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 Expert
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Location: Stuck in a cubicle having tropical thoughts | So on one of Lance Graves fb post leading up to the NFR, he posted about What Fame (Will) going to the NFR with Sarah Rose as her back-up. Although he hoped that Sarah didn't have to get off Bling, but if she did, she'd have Will as a backup to count on. That Will has won a lot and made a lot of dreams come true but the one thing Lance can't give Will is the chance to run at the NFR. This has had me thinking ever since then, that it's going to be 2016 in a couple days and with all the civil rights movements and equality over the last hundred years, we still live in an era where only women are allowed to compete in barrels in professional rodeo. Why? I guess as a fan and spectator, I'd enjoy seeing Lance and Will compete in barrels at the NFR. Lance defines the barrel racing sport GLOBALLY. Love him or hate him, he's one of the best and people all over the world think of Lance Graves when they think of barrel racing, but because he was born a male instead of a female, he can't compete at the biggest event in our sport. So this got me to thinking even more. Why hasn't the ERA stepped up to change this? It's invitational at this point. They've invited a very young girl to compete. Why not invite Lance to compete? Or Pete or Talmadge or Mark Bugni or Troy or any one of the dominate male riders in our sport?
I guess it feels like the ERA is more of a 'club' at this point.
This is all just food for thought. I know the PRCA allows women to hold cards and enter their events. Is it time for a change?
I actually had a dream the other night that Charlie Peoples was competing at the NFR because he'd qualified through a special event to get invited to the NFR! LOL! How crazy is that? In my dream, I could see him coming down the alley with the blue gates riding his former horse Lightnings Littlelad. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas |  |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Actually, RFD TV's The American is open to men. Lance can go qualify just as well as anybody if he wanted to. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I think the barrel racing should be left to the ladys of the NFR this is our sport and should be left this way. I know times have changed but lets not change the barrels, just leave it  |
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10D Crack Champion
| ThreeCorners - 2015-12-30 8:50 PM Actually, RFD TV's The American is open to men. Lance can go qualify just as well as anybody if he wanted to.
I think most all of the top male barrel racers have competed at the American qualifiers, but only 1 has made it to The American. They are all BBR events and follow BBR rules. I am surprised there aren't more men qualifying for The American. I would assume Lance has competed at the qualifers too. |
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Member
Posts: 14
| I do not think that the ERA or Pro Rodeo should allow men to compete until they start adding more women events. The PRCA (or ERA) will not allow women to team rope or calf rope so until this happens the WPRA or ERA should not allow men to compete in Barrel Racing. Personally I feel that it is time that breakaway roping and goat tying should be added to Pro Rodeo, ERA and The American. I was actually extremely disappointed that RFDTV did not add these two events to The American Rodeo. |
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Holy Fruit Loops!
Posts: 1708
Location: Colorado | ShootingPics - 2015-12-30 9:02 PM I do not think that the ERA or Pro Rodeo should allow men to compete until they start adding more women events. The PRCA (or ERA) will not allow women to team rope or calf rope so until this happens the WPRA or ERA should not allow men to compete in Barrel Racing. Personally I feel that it is time that breakaway roping and goat tying should be added to Pro Rodeo, ERA and The American. I was actually extremely disappointed that RFDTV did not add these two events to The American Rodeo.
Women can buy PRCA permits, fill them and buy cards.
karen |
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 Saint Stacey
| Lance DID sue the WPRA a few years ago and lost.
That little girl is the ONLY none PRCA/WPRA person invited to be in the ERA. The ERA does have a qualifying system to pick, I believe, the number was 4 more people? Too bad the only rodeos that they will accept are mainly the big PRCA/WPRA rodeos.
I don't think any of the male futurity riders could qualify for the NFR in barrels. I'm not saying they aren't good enough. But how many could make roughly 80 rodeos and keep all their futurity clients happy? They would have to pretty much commit to just rodeos and cut there owners loose. There's a reason why the BFA conflicts with the NFR. It's pretty tough to let go of you main source of income to hit the rodeo road. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 557
Location: Kansas and loving it | It wouldn't bother me. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 673
Location: Where it isn’t cold! | Women can and do compete in team roping in the PRCA. I believe the Montana circuit and the First Frontier circuit have had a woman qualify to the circuit finals. And Jackie Crawford roped at Salinas and Cheyenne this year. Kaila Mussell has ridden Saddle Broncs in the PRCA. Women can compete in any event they care to in the PRCA, they just have to fill a permit to get a card, just like the guys do. Many many years ago a woman could compete in the PRCA if they had a WPRA card, but not now. |
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 Proud to be Deplorable
Posts: 1929
| Sooner or later someone with enough money will sue the WPRA and win. The PRCA realized this along time ago and opened all their events to men and women. |
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Saint Stacey
| sodapop - 2015-12-30 8:00 PM
ThreeCorners - 2015-12-30 8:50 PM Â Actually, RFD TV's The American is open to men. Lance can go qualify just as well as anybody if he wanted to.
I think most all of the top male barrel racers have competed at the American qualifiers, but only 1 has made it to The American. They are all BBR events and follow BBR rules. I am surprised there aren't more men qualifying for The American. I would assume Lance has competed at the qualifers too.Â
My theory is that most of these people qualify on jackpot horses that run awesome on perfect ground. They get to the semi's and that rodeo atmosphere and ground weed them out pretty quick. The ones making it through the semi:s are the rodeo horses. |
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Expert
Posts: 3534
Location: Stuck in a cubicle having tropical thoughts | SKM - 2015-12-30 10:12 PM Lance DID sue the WPRA a few years ago and lost. That little girl is the ONLY none PRCA/WPRA person invited to be in the ERA. The ERA does have a qualifying system to pick, I believe, the number was 4 more people? Too bad the only rodeos that they will accept are mainly the big PRCA/WPRA rodeos. I don't think any of the male futurity riders could qualify for the NFR in barrels. I'm not saying they aren't good enough. But how many could make roughly 80 rodeos and keep all their futurity clients happy? They would have to pretty much commit to just rodeos and cut there owners loose. There's a reason why the BFA conflicts with the NFR. It's pretty tough to let go of you main source of income to hit the rodeo road.
I agree, it would be hard to give up the income from riding futuriy colts to rodeo full time. It's a choice a lot of the female futurity riders already make. I just think it would be nice if men had the option and choice to decide whether to futurity or rodeo each year. And there is always a couple girls that make it to the NFR on 30-40 rodeos so if the stars line up that year, it could be feasible to do both. I know in the past Brittany Pozzi has had to find somebody to ride her futurity horses at the BFA while she competed at the NFR.
To another poster, I realize anybody can qualify for The American, but that is only 1 rodeo and the top ten in standings after the NFR are already in. Why isn't it that men could already be in that top ten?
I know it would be hard to change the WPRA rules, but it sounds like the ERA wants to do something different and bigger and better and they could be the one to follow in The American's footsteps and invite some men and start a revolution.
The more I think about this, I can't help but think how it would only improve BUSINESS and improve the sport as a whole to allow both sex's to compete in the barrels at rodeo. I know here in Ohio, especially at Congress, everytime they call the name Chris Coffey, Pete Oen or Troy Crumrine, along with a few other males, everybody say's "it's Chris, pay attention" and everybody watches and cheers. Even for horses like Mulberry Canyon Moon, she split her time between Troy and Angie Meadors while running jackpots with one rider and rodeo with the other. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1718
Location: Southeast Louisiana | I would want to be the best because I can beat the best. Not because an entire group of people was excluded from being allowed to compete, for any reason. I would love to see it open to all.
I don't ride wpra, would love to some day, but that is how I feel about anything I compete in. |
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I AM being nice
Posts: 4396
Location: MD | Steve Kenyon and I had this discussion 15 years ago. I said then that I didn't feel as though it should be opened to men, but that if it were, I would cheer on any male competitors, just as I do the ladies. That being said, my mindset has changed a bit and I happily enter any Bulls n Barrels, or open rodeo that I can. If the rules were to be changed, I'd be buying my permit. I already haul to the rodeos for the girls who run our horses and I sure wouldn't mind being able to run myself.
Edited by WrapSnap 2015-12-31 6:20 AM
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Impossible for a guy to run barrels in the ERA because they are a leech using the PRCA rodeo's to "qualify" into the ERA and the WPRA is the governing body of the barrel racing at PRCA rodeo's.
That being said, let us not forget The American may only be one rodeo, but in reality it is 2 because of the semi finals, but it is the only rodeo you can win 1.1 Million!! Thats quite a few years of hauling and winning in earnings by going the NFR route. Makes more sence to me to have to make only 4 runs of your life for that $Million then the 80 to get to the NFR, the NFR's 10 rounds and spread over a 5 year span to make the same money. |
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 Fact Checker
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Location: Displaced Iowegian | ThreeCorners - 2015-12-31 6:38 AM
Impossible for a guy to run barrels in the ERA because they are a leech using the PRCA rodeo's to "qualify" into the ERA and the WPRA is the governing body of the barrel racing at PRCA rodeo's.
That being said, let us not forget The American may only be one rodeo, but in reality it is 2 because of the semi finals, but it is the only rodeo you can win 1.1 Million!! Thats quite a few years of hauling and winning in earnings by going the NFR route. Makes more sence to me to have to make only 4 runs of your life for that $Million then the 80 to get to the NFR, the NFR's 10 rounds and spread over a 5 year span to make the same money.
And the 10 qualifiers that pay out pretty good too....If I were a man, the NFR would not hold much interest....why would you haul up and down the road 30-60 or more rodeos to make a "portion" of what you "could" make at the American in 3 or 4 runs? |
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 That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| Its simple...its not racism if it comes from a black...its not sexism if it comes from a woman!
I don't really care, except for the fact American courts have officially screwed us all over.
Edited by Whiteboy 2015-12-31 10:09 AM
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 Veteran
Posts: 246
Location: Idaho | I'm all for fairness but when do you draw the line? There are plenty of big opportunities for men barrel racers but it's not good enough. Everyone wants more these days and when they get it they don't want to stop there. We've gotten to a time and place in our society that has men's associations, women's associations, transgender associations, gay/lesbian associations, race associations...... and a group of people who think even if you fit into one, you shouldn't be barred from another because you don't have the qualifications. It's like they are saying, sure you can have your distinctive organizations, but they need to include everyone.... what would be the point? You have to draw the line somewhere and yes it will leave a few people out. It isn't fair for everyone but it's fair to the majority. Life isn't fair in general, have people forgotten that?
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | SKM - 2015-12-30 9:16 PM sodapop - 2015-12-30 8:00 PM ThreeCorners - 2015-12-30 8:50 PM Actually, RFD TV's The American is open to men. Lance can go qualify just as well as anybody if he wanted to. I think most all of the top male barrel racers have competed at the American qualifiers, but only 1 has made it to The American. They are all BBR events and follow BBR rules. I am surprised there aren't more men qualifying for The American. I would assume Lance has competed at the qualifers too. My theory is that most of these people qualify on jackpot horses that run awesome on perfect ground. They get to the semi's and that rodeo atmosphere and ground weed them out pretty quick. The ones making it through the semi:s are the rodeo horses.
THIS. 
I'll add that I agree with the poster who basically said: It makes no sense for a male to want to go to the NFR and haul to more than 60 rodeos a year just to make what they could in 4-5 runs at The American.... |
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