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The rodeo bulls, like the cowboys, train for their moment on the big stage

Bull Riding is perhaps one of the most popular sports in rodeo and is also one of the most exciting and nerve-racking. As the cowboys practice and get ready for their big eight second moment in the arena, the bulls do as well.

ODESSA, Texas — Bull Riding is perhaps one of the most popular sports in rodeo and is also one of the most exciting and nerve-racking. As the cowboys practice and get ready for their big eight second moment in the arena, the bulls do as well.

"We raise them. They've never been in a bucking shoot before, they've never done any of this. And it's just hands on. We put dummies on them and working them and taking them to small events. They don't come to these events until they've been to places, littler events, and they're proven that they're good enough to come down here and give these cowboys a chance," said Rhett Buetler.

Each bull has an identification number that is given to them when they are born. That way the contractors keep track as they grow up and it helps the cowboys get to know them.

"They know exactly what animal they've got and if they've got a chance to win a lot of money or one that bucks really hard, that might throw them off. They know if they can ride, it they can win first and if they got an easy one then they can make a good spur ride, so there's just lots of variables in the sport," said Buetler.

Before the rodeo, the contractors send over the list of bulls and horses to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and then PRCA takes it from there.

"They've got the list of cowboys that will be here for a week. Then they randomly draw them together and then they send all that out to the contestants. They pretty much coordinate all the rodeos and make it happen for the contestants and stock contractors," said Buetler.

While the riders are randomly put together with their bull or horse, there is another element to the pairing.

"This is luck of the draw. On Saturday night, we had 12 bronc riders out and I give them a pen of 12 horses. Well then, they take those 12 horses and those 12 guys put it in a computer and push a button and it just randomly places them. So the guys need to be lucky to draw the right ones to win on," said Buetler.

Some of the cowboys competing will hope that luck is on their side Wednesday night when the third performance of the rodeo gets started at 7:30 pm.

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