«Courage and Glory» as inmates compete against professional cowboys in a prison rodeo in Louisiana

Prisoners try to tame a horse to saddle it during a wild race at the Angola Rodeo at the Louisiana State Penitentiary on Sunday Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty images.

While children nearby rode the merry-go-round, the inmates this week competed against professional cowboys on horseback and bulls in a unique rodeo event in the US that has been running for 57 years. paying visitors.

Described on its website as «the wildest show in the south,» the Louisiana Penitentiary in Angola's annual rodeo includes about a dozen events in which inmates and professional cowboys compete under the watchful eye of prison guards. and viewers.

Rodeo is 57 years old. Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Like a typical fair, children can ride the carousel or ride horses, but this outdoor area is surrounded by a barbed wire fence and watchtowers.

In the mud. — outdoor arena, prisoners in striped uniforms, hard hats and cowboy hats roam freely and prepare for upcoming performances.

A bull punches an opponent during 'Convict Poker' in the Angolan prison Rodeo. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty ImagesIn addition to traditional rodeos like bull riding, the Angolan Rodeo also includes more daring challenges like "Convict Poker" — in which four prisoners sit at a table with a wild bull set free. The last one to remain in place wins.

Prisoners participate in 'Convict Poker' where they try to be the last entrants by putting their hands on the table as the bull attacks them. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images Also has "Guts & Glory", which is "perhaps the most exciting" according to the rodeo's website.

During the competition, several prisoners attempt to be the first to grab a poker chip that has been tied to «the meanest, toughest Brahma bull available.»

The 'Courage and Glory' an event in which the participants try to remove the chip from the bull's head. Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Inmates have been taking part in the rodeo since 1965 at what is officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

This facility, the largest maximum security prison in the United States, is located on the site of a former slave plantation and was previously known for its horrendous violence and harsh living conditions.

Rodeos are becoming more and more popular, attracting tens of thousands of people each year to their sessions in April. Entry fee goes to fund inmate support programs.

George Baker, who raises cats from prison for adoption and is serving a life sentence for murder, holds the last of four kittens he adopted during a rodeo in an Angolan prison. Photo: AFP

These competitions allow them to earn money by participating in events or by selling handicrafts such as wooden sculptures and paintings made by themselves behind bars to the public, according to Agence France-Press.