05/28/2026
YESSSSS!!!! We couldn’t be more supportive of this unspoken rodeo rule… trust us, we’ve had some CRAZY experiences when it comes to the respect of “The Bucket Rule”. Just ask Tanner Bryson about his #1 epic encounter in Artesia.😜
P.S. We also really like the input that Jackie Hobbs-Crawford added to this… don’t take more than what’s reasonable.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚
Ever show up to a rodeo where stalls are first come, first serve… but somehow nearly every stall already has a bucket hanging on it?
Maybe the stall is perfectly clean. No horse in sight. Just an empty bucket hanging on the gate.
Well, the bucket rule is simple: if there’s a bucket hanging on the stall, that stall is taken.
At rodeos especially, if someone arrives early, they’ll hang buckets on the stalls they need for themselves and their friends. It’s basically a placeholder saying, “This spot is spoken for.” Doesn’t matter if the horse won’t arrive for another few hours, the stall is reserved.
It’s one of those unspoken rodeo rules. Nobody ever really sat me down and explained it to me. You just learn it along the way.
And there are a few things you just don’t do:
* Don’t take someone’s bucket down and pretend it was never there.
* Don’t put your horse in someone else’s stall and argue about it later.
* Don’t move people’s things because you wanted a different spot.
Before you ask, yes all of these stories I tell are from real experiences 😅
I’ve even paid for stalls before, left to ride, and come back to find other horses standing in mine. Those horses got tied to the fence, I texted the owner, and my horses went right back into the stalls I paid for.
But the bucket rule also goes the other way too, when you’re finished at the rodeo, let someone else have the stalls if people are waiting. Don’t leave buckets hanging all weekend “saving” stalls you’re no longer using. If you saved stalls for friends that aren’t coming in until the next day, let someone else use them for that day. There’s nothing worse than there being 10 empty stalls, and those people not coming in for another day or two. Be courteous!
And please, don’t dump water buckets out in the stall before you leave. Nobody wants to unload into a soaking wet stall. Dump water at the wash rack or somewhere away from the stall area.
Want stalls in a certain area that fills quickly? You either get there early or have a friend save them.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
