Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo Days

SI Staff | Jul 24, 2008

Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo Days /

Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo Days

Dan Cathcart goes down with his cap during the 112th Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The event included 40 cowboys who competed for $1 million in prize money.

The Cheyenne Frontier Days have been going on for 112 years and include art festivals, concerts and some of the toughest cowboys around.

In bareback bronc, the rider holds on for dear life with only a suitcase handle-like rigging made of leather and rawhide for him to grasp onto.

The calves have a 30-foot head start before the rider tries to complete the three steps faster than any of the other contestants.

One cowboy slides off backwards

Wes Kleven competes in bareback riding.

Priority number one is getting the job done as quickly as possible.

This cowboy wrestles his steer to the ground.

Because of the expected media coverage, the organizers of the event asked that media wear "long-sleeved button-down or western shirts, long pants, boots and a western hat while present in the photo pit."

Bareback rider Evan Jayne of Marseille, France, tries to hold on.

Tickets ranged from $13 to $18 to see the rodeo action.

This cowboy loses his hat behind a bucking bronco during competition.

Jeremy Shed of Holdenville, Okla., holds on before taking an ugly spill a few seconds later.

Published Jul 24, 2008

SI STAFF