Slang in the World of Hooky Bulls, Businessman's Events and Dirt Baths

bulldogging has nothing to do with either bulls or dogs.

businessman's events because [with those] you're not out there getting dirty like the ruffies."

broncs, or they ride horses without saddles, or they take a timed ride on bulls hand-picked for their mean tempers. Animals like that are called rank.

Breaking a horse is one well-known cowboy term for taming or training a spirited horse so that it will accept a saddle and a rider. But one cowboy I talked to says that even horses that are ridden bareback -- that is, without saddles -- are fitted with what is called rigging.

rigging. It's small, little piece of leather, 10 or 12 inches wide, and that's what these guys hang on to with one hand. That's called a rigging. I don't know if that's so much slang but it's a unique term."

wrassling as it's usually pronounced on the rodeo circuit, is an event where a steer is cornered, roped, then wrestled to the ground and immobilized. And it is often necessary on the ranch to ride wild, untamed horses in order to train them. Riding wild bulls probably began as a wild entertainment.

dirt bath. A dirt bath is when you fall off this horse or this bull, you are falling quite a ways. And when you hit the ground, you took yourself a dirt bath! Because you are hitting that dirt pretty hard."

hooky.

thump somebody before he gets out of the arena. It's just 'getting thumped.' 'You're gonna get thumped if you don't watch what's going on.'

pull your skirt up. The romance of the Western scene is a little different than the professional athletes you see on the professional football games. We all have to keep ourselves in pretty good shape. But we don't have the professional trainers who follow us around and say 'Aw, its okay, you don't need to go out there today.' You got to get out there and just go. So just life your skirt up and get on with it. Get to the next one."

Rookies, city slickers -- you know ... you! [Laughter]"

skinnin' it -- that is, getting out of here -- before someone puts me on a horse. For Wordmaster, I'm Adam Phillips at the rodeo in Dillon, Montana.