SAN ANTONIO – The next time you go to the rodeo, look for the two cowboys on horseback inside the arena waiting for the action to happen.
They're known as "pickup men" and they're the unsung heroes of the rodeo.
As soon as the saddle bronc or bareback rider hits that 8-second mark, they move in.
"You don't really want to get out there if you don't have ... a good pickup man," said Cody Wright, two-time world champ saddle bronc rider.
Chase Cervi is one of the best pickup men in the business.
"I just like the excitement and the adrenaline. It's one of the most exciting things in rodeo, in my opinion," Cervi said.
It is also one of the most important things in rodeo.
"(We) make sure the cowboy gets put down on the ground safely and make sure the bucking horse gets out of the arena safely," Cervi said.
"The good ones will just go alongside you and you can just jump from one horse to the other and they will slow down and set you down on the ground," Wright said.
Cervi has been a pickup man for 10 years. He said being a good one is all about timing.
There are also some dangers involved when you're riding up on a bucking horse.
"It can be dangerous," Cervi said. "You can get kicked or your horse can fall."
It also has its rewards.
Pickup men are some of the best-dressed cowboys at the rodeo, wearing scarves, starched shirts, cleaned-up chaps and riding great-looking horses.
It all is part of the game.
Getting the cowboy off the horse is important, "but if you can look nice doing it that's good too," Cervi said.