Take a look at this lazy lot of loafers. What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon, right? They need to rest though, because in a few hours, like it or not ...

... they will be in the spotlight!

This is outside of the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, TX from last weekend (Saturday evening) where the Central Texas State Fair took place.

Like most state fairs, there are games and rides and livestock competitions where animals are judged and peered over like, well like livestock.

Some animals are shy ...
others are indifferent...
some are there to work ...
and some working animals are not shy. This horse took a very long hard pee, in the middle of the arena before thousands of people. He didn't care, had to pee, and knew some serious work may be coming out of that chute any second.




Thus, the highlight of the fair, for us at least was the PBR, or Professional Bull Riding. We had never seen live bull riding, and thought Pabst Blue Ribbon must be a sponsor some of these events, but ... anyways. What you have here is a pretty good ride.
The riders get a score but the details of the scoring system were foggy. Was the world record only an 8 second ride? Some guys were on their bull for longer than that... So, following the rodeo, we watched the movie '8 Seconds.' This helped, and informed us about Lane Frost, who was a true champion rodeo cowboy, but the why the timing was important, how the score came about... was a mystery. A web search led us to the PBR rules. To quote: " The total score possible for a bull ride is 100 points. Half of that total is based on the performance of the bull and how difficult he is to ride. Judges look for bulls with speed, power, drop in the front end, kick in the back end, directions changed and body rolls." ... "The other half of the ride is determined by the rider's ability to match the moves of the bull beneath him. Judges look for constant control and good body position throughout the ride. Spurring the bull is not required but extra "style points" are awarded for doing so. The rider must stay aboard the bull for eight seconds. The clock begins when the bull's shoulder or hip crosses the plane of the bucking chutes and stops when the bull rider's hand comes out of the rope or he touches the ground. The bull rider must ride with one hand and is disqualified if he touches himself or the bull during the eight-second ride." Source http://PBRNow.com But the best part of the show? Mutton busting! It's pretty self-explanatory, so watch and enjoy!