<p>Kanin Asay, seen here riding a bull in Pendleton, won last year’s FCPR, but isn’t slated to return this year.</p>

It may have been a dare, or maybe a strange form of torture. Some think, like many manly sports, it was an attempt to impress a woman. Whatever the circumstances, the identity of the ?rst person to attempt to ride a bull has been lost in the mists of history.

In any case, bull riding has come a long way, and these days the sport is considered the premier rodeo event.

This year the Farm-City Pro Rodeo has scheduled good talent, both in bull riders and in bulls to put on a great show.

In reality, you have 56 bull riders and four companies bringing bulls, said David Bothum, FCPR board member. All of them should be good.

All four stock contractors are among the top in the business and include Calgary Rodeo, stock contractors for the Calgary Stampede, and Korkow Rodeo, a company that has been in business since 1959.

In addition to top contractors, Bothum said top bull riders will attend the Farm City Pro Rodeo.

I know your going to have the top cowboys in the world, Bothum said. The majority ofthem are going to be the top 50 in the world.

Bothum added that the FCPR limits the number of riders who can compete in order to keep competition intense, and to make sure the audience gets to see the best rides. In addition, Bothum said the rodeo brings in good contractors with lots of stock to make sure everone gets good rides.

You try to make it so everybody has a fair chance to win something, Bothum said.

We want it to be a riding contest.

Jaylee Britt, a state championship wrestler at Hermiston High School, is one of the cowboys signed up to take on the challenge.

Last years champ, Kanin Asay, is not on the contestant list this year and will not be back to defend his FCPR crown. He won $4988 for his win .

The arena record is shared by a pair of cowboys, Cole Mewborn and Beau Hill, both with 92-point rides. Mewborn did his in 1999 and Hill electrified the crowd with his record run in 2001.

Shane Proctor of Grand Coulee, Wash. is the No. 1-ranked bull rider in the world this season according to the PRCA, and he will take his turn at taming the wild beast this year.

Wesley Silcox (Santaquin, Utah), PRCAs fifth-ranked bull rider, will be competing along with the fourth-ranked rider, Clayton Foltyn from El Campo, Texas.

Steve Woolsey of Payson, Utah is slated to compete in the event, and right now hes ranked sixth in the world standings by the PRCA.