06/06/2026
This is gonna hit hard. And I want everyone to know I’m not against rodeo, in fact I love to watch my kids compete.
There are so many people getting into rodeo especially at the youth levels. And so few getting into showing horses. Again, I’m talking primarily at the youth levels.
I’m not really sure why but I have my opinion on the subject and it is just my opinion.
Both require money (lots of money) to be good at either requires time and dedication. Yet I see the 4H horse show dwindling and the youth rodeos exploding.
Could it be that rodeo has promoted better to attract more kids? Possibly. But I think there’s more to it than that.
For one the 4H shows became a contest of who could buy the winning horse which defeated most of the kids’ will to try to compete on the old ranch horse.
Second rodeo was more fun and daring. Speed is the name of the game and luck plays a big part in it. Then throw in broncs and bulls and you got a young kid’s adrenaline fix.
However, I now see the same thing that happened to the show happening in rodeo. The horses competing at a 4H rodeo are quite impressive and I will venture to guess quite expensive.
The one thing that is the same as I mentioned before is regardless of whether you show or rodeo and regardless whether you have a finished horse for said discipline you still must practice, you must learn your event, and know how to ride at an upper level.
But there is that difference of having a better chance of winning at a rodeo due to the fact of luck.
Let’s face it at high speed kids are hoping their horse does what it’s supposed to and most of the time they’re just hanging on my kid included.
How many kids, or adults for that matter, know how to do lead changes, side pass properly, sit a trot correctly, ride one handed correctly, quarter pass, collect and the list goes on.
There in lies the difference between showing and rodeo. We tend to think we don’t need to learn all that to go fast. Yet as I watch kids in rodeo it’s the ones that know these things that have the best chance of winning.
Learning even the basics is boring and difficult and I believe even most adults have trouble getting their horses to do the very basics fluently.
These need to be learned at slow speeds not high speeds. And it doesn’t happen 2 weeks before the county show. It continues year round.
I watched my son struggle the other day at 4H practice and got mad at his horse. Which I quickly put the brakes to. Because his horse knows the basics but he actually doesn’t. As good of a rider as he is he is still learning how to perform the very basics. And this is a kid who has started 23 colts, has done the 4H shows, competes in rodeo, and works cattle horseback. With a dad there to coach him. And if he struggles it makes me wonder how many others truly struggle with all that is required to get a horse to do the basics.
That is why I think rodeo gains and shows lose. But again just my opinion.
