Luke Branquinho
"Luke Branquinho: Rodeo Cowboy on his way to achieving his goal."
To win the Rodeo World Championships, the most coveted title in the world of professional rodeo, competitors compete in 80 to 125 rodeos a year, spend thousands of dollars on travel and entry fees and travel as many as 200 days per year. In the end, only the most talented and luckiest competitors ever enter the ranks of the world champions.
Luke Branquinho, 21, of Los Alamos, California, intends to be among them. Luke is a team roper and steer wrestler, who is well on his way to achieving his goal. He placed No.3 All-Around in the World Standings at the Calgary Stampede last season and is ranked 27 in the 2002 season circuit standings.
Steer wrestling, which was started by an African-American cowboy named Will Pickett while working in the Wild West Show some 75 years ago, is typically the quickest event in a rodeo. It’s also known as the "big man's event;" steer wrestlers typically weigh an average of 215 pounds. Luke, who stands 6 feet, weighs 240 pounds. But wrestling a steer requires more than brute strength. While being strong is essential, competitors also have to understand the principles of leverage. Luke says he has dedicated himself to this sport not only because of the thrill of the competition but the mental challenge it provides.
The tools of his sport include a horse, a saddle and a hazing partner. The hazer’s job is to ride parallel to the steer to keep it running in a straight line. The steer wrestler’s goal is to score the fastest time in the event with no penalties. The competitor starts on horseback behind a barrier and begins the chase after the steer has been given a head start.
During this head start, the steer trips an automatic barrier strung in front of the horse in the roping box. If the horse breaks through the barrier before the steer trips it automatically, the competitor is given a 10-second penalty, which usually puts him "out of the money." The steer wrestler rides along the steer’s left side, while the hazer rides along the steer’s right. When the steer wrestler’s horse pulls even with the steer, he eases down the right side of his horse and reaches for the steer’s horns. After grasping the horns and pulling free of his horse, he digs his heels into the dirt. As the steer slows, he turns the animal, lifts up on its right horn and pushes down with his left hand. The clock stops when the steer is on his side with all four legs pointing in the same direction.
Luke’s other event is team roping. Team roping is, as its name implies, rodeo’s only true team event. It requires quick thinking and bullet-fast reaction (the slowest round-winning team roping time at the National Finals Rodeo in 1997 was 5 seconds). Headers must charge out of the box on horseback (without breaking the barrier), chase down a fast-racing steer and rope him around his protected horns, neck or "half-head" — a partial horn-neck catch. Then the header must turn the steer to the left, giving his partner, called a heeler, a chance to rope the steer’s hind feet. The run is completed when the steer is secured and the team ropers’ horses are facing each other on opposite sides of the steer.
Surveys and independent monitoring have shown that animal injury rates in professional rodeo are extremely low, yet the sport can be risky for humans. Luke has suffered three dislocations in his right shoulder and a fracture in his left. He depends on Platinum Performance products to hasten healing, and keep pain and stiffness at bay. He takes PP Myo-Aid, Ortho-Chon, Trace Minerals and Platinum Bars, says the product line has made a difference. It has helped him not only recover quickly and well, but has given him confidence to keep at his sport.
“It keeps me flexible, healthy and from being sore following each event,” he says. Staying healthy is extremely important for competitors like Luke, who is an insulin-dependent diabetic. He says the three to four Platinum Bars he eats daily keep his blood sugar steady and his energy level strong.
Luke also has his two Quarter horses on Platinum Performance, including the Ortho-Chon, Myo- Fuel and Platinum granular. He says they not only love the granular formula, but he has observed how well all of the products have improved the horses’ coats and health, as well as keeping them in top competitive form.
Rodeo fans will want to keep an eye on this rising star; Luke has every intention of claiming the Gold Buckle of a World champion in the not too distant future and he believes Platinum Performance will help get him there.
back to top
|
