[Richard Kimball]

I used to go to rodeos a lot. At one, a cow got spooked and cleared the fence into the stands (yeah, a cow. It was one of those cow-milking contests.) At the Belton Rodeo one year, the girl holding the American flag was posed under the fireworks (domed arena, fireworks were in the upper railings) and a big chunk of flaming material dropped on the horse's rear end. It went crazy, but didn't hit the stands.

Horses are big and powerful and can do a lot of damage.

[Fantasywriter]

Did you ever hear the story about how Will Rogers broke into show biz big time? He was a participant in a vaudeville rodeo [Madison Square Gardens], and a steer jumped the railing and headed up into the stands. Will jumped the railing on his horse, lassoed the steer and calmed it. The rest is history.

[blam]

"Horses are big and powerful and can do a lot of damage."

Pants were not invented until the horse was domesticated. They (pants) were necessary to straddle the horses back.