Pickup rider

[1] Pickup riders play an important role in assisting rodeo riders and increasing the safety of competitors.

Usually working in teams of two, the most important job of a pickup rider is to help the competitor at the end of his/her ride by riding next to the bucking horse, allowing the competitor to safely get off of the bucking animal, usually by grabbing the pickup rider or the pickup rider providing stability while the competitor jumps or swings free.

The general pattern is for one pickup rider to take charge of helping the competitor while the other stays near the horse to remove the flank strap from the bucking animal and herd it out of the arena.

In the case of bull riding, the competitors are primarily assisted by the bullfighters who helps protect the rider from the bull.

Once the competitor has gotten off the bull, voluntarily or otherwise, the pickup riders may haze the bull from the arena, lassoing it if needed, working with the bullfighters to keep the animal from hurting people on the ground.