In the pre-rodeo, cowboy contest era, most competing cowboys lived in the area in which the contest was held. These ranch cowboys did not follow the more professional rodeo competitors' circuit, but competed only in these local contests. Their pride in competing in front of the home crowd was demonstrated by the clothing they wore. Historian Kristine Fredriksson writes, "At the Pendleton Round-Up, which prided itself on being strictly a contest of working cowboys, the contestants showed up in ‘gaudy shirts' that contrasted with the dress of the rest of the townspeople. Angora chaps, dyed in brilliant colors [an example shown in this picture] were in vogue, and those who wore leather chaps adorned them with silver conchas."

Skateboarders wear hoodies, hats and beanies with company logos; tee shirts with provocative icons or slogans; and clothing stylistically designated as Urban, Hip Hop, Graffiti and Urban Skate Wear. One of the more important components of a skater's apparel is his footwear and for years Vans was the go-to company. Some skaters defend their Vans against all comers as evidenced in these lyrics from "Vans Song" by the Suicide Machines:

You think Doc Martens are the coolest invention
since someone sliced a loaf of bread in someone else's kitchen
The plain truth is that you just plain suck so why should I tell you not to waste a hundred bucks

VANS, in my headVANS, on my feet
My sole is on the ground when I'm walking down the street 2,3,4
Don't need no Doc Martens
Can't wear no Birkenstocks
Just a crummy old pair of chuka boots
and a smelly old pair of socks

If you want to wear them you don't have to ride a skateboard
You can even wear them with a pair of old cords
Someone'll probably tell you that they're not in trend
Just tell them that's the reason why you don't have any friends--no friends.

Known variously as bronco busting, bronco riding, and pitching contest, saddle bronc riding is rodeo's classic and cornerstone event. Originally, the only disqualification rule was being bucked off. Moreover, contestants were required to ride the horse until it either quit bucking, stopped, or ran off. Called "ridden to a finish," this early iteration of the event could conceivably go on for some time causing spectators to lose interest and to begin chatting among themselves.

An 1887 newspaper account of a successful ride at a Denver, Colorado tournament reads, "Buck! Buck isn't a name for it. Up in the air and down with all four legs bunched stiff as an antelope's, and back arched like a hostile wildcat's, went the animal. But the rider was there, and deep into the bowels he sank the spurs, while he lashed shoulders and neck with the keen stinging quirt. It was brute force against human nerve. Nerve won. A few more jumps and the horse submitted and carried the man around the corral on a swinging lope. It had all been done in seven and a half minutes. The crowd cheered, and an admirer dropped a box of cigars into the hands of the perspiring but plucky victor."

Regarding rodeo injuries, anthropologist Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence writes that bareback riders "suffer trauma to the arm that holds the rigging, and steer wrestling leads inevitably to some degree of knee trouble. Bull riders, in addition to the major injuries resulting from falls, tramplings, and gorings, usually have pulled groin muscles from gripping the bull. Saddle bronc riders most frequently break their legs, either in the chutes or when they are bucked off."

As of 1995, there were an estimated 8 million skateboarders in the US. An estimated 56,435 skateboard injuries were treated in emergency departments in 1992. In addition, an estimated 1,900 hospitalizations occurred due to skateboard-related injuries during this period. The vast proportion of admissions were from head injuries. Analysis of Consumer Product Safety Commission data from 1991 indicates the following salient features of the current outbreak of skateboard injuries:

95% involved skateboarders younger than 25 years; 61% involved 5- to 14-year-olds; 87% of victims were male; 74% of injuries involved the extremities—usually fractures of radius and ulna, 21% to the head and neck, and 5% to the trunk; severe injuries (intracraneal, internal) were uncommon, moderate injuries (long bones fractures) were most common, and deaths occurred almost always from collisions with motor vehicles.

Nowadays, disqualification during the saddle bronc riding event results if, prior to the 8-second buzzer, the rider fails to have his feet in the proper "mark out" position at the beginning of the ride; if either foot slips out of a stirrup; if he touches the animal, himself or his equipment with his free hand; or if he drops the rein. A rider must begin his ride with his feet over the bronc's shoulders giving the horse the advantage. Judging is done by one judge on each side, scoring both the horse and the rider from 1 to 25. Judges' scores are then added together for a possible 100. To obtain a high score, a rider should synchronize his spurring action with the bronc's bucking rhythm and maintain control and long spurring strokes throughout the ride. Albeit there are more opportunities for disqualification, the 8-second ride certainly has a number of obvious advantages over riding to a finish.