One of my fellow writers pointed out that even in the riding events, the animals are fitted with what I later learned is called a "bucking strap" which fits around their abdomen and groin making them sufficiently irritable to attempt to throw off the competitor.
I found this hard to believe until I looked at some of my own photos, such as the one above, and found that it's true.
In fairness, however, the only injury I noticed all evening was to one of the cowboys who was thrown off a bronco and appeared to suffer some sort of groin injury.
