American Rodeo. It's a mish mash of nostalgia, romance, the smell of horse sweat and leather, and the grit required to hoist yourself onto large animals that do not want you doing that. It was born in the American West, beautiful and deadly all in one, even today. That experience defined us as a nation. It’s an embodiment of a people that found its true expression in the grit required to tend livestock day after day, in any weather, or anything else that got thrown at them. That’s the cultural baseline and rodeo is the national sport that grew out of that legacy. This is a photo narrative of that world, with some parting wisdom on the direction of ranching and agriculture. It's a look into the world where the stakes are high, the roots are deep, and the buckle is worth the blood.