Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight World Championships
ODESSA, Texas - At most rodeos, Rowdy Barry's work takes him inside the arena, where he gets up close and personal with bucking bulls.
The same can be said for Allen Nelson.
They're bullfighters, after all. They've lived most of their lives going from one event to another, one bull-riding to another, putting their bodies and lives on the line in an effort to protect the cowboys who wrap their hands to the backs of rank bulls.
But this week at the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo, Barry and Nelson have stored their cleats for pencils and clipboards. They're the judges, marking scores for the five teams competing in the Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight World Championships.
"I think the big part is the system, and I've been a part of it from the get-go, helping develop the judging and the criteria," said Barry, a 25-year bullfighter from Kennewick, Wash. "I don't compete in the protection competitions, but I still like to be a part of it.
"I believe judging is a key part of the credibility of the sport."
Protection bullfighting is the up-and-coming element in the general sport of rodeo, and the Professional Bullfighters Inc. is the sanctioning body for the sport. The criteria developed judges quite possibly the greatest athletes in rodeo on the most important aspect of their jobs – protecting fallen bullfighters. The judges have a detailed system by which to officiate the competitions, and points are allowed based on what happened in the arena.
For example, there is a segment to allow for points on how well a team handles a hang-up – where a bull rider is bucked off but is unable to unwrap his hand from the bull rope. If there isn't a situation for a hang-up, then there is no way for the judges to mark that section, and no score is provided for that.
"The way our judging system is set up, it's really not difficult to avoid bias," said Nelson of Perry, Ark., a bullfighter for better than 20 years. "We are just recording what happened in the arena."
"If it didn't happen in the arena, there's no place to write it down. That says a lot about the judging system."
The key element in the protection bullfights is to focus on the basics. "Grabs" are important, because it means the bullfighters are physically getting their hands on the animals in an effort to divert their attention away from fallen cowboys. It's also important for them to put themselves in harm's way while having the athleticism to get out of it unscathed, all the while keeping the animals away from the riders who had mounted them.
"The fundamentals are the basis of good bullfighting, and that's what we look for in judging these matches," Barry said.
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