Benefit of Rodeo on Individuals with Disabilities 1

How the Sport of Rodeo Benefit Individuals with Disabilities

Genre Analysis
Denae De Luna
Rhetoric and Composition 2
Professor Navar
September 6,2017
Benefit of Rodeo on Individuals with Disabilities 2

Introduction: Rodeo to Individuals with Disabilities

People with disabilities are known to dig deep into many peoples hearts. Numerous can

say that people with disabilities have had an enormous impact on their lives. Looking more into

the spectrum of how rodeos and equine therapy can benefit those with disabilities, there are

numerous reasons why it can be the best verdict for someone that has special needs and why it is

vital to keep facilities that contain these therapies going. People with disabilities seek for people

that will bring them comfort and happiness. It is said that something about a horse is good for the

inside of a man. A person with a disability can really bond with a horse because they realize that

the horse looks past their disability and knows what is really inside the heart. In this genre

analysis, it is important to identify the different genres that are being utilized to set out the

purpose of this topic. Perceptibly, the topic is focusing on how rodeos and equine therapy can be

extremely beneficial for people with special needs. One genre that will be emphasized is a non-

fiction essay/journal. To be specific, one of the genres that is being analyzed here is Students

with special needs learn life skills at rodeo. This article is written by Jonece Dunigan provided

by Decatur Daily.com. The other genre that is a documentary and is called Horses that Heal

provided by the TV show RIDE TV. This genre is in an iconography form and can be very

helpful as to delivering a very important message coming from the experiences from people with

special needs. What is being emphasized is the real common deal on how there are people

throughout the whole world being effected in a positive motive from equine therapy. This type of

genre will help the audience focus their main attention on the importance of the topic and really

see how this can help people now. The problem is that people underestimate the ability of

someone with special needs but its time to realize that with the help of courage from others, they
Benefit of Rodeo on Individuals with Disabilities 3

are able to do so much more than just be human. Equine therapy and the sport of rodeos allows

people with special needs to show that to others.

Structure and Delivery

Considering that one of the genres is a non-fiction article, the article is delivering the

information in a form of an experienced way. The way that this genre is delivering its

information is through the involvements of others. For example, it gives an experience of a

young lady named Lily Smith. It mentions that when she saw a young man crying, she asked

why and he answered to her that he had always wanted to be a cowboy. She proceeded to

mention how that experience with the little boy impacted her as a person. Since this is a typical

non-fiction article, the genre is not organized in a specific manner to convey the message. Its

message is just told through a normal structured article telling the experiences of others. The

iconography genre delivers its message through the voices of those people with special needs.

The neat thing about this type of genre is that you can see their faces portraying the message to

the audience much clearer. There are so many similarities of these two genres looking at how the

author portrays the message. Both genres use experiences from others to talk about how it

impacted their lives and others. The only difference between these two articles is that one you

can watch visually and the other is in a written format.

Audience Purpose

The intended audience is for the community and people that are willing to support the

rodeo community and those with disabilities that benefit from it. Specifically both genres focus

on audiences that are enthusiastic to see the importance of supporting people with special needs

that compete in rodeos or also involve themselves with the Equine therapy classes. Both genres
Benefit of Rodeo on Individuals with Disabilities 2

were written to show others how big of an impact horses have been to people with special needs.

Therefore, these genres were written to both inform and persuade people in the community and

all throughout the world. The documentary Horses that Heal provided by RIDE TV,

specifically shows the example of a girl named Logan. Logan suffers from down syndrome but

that definitely doesnt stop her from competing in rodeos and riding horses. She says at the end

of the show, I want people to know that horses help me and people like me. If you are out there

wondering what can I do to help out, visit an Equine therapy class close to you. It is clear

evidence that the documentary was made to inform others and to influence people to look more

into the spectrum. The article Students with special needs learn life skills at rodeo

demonstrates it is completed to sway the community because of the fact that it gives examples of

little kids that have been doing better in school ever since they started riding horses and

competing in rodeos. The genres are both enlightening people of the impact it has made on

people by giving us the stories of those that have been affected in a positive way. They are also

persuading readers to go out into the community and get involved into any organization

pertaining to people with special needs. The non-fictional article is written in a way that can

persuade people in the Decatur area to get involved into these rodeos made specifically for

children and adults with special needs but encourage others around the country even worldwide

as well. Through genres written in such manner as the ones that are being analyzed, it is more

than obvious that both genres were written to encourage general awareness. The documentary

Horses that Heal was created to impact others and to show others how great of an impact

equine therapy has been on the people including the ones that surround them.
Benefit of Rodeo on Individuals with Disabilities 3

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

The non-fictional genre and the documentary were both made to get an emotional

response from others. The way that the creator of the documentary Horses that Heal told the

audience about the kids experiences was in a emotional manner. It touched many peoples lives

since many care for people with disabilities and want to make an impact as to helping them. The

authors of both genres definitely aim to touch someones heart, so something can be done. The

non-fictional genre, as the audience see, tells us more about how these people have impacted

their lives. Both genres were written or told in the way that touched other peoples hearts. These

werent just typical genres that were telling a story about somebody in the community. As for the

ethos part, both genres did well in trying to convince the intended audience of the character of

the persuader. They both used reliable sources, which were the people they had interviewed, to

build their argument. Both genres also established common ground with their audience as they

showed examples and what can be done to support the issue. They were stories that were made to

influence others to get involved into theses rodeos/equine therapy and stories of others that have

been impacted by it.

Conclusion

Both genres were written to inspire people in the community and all over the world. That

is exactly what each genre has done and the authors were more than great to convey the

important message which was that anyone can do it if you have the heart to do it. The

iconography genre was very good at conveying its message across to others. As the audience

could see the impact it has had on these people, it was clearer to the audience that it is important

to never underestimate people with disabilities. It is very important for people to tell their stories

as to how something has impacted their lives. By examing the topic of these articles/biographies,
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it can further improve the want for people to put these rodeos together for people with disabilities

and show them that they can truly do whatever they want in this world if they set their minds and

hearts to it and this is all with the help of others in the community as well.
Benefit of Rodeo on Individuals with Disabilities 3

References

Dunigan, Jonece. Students with special needs learn life skills at rodeo.
DecaturDaily.com 21 October 2015.
http://www.decaturdaily.com/news/lawrence_county/students-with-special-needs-learn-
life-skills-at-rodeo/article_3051c975-6ff1-5e10-86d9-ace3f3135542.html

Horses that Heal. http://www.horsesthathealmovie.com/index.html

Whitemarsh, Ana-Erica. Rascal Rodeo: Willing Hearts Outstanding Abilities.

http://www.rascalrodeo.org/about.html

Andersen, Erin. Rideem, ropeem: Rodeo lets special needs riders shine. Rapid City
Journal. 14 August 2017. http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/ride-em-rope-em-rodeo-
lets-special-needs-riders-shine/article_f255b881-8187-54e2-acd1-47ea8443fba3.html

Rosenbaum, Tracy. Its something they hold onto: Exceptional rodeo makes memories
for people with special needs. Great Falls Tribune. 3 August 2017.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2017/08/03/its-something-they-hold-onto-
exceptional-rodeo-makes-memories-people-special-
needs/520450001/?cookies=&from=global