Professional rodeo bull rider and bareback rider Dan K. Snarr, South Jordan, says competitors make quite an investment in clothing, equipment and supplies to vie for prizes in rodeo events - to say nothing of the doctor bills most of them have to pay for the falls and spills they take.
Snarr, 26, is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association which sponsors a host of rodeos across the nation each year. A native of South Jordan, he graduated from Bingham High School in 1981 and has been competing in rodeos for nearly 12 years.After graduation Snarr spent seven years training horses in Arizona, Nebraska, Texas and Arkansas and returned to Utah three and a half years ago. He is a salesman and a hat shaper and cleaner at the American Cowboy store, the largest store of its kind in Utah, at 3540 S. State, Salt Lake City.
Most of his rodeo riding is done on weekends in the summer, he said, and while he has won several trophies, trophy buckles and some money for his skills in the past, he calls his sport "a labor of love rather than a way to make millions."
He says he has improved his skills each year and hopes to do better than ever this year.
Dressed for a rodeo, Snarr wears about $660 worth of clothing and gear, including a hat, $85; shirt, $25; mouthpiece - to keep him from getting his teeth knocked out - $5; a glove tie and glove, $25; a bull rope and bells, $105; chaps, $170; spurs, $40; boots, $130; boot straps to help hold his boots on when he is being bucked and tossed about on the back of a four-footed bundle of lightning, $10; a protective arm guard, $5; and jeans, $15.
He wears silver decorations on his chaps for fun, he says, that cost $60, and a horsehair and silver hat band that cost $20.
"You can dress for less; in fact, a high school youth starting out in rodeos can get dressed for $150, but I put a little more money into my gear because I am a serious competitor," Snarr said.
His two events, bull riding and bareback riding, are the least-expensive rodeo events for a competitor, he said, "because I don't need a horse or saddle.
"If I were to enter a calf-roping event, for instance, I'd need a well-trained horse costing $2,000 or more and a saddle and blanket that could cost $900. A rein and headstall for the horse would cost about $50 more; I'd need different spurs and a rope, at about $25.
"If you ride a bucking bronco, you'll need your own saddle - a different kind than those used for roping events - that could cost $600 or more."
Bulldogging, or jumping off a horse and putting a horned steer down on its back with all four of its legs off the ground, requires equipment that costs about the same as for calf roping, except you wouldn't need a rope, Snarr said.
Doctor bills? Anybody who has seen a rodeo has seen the bad landings competitors often take. Bones break and muscles and tendons tear. "Vet bills for horses are bad enough - but doctor bills can be astronomical."
If you enjoy horses and have a few, as most of the employees at the American Cowboy do, your costs can mount up, too. One employee, Kirsten Larson, 19, of Sugar House, said she and her mother, Samantha Winburn, keep three horses in Draper.
Room and board for the trio costs about $250 a month, and veterinarian bills have run as much as $500 a year. But that is little, she said, in relation to the cost of her horses.
Her Tennessee walker cost $5,000 and her two Arabians cost $3,000 each.