California Circuit Finals Unveils the Rodeo Life and Dispels Misconceptions About Bucking Animals

The New Year has started. But before the clock struck 12 on January 1, 2024, the rodeo realm went bananas over some power pact displays. Having said so, the California Circuit Finals Rodeo has seen several winners emerge. But the longest eight seconds also determined their best athletes in the last two days of 2023. But how do these athletes prep themselves before the game?

Initially scheduled for October in the past years, the governing body shifted the event to the New Year Holidays. The Championship events encompassing the California Circuit Finals Rodeo are bull riding, barrel racing, saddle bronc riding, and bareback riding among others. In Red Bluff this weekend, before the event kicked off, an Action News Now reporter rushed to catch some BTS action to defy misconceptions.

California Circuit Finals Rodeo behind the scenes

Taylor Helmes, a reporter from Action News Now, dodged eyes to get a view of what goes on behind the action area. His curiosity was fed by questions such as, what do the animals do before and after the game? When he realized that the steers, calves, bucking broncs, and bulls had run through the arena for the past two nights, he was convinced of their sportsmanship. People from all around California had arrived for the competition, one of the major highlights being Karson Mebane, the saddle bronc rider.

But according to Mebane, facts about the animals are often misjudged by the world. And he holds a decent amount of respect for them. Why? Let’s hear what he said, “horses are bred to buck …. with or without the flank strap, and the flank strap is, the common misconception is that it’s wrapping around them, making them uncomfortable and it’s really not.”  The flank strap has no intention to hurt, rather, it supports the animal and channels their energy in safe ways. Shedding more light on the animals, another personality spoke up.

Bronc Boehnlein’s take on the sport

Rodeo pick man Bronc Boehnlein proved that he’s a really passionate sportsman. He had claimed that the rodeo animals get treatment like the regular horse living in the house’s backyard. And before the horses turn mature, no one checks their capability of being bucking horses or starts training.

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He had said, “We don’t know what we truly have until they’re five [years old]. We let them mature, we want them to be fully developed. We don’t try to buck them before they’re five years old because a horse isn’t fully developed until it’s five.” Since their body matures by this age, the resistance also increases. Wishing to get more behind-the-scenes scoop from the rodeo events this year, the reporters are fully geared up.

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