Rodeos are cowboy games-fierce competitions and wild exhibitions of old and traditional cowboy skills. Riding and roping are at the top of the bill.

Rodeo has long been the great North American sport. It is wildly popular with adults and kids all over the American and Canadian West, and, increasingly, in the East as well. Ken Robbins captures the essence of this time-honored tradition in a spectacular photo-essay on rodeo life.

The evocative and amusing text, reminiscent of cowboy poetry, explains clearly and simply how it works and what it's all about. The stunning hand-painted photographs take us into the rodeo ring with the cowboys, cowgirls, broncs and bulls, and, of course, the fearless clowns. From the rough stock events (bareback bronc, saddle bronc, and bull riding) to the timed events (steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping and barrel racing), we learn first-hand that rodeo is more than just a sport or an exhibition of skill- it's a celebration of a way of life.