La Mar, Bud <br/><br/>
The bar act 

 - 1 online resource :  multiple file formats 
 - Produced from the September 25, 1928 issue of Short Stories magazine. .
 - Produced from the September 25, 1928 issue of Short Stories magazine. .
<br/><br/> Release date is 2026-03-04 
<br/><br/>Prepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net)  Prepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net) 
<br/><br/> The bar act by Bud La Mar is a Western short story written in the late 1920s. The tale explores a rodeo trick-riding contest upended by a mysterious new stunt dubbed “the Bar Act,” focusing on rivalry, ingenuity, and showmanship among hard-pressed cowboys.<br/><br/>Leonard Carter, a celebrated trick rider known for unveiling last-minute stunts, alarms his rivals when the program lists his new “Bar Act.” They attempt to spy on him, only to be decoyed on a grueling night chase to a graveyard. At the show, Carter dazzles with standard tricks, then bolts a Ford axle to his saddle and spins on it at full gallop, electrifying the crowd. His competitors scramble to copy him with improvised bars—a windmill handle and a broomstick—and even a stolen trick rope, resulting in falls, a broken broomstick, and one rider injured during another stunt. After the uproar, the judges rule the Bar Act non-cowboy and exclude it, awarding first to a rival whose conventional riding held up, while Carter, having gambled on his invention and eased off elsewhere, loses out. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 
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<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Index Terms: </label>Short stories Western stories Cowboys -- Fiction Texas -- Fiction Rodeos -- Fiction 
<br/><br/><label>LC Class. No.: </label>PS