Try playing football without a helmet, or hockey without pads. Or for that matter, boxing without a mouthpiece. Doesn't sound easy does it? Well, welcome to the world of rodeo.

A lot has changed in high school rodeo over the past fifteen years and in this particular case, it's a good thing. The risk of serious injury, remains, but even during the pressure-packed Idaho High School Rodeo Finals, more and more members of the sport are willing to be smart and not allow short term gratification or peer pressure to cause them to take needless risks where their health is concerned.

Filer's Brad Reeder knows all about the risks involved. He's had his share of bruises, but nothing major.

"I've had good luck and never been seriously hurt," he said.

Reeder, who also played football and wrestled, is making his fourth appearance at the state finals in Pocatello. He's a returning national qualifier in bareback and so far is in the Top 10 in bull riding. He knows the risks, but he knows what to do and when to do it as well.

"New guys get hurt more often then people who have done this for awhile," he says. "here's tricks of the trade, things that you can do to avoid getting hurt badly."

And the biggest lesson learned?

"Concentration," he said. "Rodeo is all a big mind game. You have to know what's going on at all times and not let yourself get into a bad situation."

Tri -Med Sports provides certified athletic trainers for the state tournament through the sponsorship of the Portneuf Medical Center. The folks are volunteers and have been working with the rodeo association for years.

"When we started, I'd say 50-percent of our mission was education and 50-percent care," said Brent Faure, who also works closely with Highland High School in Pocatello. "Rodeo is a non-traditional sport and they didn't have a lot of medical care at events. Now we've been able to gain the trust of a lot of people and they understand there are times when serious situations can take place."

Those sentiments were echoed Wednesday.

"The attitude is changing," said Carolyn Faure, herself a certified athletic trainer. "Rodeo was the last sport to recognize that it's O.K. to ice injuries, to take care of sprains, to tape ankles. You had and still have 'the Cowboy Way,' which is to go on through the pain and keep competing. But more of the kids and the parents understand that doing something today will help prevent more problems tomorrow. We'll take the kids back behind the grandstand or to our medical trailer and treat them. We don't want to embarrass them but we do feel we need to help treat the injuries."

The Faure's have seen numerous major fractures, concussions and in Brent's case even fractured spines. But they have come to be respected throughout the rodeo family as parents especially, know that they care about their kids.

"We had gone to Blackfoot for an event when I got a call from a family in the Raft River area," says Brent. "They said their son had hurt his shoulder in a meet the night before. We were already on the road but they actually met us in Blackfoot where I was able to look at the young man and set him up with seeing an orthopedic surgeon."

It's stories like that, that show that rodeo, while still dangerous, isn't as dangerous as it may have been in the past -- and that's a good thing.

As far as action in the arena itself, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning saw some of the local competitors shine. In addition to Brad Reeder's Top 10 placement in bull riding, Zach Hutchinson from Raft River turned in a solid score of 73 in bareback riding to tie for third. Gooding's Cady Mae Coates, the District V all-around cowgirl champion had the top score in break-away roping. Her 2.84 nudged out Leadore's Lacey England by a tenth of a second.

Shoshone's Hailey Harris turned in a blink-and-you-missed-it breakaway roping performance, snagging her target in 2.94 seconds. Not to be outdone, Coates finished in 2.84

Cassie Vierstra, the District VI all-around cowgirl from Filer, scored a 21.918 in pole bending, good for eight carried points to the second go. In the same event Chelsea Kack from Twin Falls scored a 26.700 and got ten carried points. She also was involved in the goat tying competition, where she scored big there too, nailing an 8.84 good for nine carried points. Brothers Dusty and Kyle Vader from Hagerman grabbed eight carried points in the team roping after their score of 30.98. Filer's Kyle VanBiezen winner had a time of 21.87 in calf roping -- good for ten carried points.

Today's action starts at 10 a.m. at the Bannock County Fairgrounds.