaps protect the rider, boots help them hold on and
spurs may be used by riders to make a bull or bronc buck more.
The events are short, with none lasting anywhere close to a minute.
Contestants may drive several hours to get to the rodeo, wait
all night for their turn and spend eight seconds on a bull or
20 seconds in the barrel race. When they're done, they pack up,
climb into their trucks and head for home or the next rodeo.
It seems strange to do something where the only guarantees are
little money, a long wait and a lot of risk. Ask them why they
do it and people will tell you different things. Some talk about
the competition or camaraderie. Some about the adrenaline rush
they get when they enter the main arena. A few dream of making
it to the national finals and the prospect of serious money. But
the real reason people still rodeo today is probably summed up
best by Frank Gugliotti, a bull rider.
"I'm what I always wanted to be," he says, pulling on
his hat. "A cowboy."
- Joseph Sorrentino
Bull riders have no control over the bull. All they can do is
"ride and react" while the bull tries to dump the rider.
The cowboy has one hand holding tightly to a rope while the free
arm is used for balance. The clowns are in the arena to attract
the bull once the cowboy is off, getting the bull to charge them
instead of the cowboy. "And that," said announcer Dusty
Cleveland, "is when you better hope the clown's not only
doing his job right but he's a good friend of yours."
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