Editing Rodeo clown (section)

==Tasks and skills==
The primary job of the rodeo bullfighter is to protect a fallen rider from the [[Bucking bull|bull]] by distracting it and providing an alternative target for the bull to attack, whether the rider has been [[Bucking|bucked off]] or has jumped off the animal. These individuals expose themselves to great danger in order to protect the riders. To this end, they wear bright, loose-fitting clothes that are designed to tear away, with protective gear fitted underneath.<ref name="Groves">Groves, Melody; "Ropes, Reins and Rawhide", University of New Mexico Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0-8263-3822-4}}</ref>  Rodeo clowns require speed, agility, and the ability to anticipate a bull's next move.<ref name="Groves"/> Working closely with very large, very powerful animals, rodeo clowns are often injured seriously, and, sometimes, fatally. Most rodeos feature a clown, and clowns have become crowd favorites.

In some venues, rodeo bullfighters still wear clown make-up and some may also provide traditional [[clown]]ing entertainment for the crowd between rodeo events, often parodying aspects of [[cowboy]] culture. But most modern bullfighters no longer dress as clowns, though they still wear bright, loose-fitting clothing. At larger events in the United States, the job is split, a bullfighter (sometimes two or more) protects the riders from the bull, and a barrelman (sometimes one person, sometimes two) provide comic humor.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |title=Bronco riding cowboys embody the spirit of those who transformed West |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=1980-07-31 |page=G14}}</ref> Some barrelmen provide both comedy and support to bullfighters, but the job of a bullfighter is generally distinct from that of the comic.<ref name=wsj>{{cite news |title=Our Nimble Writer Faces an Angry Bull, Lives to Tell Tale |author=Buss, Dale D. |date=1981-04-02 |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rodeoclown.freeservers.com |title= Rodeo Clown and Barrelman|access-date=2013-01-21}}</ref>