eaa - what a great action shot! you are a very good photographer, my dear.
The only thing that makes me cringe is thinking of the poor horses private. So sad to me that they have to do this sort of thing.

Great shot eaa!

Vici... These horses are bred for bucking. They enjoy the game. Usually, as soon as the buzzer goes off, they stop the bucking. They know that their job is to try to get the rider off within 8 seconds. After that, their work is done. A few are just bloody minded, and keep trying. They are not treated cruelly.

Great action shot. The horse isn't touching the ground and it looks like the rider isn't touching the horse! It never took that much to put me on the ground. My view of rodeo competitions involving horses is that both horses and riders are well-conditioned athletes.

Ouch! My tailbone hurts just looking this. Great photo EAA!

Great shot, eaa. Even the hawk, eagle or buzzard up in the sky is enjoying the display.

You can see daylight between the the saddle and the rider! Wow!

I haven't been to a rodeo for years, I agree with Heidi, they are well trained and extremely well taken care of, many of these people make their living from this and they have a special bond with the horse. I like the eagle in the background

Yes, what everyone said, eaa. It's an excellent action shot. I agree that horse and rider are trained and conditioned -- I wasn't the one time that I was thrown! A young teenager learned a lot about what not to do that day.

And the calves -- do they enjoy being roped?