Each rider must begin with his feet over the bronc's shoulders to give the horse the advantage.  A rider who synchronizes his spurring action with the animal's bucking effort will receive a higher score.  Other factors in the scoring are the cowboy's control, the length of the spurring action and how hard the horse bucks.

Spurring action begins with the rider's feet far forward on the bronc's point of shoulder, sweeping to the back of the saddle as the horse bucks.  The rider than snaps his feet back to the horse's neck a split second before the animal's front feet hit the ground.

Disqualification results if the rider touches himself, his equipment or the animal with his free hand, if his foot comes out of the stirrup, if he drops the rein, or if he fails to "mark the animal" out of the chute.