Trevor Hall was sore Sunday as he stretched his legs in a barn at Robertson Ranch in Bend.

But the pain was worth it, as Hall had gotten an opportunity to practice his steer-wrestling techniques in a two-day school.

“I’m tired and sore; it’s been a long weekend,” he said. “But I needed to work out some bad habits.”

Hall, 32, has been riding in rodeos since he was 13. The Redmond farrier wanted a chance to get some practice before the rodeo season got under way.

He got his chance, as Sam Willis and Alex Robertson, local rodeo cowboys, ran the steer wrestling school to help both newcomers to the sport and those who’ve been at it for years learn some new techniques.

Robertson said Willis helped him learn to rodeo, and now the pair are among the only steer wrestlers in the area.

Steer wrestling is no easy sport. A steer comes out of a chute and two riders on horseback take off after it, trying to corral it long enough for one of the riders to jump off his horse, grab the steer by the horns and wrestle it to the ground.

This is the first time Robertson and Willis have offered the school, and Robertson said he hopes to offer one in the fall and run the program yearly. The two-day program cost $300, although peewee and junior rodeo kids received discounts.

The school started with the basics, like technique, form and safety, on Saturday. But by Sunday, everyone was taking turns and having some success.

“Yesterday we got to break down fundamentals,” Robertson said. “And then in two days, they’re catching (steer). It gets your blood pumping.”

To Robertson, this is the safest way to learn steer wrestling. The group used tractors and ATVs to practice sliding off horses and grabbing the steer. In the old days, Robertson said, that wasn’t the case at all.

“They used to just put you on the horse and say, ‘Good luck,’” he said.

Over the weekend, 12 students turned up to try their hand at the event, and Robertson said they’d had a couple of sponsors as well. Saddle Up in Redmond provided two $50 gift certificates for the most-improved participants, and Pro Orthopedics, a Tucson sports and equine orthopedic group, donated a horse pad.

Justin Alps, 30, was given the award for most improved. The Crooked River Ranch resident has been involved with rodeo his whole life, but for the past eight years hasn’t been able to compete because of work. Now, he’s hoping to get back into the local rodeos and wanted a chance to shake off the rust.

“It’s just being around guys who win,” Alps said. “We’re learning tricks it took these guys 20 years to figure out, and we get to learn it in a weekend.”

On Sunday afternoon, some students practiced on the ground, grabbing the steer by the horns as it came out of the chute and wrestling it to the dirt. Others worked on their technique on horseback.

Jim McLean, 30, traveled from Husum, Wash., to pick up a new rodeo event.

McLean rides bucking horses already but figured steer wrestling was the next step.

“I jumped a steer yesterday for the first time ever,” McLean said from his perch on a brown horse. “Chute-dogging is the hardest. It doesn’t look like it, but you use some muscles you wouldn’t think about.”

He said the event was definitely worth it.

“As much as it hurts, it’s been fun,” McLean said.