Quote:
Originally Posted by First Lady
I don't think comparing bullfighting, where the goal is to kill the animal; to rodeo is a fair comparison.
That's like saying; ' since bull-baiting was banned, it's possible for all dog agility trials to be banned '
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Comparing bullfighting and rodeo is a cultural comparison, the level its ingrained in the public conscience. Its hard to generate support to ban bullfighting in Spain, maybe harder than it would be to generate support for banning rodeo in North America.
Its a bit disingenuous to say that calf-roping is a skill still practiced because its necessary to provide proper veterinary care. That's not the whole story. I highly doubt veterinarians twist calf tails to make them run faster around the corral!!
The difficulty for rodeo or chuckwagons is television/video. A dead horse in a chuckwagon event is on the six o'clock news and looks like death by gratuitous entertainment. A dead cow coming out of a slaughterhouse simply tastes good.
Below, a photo I shot a few years ago in High River, a horse on the team on the inside rail is dropping dead of a heart attack near the finish line.
Still rodeo has a cultural hold . . . . this was a feature on a bucking horse sale in Montana on CBS Sunday Morning a few days ago:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...flexGridModule
Cowperson