Cowboys not just in Texas, rodeo features best in nation

Lambs are some of the many animals on display at the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show. (Ashley Pereyra| Reporter)
Lambs are some of the many animals on display at the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show. (Ashley Pereyra| Reporter)

By Alexa Brackin
News Editor

RodeoHouston contestants in seven categories roped up $1.68 million in prize money in the BP Super Series of the 2013 show that took place from Feb. 25 to Saturday.

The infamous RodeoHouston BP Super Series is an invitation-only, international event that features the top 40 cowboys and cowgirls in seven events in five three-day series; tie-down roping, bareback riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing and bull riding.

This rodeo is unlike most others because contestants do not pay entry fees; the purse is provided entirely by RodeoHouston. Along with a pretty paycheck of more than $50,000, all the winners walked away with a trophy saddle and a champion belt buckle. The rodeo also offered the RodeoHouston Super Shootout, on March 9, which is a one-day event that features only the champion athletes from 10 of the best rodeos in the United States and Canada. The event is the richest one-day rodeo in the world. With a total purse of $200,000, it sent each winner home with $25,000 and a champion buckle.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which handed out more than $2 million in total winnings this year, is the final leg of the Texas rodeo trio that includes the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.