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Malia N. Lancaster
Miss Megan Weaver
Rhetoric I
10/14/2014

Cover Letter

In this ethnography, I intend to analyze the community of rodeo, and defend its status as a
discourse community. Because I grew up in this atmosphere, and have extensive experience in
that community, I think that my inside knowledge will prove to be beneficial in defending my
case for it being a discourse community.
To be a discourse community, a group has to have fulfilled a certain number of
requirements; and while I am sure that Ill do just fine explaining them, I have to admit that I
have my restrictions when it comes to providing an explanation for this complex topic. My main
strength in this ethnography is the fact that I have attempted to clearly explain the different
genres that exist within this discourse community. My weakness is the fact that I mainly focused
on one particular genre; which is the one that I have the most experience studying, as well as
actually participating in.

A discourse community consists of a group of individuals that have a common set of

goals as a whole. It also is composed of intercommunication between members, as well as
feedback, and a shared language. I grew up in rodeo, and consider it a discourse community,
because most everyone on the rodeo circuit lifts each other up, and gives one another support no
matter what. Its like a big family that shares common goals, (to win at all costs), and a certain
genre; one of competition, but of a healthy sort. It has its own lexis, or language, that defines the
community as a whole. Rodeo also has an intense amount of old and new members. This number
is pretty darn equal, so in essence, when one member exits, another enters.
Let us first discuss the common goals of rodeo competitors. Rodeo is one of the most
competitive sports in the world, and it is intensified by the fact that its every man for himself,
so to speak, in most genres. There are several different genres, or events, within one rodeo; one
of those is barrel racing, which is my personal favorite, and the one genre that I have the most
experience in because I received training to become a barrel racer.
Barrel racing is the most fast-paced of all of the events. The object of the sport is to
gallop around three barrels, which are arranged in a cloverleaf pattern, and go the fastest in order
to win. There are four different speed divisions within barrel racing, and the fastest is 1D. This
category is made up of riders and horses that tend to run times of under 15 seconds or better.
This is considered the fastest of the fast. 2D and 3D consist of times in the high 15s, or low
16s. For example, I have a friend that barrel races, and she and her mare consistently place in
3D. This means that it takes them about sixteen seconds to run the pattern with no mistakes. If
one barrel is so much as tipped, it could cost the team a win. If a barrel is knocked over, it costs
the team a penalty of five seconds, which makes or breaks the run, and the points standings.

Other genres within the rodeo community include bull riding, team roping, bronc riding,
pole bending, chute dogging, mutton bustin, calf riding, and numerous other events.
Bull riding is an event in which a cowboy (or cowgirl), literally rides a huge bull, and the
more it bucks, the more points the rider gets. The object of the competition is to spur the bull in
order to make it buck, and therefore obtain more points, as well as staying on the bull for at least
eight seconds; otherwise, the rider is disqualified. The object of the game is the same with bronc
riding, except the animal that the cowboy mounts is a strong horse who is unbroken. The other
events are all fascinating to watch, and with the exception of team roping, are singlehandedly
performed.
. The lexis of a rodeo discourse community is a complicated one. Some of the terms used
have to do with each separate event. There are also terms used to describe the gender of horses,
as well as the various parts of equipment that competitors must possess in order to compete. For
example: mare, (female horse who is over 4 years old and sexually mature), stallion, (male horse
over the age of four who is sexually mature), gelding, (male horse that has been, so-to-speak,
neutered), off-billet, (a strap, either nylon or leather, that connects the cinch on both sides in
order to fasten the saddle), etc.
These are terms that are regularly used within the rodeo world, and within the horse
world in general. Another example of a lexis term, is the pocket in barrel racing, which is the
space between the rider and horse, and the actual barrel. You have to have a wide pocket in order
to cut a tight exit. The farther away you are from the barrel in the beginning of a turn determines
how tight or wide the turn will come out. Once you round the backside of that barrel, you need to
make a quick exit in order to hustle up the hill (another lexis term that barrel racers will
understand; a.k.a getting the horse to increase its speed), to get to the next barrel proficiently.

Wide backside turns cost time, so making it up the hill and to the next barrel fast is essential if
you want to win.
Feedback is an integral part of rodeo. Because most of the competitors are friends with
one another, they are very honest with each other, and in my experience, will definitely point out
what youre doing wrong. When I was in training, my trainer constantly hounded me about my
horses left barrel ducking tendencies, and my tendency not to correct her for it. This meant, in
a nutshell, that when myself and my horse turned on the backside of the barrel, she would
purposely mow into the barrel because she didnt want to turn left (stubborn girl). So, in order to
teach her to quit hugging the barrel, we constantly worked on that one particular barrel for hours
at a time in order to break her from ducking. Needless to say, because my horse Brandi is so
opinionated, she got sick and tired of making left turns, so she straightened up her act, and quit
ducking into the left barrel.
Because of my trainers feedback, I became a better rider, and my horse became more
disciplined & focused as well. Within a discourse community, you must have this type of
constructive criticism and feedback, because without it, there is no intercommunication between
the members, and furthermore, there is no effort to improve oneself. Lastly, we will discuss the
balance of old and new members in rodeo. I have been in and out of rodeo for the last six years,
while my good friend, Brandi Crouch, has been doing it nonstop for nearly a decade.
This balance creates a distinction between the experienced, and the more novice
members. I dont have as much experience in barrel racing as Brandi does, and she could teach
me a lot. And besides, many novice members are eager and willing to learn, which is a big part
of being apart of a discourse community that has a good balance of new and old members. When

the older members teach the new ones skills that they have learned, they are preparing the next
generation of the community to take over.
In conclusion, I have to say that I enjoyed this project immensely, because it has brought
back a lot of fond memories of my days in rodeo, which I miss very much. Because I had to quit
due to my horses health, and school, I vow to one day return to this amazing discourse
community.
Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed my ethnography!