i’ve become interested in learning to be a pickup rider. Just wondering if anyone has seen/knows of female pickup riders and your thoughts on the sport?
Well…no, I haven’t heard of any female pickup riders.
First, a rough stock rider is going to grab a hold of you, in order to get off a bucking critter. The rider is 99.9 percent of the time, male. And he will have to reach for, and get a hold of, your body or saddle. A lot of these fellows won’t be willing to do that, there being the chance of having to grab or otherwise be pretty close to female body parts that they think they shouldn’t handle unless it involves a committed relationship. And sometimes they have to do what they have to do, to get themselves in a safe place.
Some of these guys are pretty chivalrous fellows, and just wouldn’t consider it, even if a woman was super capable.
Second, picking up bronc riders well takes some Mad Skills. Of course, there are women who are capable. And you could pursue the skills to do it, and eventually achieve them.
You would have to learn to rope, and handle rough stock. If you are starting from zero, as opposed to someone who grew up on a ranch or in a rodeo family, that’s going to be a challenge. You could get a job with, or be a working student for, someone who was willing to teach you.
So… not impossible, but probably unlikely.
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They are not common, but there are a few female pickup riders. Jessica Mosher is one of them (interview video here).
But yes, you need to be able to rope (very well) and you need to be able to ride (very well), and need to be able to handle horses, cattle, and bulls (very well).
As I posted on your other thread on the other forum, reach out to stock contractors in your area. Most are family-run but you could inquire if they need any help (starting with grudge work, of course) and if they would be willing to train you.
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Cool, I haven’t ever heard of a female pickup rider in my neck of the desert but good to hear they exist.
Bingo. You need to start from the ground up working around the ranch for the stock contractors. You need to learn about every aspect of the broncs and bulls and all the other stock used in Rodeos so you can learn to read them and effectively work around them safely. Probably do way more as a pick up rider then just fetch riders .
Personally, don’t see any reason you shouldn’t look into it. I mean, why not?? If you want to work around livestock and the rodeo circuit, it’s a thought. Go for it. Might find something else related as well.
Years ago I sold a horse to a bronc school. They didn’t do any other rodeo events, just bareback and saddle bronc. Since it was a school they had horses that “bucked” the way a spoiled pony might, up to PRCA level horses, and everything in between. I remember one of the riding hands was a woman, but I think she acted more as an outrider function, using her horse to help form a chute of sorts with the catch rider’s horse, get the loose horse herded into the out-going chute while the catch rider dropped off the rider and made sure he was OK, that sort of thing.
OP might want to get a track card to do exercising rides at a race track, those rides can be on the same lines a pickup rider at times
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