Even dressed as a clown, their job is no laughing matter. These daredevils can be the only thing between an angry bull and a cowboy.
Without the barrelmen and bullfighters, a cowboy would have to face the challenge of riding, and dismounting, a thousand pound bull alone.The mission of every bullfighter is to divert the bull’s attention away from the exiting rider by whatever means possible. If that means jumping on top of a leaping bull to free a rider’s hand, or sprinting into the path of a charging bull, they put themselves at risk to prevent harm to others.Working from an open-ended barrel, the barrelman serves as a diversion for an angry bull. The crowd can get into the action when the bull is charging the barrel, but often times, the bullfighter has used the barrel as a distraction to allow escape time for a downed or injured rider.The bullfighters are an exciting part of all 20 RODEOHOUSTON™ performances.

The 2008 RODEOHOUSTON™ bullfighters were Darrel Diefenbach, Azle, Texas; Cory Wall, Burlington, Colorado; Miles Hare, Liberty, Texas; and Clay Collins, Garland, Texas. The barrelman is Leon Coffee, Blanco, Texas (PRCA Clown of the Year – 1983).