[image: wikipedia.org]
While many rodeo sports grow out of an old farming tradition, farmers and cowherds don't usually wrestle steer doing their normal work. Steer wrestling's origins come from just one man. Legend has it that in the 1930s, a cowboy named Bill Pickett wrestled a runaway steer to the ground by chasing it with a horse, and then pushing it to the ground by twisting its horns.
Modern cowboys don't bite the steer's lip like Bill Pickett did, but they still hold to a lot of the techniques that he pioneered. These days, the steer is held in a holding pen, and released with a shadow rider. The steer is released first, and the "hazer cowboy" rides beside the animal to make sure it runs in a straight line. Then, the competing steer wrestler and his horse are released. The bulldogger cowboy must ride up beside the steer, lean off of his horse and grab hold of the steer's horns. Usually, the cowboy rides between the two animals for a few seconds, and then drops his feet from the horse's saddle and digs his heels into the ground. He continues dragging his weight along the steer's neck, twisting the animals' horns upwards and holding its nose until he "throws" the steer over. Once all four of the beast's feet are off of the ground, a judge waves a flag and the sporting activity stops. The cowboy is given a time, and the steer gets up and walks away.