Bobby Steiner could make Red Lightning go either way depending on how he flanked him. While some old bull riders will swear by the story, others shrug their shoulders and say they’re not so sure. Regardless of whether it was Bobby or the bull who decided which way to go, Bobby had a starting point for how he flanked his bull, and any changes he made were from that reference point.

The purpose of the flank strap, according to Roy Carter of Crockett, Texas, is to get the kick out of the bull. “If you don’t flank them, they just scoot and kick at their belly—but when you flank them, they kick up,” he insists. Or at least that’s what they’re supposed to do. “It’s ticklish,” Carter said. “Some bulls that don’t buck just aren’t ticklish.”

“The flank strap has got a metal ring or an eye in the rope,” Carter described, “and you run the strap through the eye or the ring, and pull it up as tight as you want it. You tie a little knot in it that won’t slip; it’s like a granny knot. You need to be able to pull the tail of the rope and it will come straight off. A more substantial knot would be difficult to get off.”

Carter said that at the futurities when you’re bucking with dummies, the flank strap is connected to the dummy by a steel pin. When the dummy comes off, the pin is pulled out, which pulls the tail of the flank strap, making it come off as well. Carter believes this immediate relief for the bull is good for the bull’s mentality.

The position of the flank strap depends on the bull, but the starting point is to have it go straight around the bull with the knot to one side of the bull’s backbone. “Don’t put the knot in the center of his back,” Carter said. “If you have it on his spine, it’s going to hurt him. “I start my young bulls with a real loose flank,” Carter acknowledged. “A loose flank is one that you can pick up about three inches off their back. I like a bull to buck with a lighter flank, because if you need to go to more you can tighten it. If you start with a tight flank, then you don’t have anywhere to go. When you tighten it, it puts more into their flank—it tickles them more. The tightest you’d ever have one is where you could hardly stick your finger under it.” It’s very seldom, he said, “But some bulls can take that kind of flank. You wouldn’t want a young bull having to have a tight flank like that. I don’t believe in a tight flank unless it’s a last resort.”