08/30/2026
This is going to be a wildly unpopular opinion, but rodeo as it currently exists is not ethical.
And I think there’s an important distinction here: calling rodeo as a whole unethical is not the same as saying every single rodeo event and person engaging in it is abusive.
There are individual events I don’t necessarily believe are always abusive, and there are other practices within rodeo that I absolutely believe cross the line into abuse. My issue is whether we can ethically support the whole when those practices remain an accepted part of it.
I’ve gone back and forth on this one, because I know there are individual events within rodeo that I don’t necessarily have the sam problem with. But the more I look at rodeo as a whole, the harder it becomes for me to defend it by pointing to the events that may be perfectly fine.
I’ve watched How Hard Can It Be?, bronc riding, the Wild Pony Race and Chuckwagon racing. I’ve watched animals put into situations where fear, confusion, distress and escape behaviour become part of the entertainment.
At some point, I think we have to ask whether the good parts are enough to justify supporting the whole thing.
The BC SPCA actually asks this question directly: “Can rodeo be humane?”
Their answer is pretty clear:
“In its current form, rodeo is not humane due to the inherent nature of the events.”
And that’s where I’ve landed too.
I’m not saying every rodeo event is equally harmful. I’m not saying every rodeo participant treats their animals badly. I absolutely believe there are people involved in rodeo who love their horses and take incredible care of them.
But good care outside the arena DOESN’T automatically make what happens inside it okay.
I can’t watch terrified, minimally handled animals being chased, grabbed and restrained for entertainment and call that good welfare.
I can’t watch trained horses carry deliberately inexperienced riders while people laugh at the resulting confusion, poor balance, pulling and kicking and pretend the horse isn’t part of the joke.
I can’t watch animals being deliberately put into situations where their fear, distress or attempts to escape are part of the spectacle and decide their experience matters less because we call it sport.
And I know one of the responses will be: “But my rodeo event isn’t like that.”
Maybe it isn’t. There are individual events within rodeo that I don’t have the same welfare concerns about.
But I don’t think we can use the least concerning events to defend everything else happening under the same banner. If we wouldn’t accept a practice elsewhere, putting it beside barrel racing, pole bending or another event that can be “done well” doesn’t suddenly make that practice ethical.
This also isn’t about declaring every person who participates in rodeo an animal abuser. That’s not what I’m saying.
It’s about looking beyond how our own animals are treated and asking what we are participating in, financially supporting and normalizing.
You should be able to enjoy a sport, community or tradition and still look critically at the parts of it that need to change. In fact, refusing to question those parts because there are other parts we enjoy is exactly how harmful traditions continue.
Not every event within rodeo is necessarily abusive. But that doesn’t make rodeo as a whole, as it currently exists, ethical.
