A pickup rider is a person on horseback who works at a rodeo

Rodeo

Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

 in the rough stock competitions of bull riding

Bull riding

Bull riding refers to rodeo sports that involve a rider getting on a large bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal attempts to buck off the rider....

, Saddle bronc and bareback riding

Saddle bronc and bareback riding

Bronc riding, either saddle bronc or bareback bronc competition, is a rodeo event that involves a rodeo participant riding on a horse , that attempts to throw or buck off the rider...

. Pickup riders play an important role in assisting rodeo riders and increasing the safety of competitors.

Usually working in teams of two, the most important job of a pickup rider is to help the competitor at the end of his (or, occasionally, her) ride by riding next to the bucking horse, allowing the competitor to safely get off of the bucking animal, usually by grabbing the pickup rider or the rider's saddle to provide stability while the competitor jumps or swings free. If a competitor becomes tangled or caught up in the equipment, a pickup rider may assist the competitor in getting free. If a competitor falls off, the pickup rider may help herd the animal away from the fallen rider.

In the case of bull riding, the competitors are primarily assisted by the rodeo clown

Rodeo clown

A rodeo clown, also known as a bullfighter or rodeo protection athlete, is a rodeo performer who works in bull riding competitions. The primary job of the rodeo clown is to protect a fallen rider from the bull, whether the rider has been bucked off or has jumped off of the animal...

 who helps protect the rider from the bull. However, in rodeos in the United States and Canada, pickup riders are still present; once the competitor has gotten off the bull, voluntarily or otherwise, the pickup riders haze the bull from the arena, keeping it away from the people on the ground.
In saddle bronc and bareback bronc competition, one pickup rider will take charge of helping the competitor while the other will then remove the flank strap from the bucking animal and herd the animal out of the arena. If necessary, they can also rope

Lasso

A lasso , also referred to as a lariat, riata, or reata , is a loop of rope that is designed to be thrown around a target and tighten when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the American cowboy. The word is also a verb; to lasso is to successfully throw the loop of rope around something...

the animal and lead it out if the animal is reluctant to leave the arena.