Noah Turley, 8, of Mars rides around the bull ring with the American flag during the singing of the national anthem on Feb. 17 at Buckhorn Ranch in Cherry Township.

To win a bull-riding event, a rider must stay on a bull for eight seconds and earn the best score.

The total possible score for a bull ride is 100 points.

Half of the score is based on the rider's ability to match moves with the bull. The other half is based on the performance of the bull and how difficult it is to ride.

Random draws match riders with bulls.

The eight-second clock starts when the bull is partly out of the chute and ends when the rider's hand comes out of the rope tied around the animal or when the rider touches the ground.

A disqualification occurs if the free hand touches the rider or bull during the eight seconds.

Cowpokes can be awarded a second ride on a different bull if the judges rule there was a problem with the original bull's performance.

Although there is not a particular technique applied, riders are instructed to try and land on their feet if knocked off the bull. Otherwise, the rider is winded from the fall.

Landing feet-first also helps riders get out of the bulls' way.

More than 800 people from across the world are professional bull riders, according to Professional Bullriding, Inc., owned and operated by more than 700 riders in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Australia.

In addition to riders being ranked from scores, the sport's top 50 bulls are ranked each season.

A bull is ranked on various attributes including speed, power, rear kick, direction changes and body rolls — when a bull kicks either its hind legs or all four legs to the side.

And the bull doesn't have to fret about ejecting its rider early. The bull is scored even when the rider doesn't last eight seconds.

For more information about bull riding, log on to www.pbrnow.com.