When David, Charlie and I were in the Fort Worth Stockyards I found a book called A Belly Full of Bedsprings: The History of Bronc Riding I would like to get our friend Ed Lackey for his Birthday in November.
In high school David and Ed rode in our local Rodeo. Ed was a Bronc rider with his brother. I’m sure when David sees A Belly Full of Bedsprings: The History of Bronc Riding he will want a copy for himself as well.
Which is fine with me because I love Bull Riding and I can’t wait to see who all is featured in A Belly Full of Bedsprings: The History of Bronc Riding my friends and family were in the Rodeo. I would like to see if they are mentioned in this novel.
Charlie and I can use A Belly Full of Bedsprings: The History of Bronc Riding in our Homeschooling class for Art, Reading and History. We could even start Homeschool Book Club and A Belly Full of Bedsprings: The History of Bronc Riding could be one of the books we read.
Belly Full of Bedsprings: The History of Bronc Riding
Ever since the first wild horse was lassoed and tamed, there has been continuous debate about which rider rode longest and which horse bucked the best.
The tradition goes back 150 years, when the earliest competitions were scattered across the western United States, at Fourth of July celebrations and later on during trail drives to northern markets. Bronc riding is a thriving sport today, but now its home is in the arena of professional rodeo.
Belly Full of Bedsprings traces the history of bronc riding, and its evolution into a sport, from those early days in the American West to the current pro-rodeo circuit.
Woerner examines the development of rodeo competition and the changes that have evolved specifically in the bronc riding event: the move from open corrals to chutes, the development of the ideal saddle, the introduction of bareback riding, changes in timing and judging events, increasing purses and sponsorship, the organization of unions, providing safety gear, and bringing the cowboy into the twenty-first century with computer technology.
Interspersed are tales to evoke laughter and tears, including the incredible (but hilarious) transportation problems early riders had, as well as the tragic injuries incurred by both horses and cowboys.
Selected bronc busters and broncs of each decade in the twentieth century are covered, highlighted by action-packed photos throughout. Complete statistics of competitions are included in an appendix.
Belly Full of Bedsprings is more than an eight-second ride, guaranteed to inform and entertain not only true fans of the sport but also those who may be hesitant to sit atop a bucking tornado.
About: Gail Hughbanks Woerner
Gail Woerner was born and raised on a ranch in northeastern Colorado and worked with cattle and broke horses with her grandfather. She has written five books on the history of rodeo, a children’s book on rodeo and numerous articles in various western-related magazines and periodicals including magazines in France, Canada and Australia.
Gail is the Chairman of the Oral History Project for the Rodeo Historical Society and interviews senior cowboys and cowgirls and those being inducted in to the Society’s Hall of Fame.
These videos and vocal recordings are housed in the archives of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
Gail is the Chairman of the Rodeo Clown Reunion which is held at various rodeos across the nation and generally has forty retired laugh-getters, bullfighters and barrelmen attend.
They don their familiar makeup and costumes and sign autographs and entertain the fans. She also writes a newsletter to numerous retired rodeo clowns and their widows monthly.
She received the Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Nonfiction for her book entitled, Rope to Win, The History of Steer, Calf and Team Roping in 2008.
She received the American Cowboy Culture Award for Western Writing at the National Cowboy Symposium held in Lubbock, TX, in 2009. She received the Western Heritage Award at the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2012. Gail lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband, Cliff.
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Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
