Up next in 10
Before I was feeding cowboys, I was riding bulls. For 25 years, I chased rodeos across the West — and this week I'm telling the full story. From my brother Randy's training methods, to my first calf roping. And then the night a bull put both front feet on my chest and I thought that was it. The most dangerous bull I ever drew.
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Kent Rollins
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0:00
And when I hit the ground, I stumbled.
0:02
And I knew right that instant he got me
0:06
>> just from that stumble.
0:07
>> Just from that stumble. And I stumbled.
0:08
And when he come back around, his next
0:11
step was both front feet right here on
0:15
my hips.
0:16
>> He had you pinned down.
0:17
>> And he just kept wearing me out. And I
0:19
can remember him just feeling them ribs.
0:22
And I'm think I'm going to die right
0:23
here.
0:29
Howdy. My name is Kent Rollins. I've
0:31
been a cowboy and a chuck wagon cook for
0:33
over 30 years, cooking for ranches all
0:36
across America. You might have seen me
0:38
on the Food Network or alongside my
0:40
beautiful wife, Shannon, on our YouTube
0:42
show, where we share cowboy cooking from
0:44
the trail. But now, we're going to take
0:46
you behind the scenes to real campfire
0:48
conversations. Join us as we share
0:51
humor, cowboy wisdom, and stories full
0:53
of history, heart, faith, and of course,
0:56
a little fire. So, grab you a cup of
0:58
coffee, pull up a chair, and welcome to
1:01
the podcast.
1:07
>> Kent, you've had a lot of jobs
1:10
>> and hobbies aside from cowboy cooking,
1:14
and we have talked about this a little
1:15
bit in previous podcast episodes.
1:20
Um, but I want to take some time and
1:23
>> wait a minute. What was the laughter
1:25
for?
1:26
>> Well, because I was going to say this
1:29
particular hobby/job was maybe the one
1:32
that hurt the most
1:34
consecutively.
1:35
>> At times it did. Yes.
1:37
>> And that was, and a lot of you may not
1:39
even know this, but Ken, you had
1:41
somewhat of a interesting career as a
1:45
bull rider.
1:46
>> Yes, ma'am.
1:46
>> And rodeo life. Yeah, it was uh
1:50
something I grew up with. You know, my
1:52
my dad was a not only a cowboy, but he
1:56
rodeoed. And my older brother, who I at
2:00
the time idolized, you know, he was a a
2:03
great horseman. Uh he rode bulls, he
2:05
roped calves, he rode bearback horses.
2:08
>> And that was Randy.
2:09
>> Yeah. And he was a great teacher.
2:10
>> Okay. And and then so you had your
2:12
middle brother Dale, and he was not in
2:14
the rodeo circuit. He was smarter than
2:17
me and Randy.
2:18
>> I mean, you mentioned that like with
2:19
your dad and then your brother, but what
2:22
was it? You just had an interest in it.
2:24
>> Well, we always had it in the family,
2:28
you know. We there was a we were going
2:31
to a rodeo or some kind of horse show
2:34
nearly every weekend when I was little,
2:37
you know, and we had an old
2:40
This is This sounds like punishment for
2:43
children, you know, but we had an old
2:45
wooden camper that fit on the pickup.
2:47
>> Oh, yeah.
2:48
>> And uh they would stick me and Dell and
2:50
Randy in that camper and you might not
2:54
get out for two or three days. seemed
2:55
like, you know, but uh we was we was
2:58
somewhere in the summer nearly every
3:00
weekend.
3:00
>> So, how far would you go?
3:03
>> Oh, when when Randy was showing horses
3:05
at the time, him and daddy, we'd go to
3:08
Kansas, you know. Uh they they even went
3:12
up into Iowa some. You were always all
3:14
parts of Oklahoma, some parts of of
3:16
Texas, you know.
3:17
>> So, was it Randy that really then got
3:20
you into wanting to kind of pursue this?
3:24
Yeah. He told me, he said, 'You know,
3:26
little brother, he said, um, you make a
3:28
good bull rider. He said, you're the
3:30
right size. You know, you never seen any
3:33
tall bull riders. You never seen any
3:35
overweight.
3:36
>> I think it's it's the balance of muscle
3:40
in a way, but also um it's just easier
3:44
for center of gravity, I think.
3:46
>> Interesting.
3:47
>> And uh so he said, we just need to
3:50
practice. You know,
3:52
>> that sounds dangerous. It was but and we
3:55
we had a deal and some of y'all might
3:57
have ever seen these. I don't know. It
3:58
was called a bucking barrel. You know,
4:01
it was four posts that stuck up out of
4:03
the ground about 16t tall and then just
4:06
an old 55gallon barrel that had holes
4:09
that had been drilled in it and you run
4:11
a rope through them holes. And Randy was
4:14
nice enough. He put a saddle blanket on
4:16
the barrel and he actually had a bull
4:18
rope. Now, at the time, bull ropes were
4:20
made out of grass rope. They wasn't poly
4:22
or anything like that. And people would
4:25
get a hold of the ropes, you know,
4:27
because it's it's setting at a at an
4:30
angle when it comes down through there.
4:31
And people would be on different ropes
4:33
and you could make it go one way back
4:35
and forth or you could twist it one way
4:37
or twist it, you know.
4:38
>> Okay. Okay.
4:39
>> And um he really loved to see me get my
4:42
head beat on that barrel at times, you
4:44
know. He said if it
4:45
>> How old were you at this point?
4:46
>> Oh, I'd say 10 maybe.
4:48
>> Okay. So, your rodeo career started
4:50
early.
4:50
>> Yeah. And you I mean this was a program
4:53
that I think he had worked out, you
4:55
know. Uh I don't recommend it. I've been
4:57
through it. But the buck and barrel was
5:00
like couple of weeks and then he told me
5:02
he said, "You're ready to go to arena.
5:04
You're ready to be a bull."
5:06
>> He manning the thing or were other like
5:08
were kids in the neighborhood? I'm like
5:10
I'm feeling like it's like a kid in the
5:12
neighborhood kind of situation and
5:14
everybody's trying to like get somebody
5:16
killed off.
5:17
>> Yeah, they I mean he had friends that he
5:19
rodeoed with that were there. Jimmy
5:20
Cleveland was there. Uh Dave Traml was
5:23
there. And people people love to see
5:27
little kids get hurt back then, I think.
5:29
You know,
5:29
>> and kids do.
5:30
>> Yeah. Yeah.
5:30
>> And uh so it was entertainment, I think,
5:34
for them, you know, and it it sort of
5:36
give you the motion of maybe what you
5:38
was going to go through. But when you're
5:40
10 years old and them barrels, them
5:42
55gallon barrels are pretty round. It's
5:45
hard on your growing muscles, you know,
5:47
stretches you out pretty hard. But I can
5:50
remember I was so excited when he said,
5:52
"You you have mastered the bucking
5:55
barrel."
5:55
>> Oh,
5:56
>> we're going to the arena and you're
5:58
going to become a bull rider. And I'm
6:00
thinking, "Oh my gosh, my day has
6:02
finally come." So, we get down there
6:05
because we lived on a hill up there and
6:07
the rodeo arena wasn't 100 yards from
6:09
the house. So, we go down there and I
6:13
don't know where he gets this yearling
6:15
calf from. It was in the buck and shoot
6:18
when I got there, you know.
6:20
>> And when you're saying yearling calf,
6:21
like how big is this calf? Is this like
6:23
a little cute fuzzy thing?
6:25
>> He's about 500 pound
6:26
>> and he's probably angry.
6:28
>> He ain't too pleasant, you know.
6:31
And I had my little bull rope with me. I
6:34
carried it down there. Had on my boots,
6:36
had on my spurs, you know.
6:38
>> So, you're feeling good.
6:39
>> I was f to go to the national finals
6:41
right here. It was going to happen. And
6:43
Randy told me, he said, "You're not
6:45
going to use a rope." Oh.
6:46
>> And I said, "Wait, wait a minute, Randy.
6:48
Every bull riding I ever seen, they had
6:50
a bull rope." Yeah, but he said, "This
6:52
is still practice." He said, "You
6:54
haven't earned that bull rope yet."
6:57
>> So he's in the shoot with me.
7:00
>> So you've got the calf in the arena
7:02
>> in a chute.
7:03
>> Oh, the calf is in the shoot.
7:04
>> In the bucking shoot.
7:05
>> Okay. So that's like behind the arena.
7:07
It's kind of squeezed in. Yeah.
7:09
>> And that's where it's squeezed and then
7:11
you get on top, right? And then it opens
7:13
up and goes. But Ry's in there with me
7:15
to give me all these pointers. The calf
7:17
is just sort of going bouncing back and
7:19
forth in that shoot cuz you take a 500
7:21
lb calf in a bucking shoot where there's
7:24
usually would probably be an 18,800 lb
7:26
bull. There's a lot of room in there,
7:28
you know.
7:28
>> Okay. And so, and let let me just
7:31
clarify. I'm assuming there's no adult
7:33
supervision going on.
7:35
>> Let me see. Randy was 16 at the time.
7:37
He's an adult.
7:38
>> Close enough,
7:38
>> you know. So, he told me, he said, "Get
7:40
on, little brother." And I said, "What
7:42
about your rope?" And he said, "You
7:44
don't need a rope." This is where I
7:46
thought maybe so my teacher was not all
7:50
he was supposed to be. I mean, you've
7:53
been in classrooms and these people be
7:54
telling you something and you think,
7:56
"This ain't right. This can't be." So,
7:59
he reached up to the top of the chute
8:01
and he got this probably three-foot
8:03
piece of cotton rope. It ain't going to
8:05
go around that calf's belly. It's too
8:08
big, you know. And he ties my feet
8:12
underneath him.
8:13
>> No.
8:14
>> Yes. And it it's like you're shackled to
8:17
him. I mean, he just tied around both
8:19
boots and then just pulled it tight.
8:21
>> This can't be an approved training
8:22
method. This has just got to be like
8:24
little older brother showing you who's
8:27
the boss.
8:27
>> He told me he said you're going to learn
8:29
to ride with your knees. Mash your
8:31
knees. You're going to learn balance.
8:34
>> Is this real? Okay. Is that a real
8:37
technique?
8:38
>> Probably not.
8:40
You know, Randy might have had a bull
8:42
riding school that I never knew of, but
8:45
>> I didn't see any more students. It was
8:47
just just me.
8:48
>> So, he's got me tied on there and I
8:51
said, "Well, Randy, I'm going to need to
8:52
have to hang on something." He said,
8:53
"Just grab a hold of his hide."
8:55
>> Oh my. So, I'm sort of leaning over a
8:59
little and I got a hold of some higher,
9:01
you know, and he opens the gate
9:06
and this is where I thought I probably
9:08
should have just stayed and washed
9:09
dishes at home.
9:11
>> This is the point it hit.
9:12
>> I mean, it was my legs was tight. I had
9:14
a And and it was
9:16
>> There's no getting away.
9:17
>> No, but you you can roll under.
9:21
>> Yeah, but then your head is getting
9:22
Yeah.
9:23
>> th on the ground, right? It wasn't so
9:25
much that as getting thumped on the
9:26
ground, but every time he was running
9:28
and them back feet come forward, he'd
9:29
kicking me in the back of the head. And
9:32
he was belling, but I could hear Randy
9:35
laughing the whole time saying this,
9:38
"You got him, little brother. You go.
9:40
You're supposed to be on the top, not on
9:42
the bottom." You know,
9:44
>> it didn't take but one of these sessions
9:46
right here, just one,
9:49
and I rethought the whole situation
9:51
about coming bull riding. Did you ever
9:52
do any bearback riding like rodeo-wise?
9:56
>> Well, he told me later on about four or
9:58
five years, I think he planned this
10:00
stuff out every once in a while. He'd
10:01
let me get over some of the trauma that
10:03
I had the first time
10:04
>> and like he thinks you're going to
10:06
forget. Yeah. And then go back.
10:08
>> So he told me, he said, "I think you'd
10:09
make a really good bearback rider." you
10:12
know, well, there's just a bearback
10:13
rigging that's on a horse and you you're
10:16
supposed to once they mark them out,
10:19
your feet is above the withers when they
10:21
come out of the chute.
10:22
>> And the withers are what?
10:24
>> Shoulders. Up on top the shoulders.
10:27
>> So, he told me, he said, "We'll just
10:28
start with this little Omar. She won't
10:30
buck too hard."
10:31
>> That That's your first clue?
10:32
>> Yes. And this Omar didn't buck a lick.
10:36
And uh but she could have won the
10:37
Kentucky Derby. Oh,
10:39
>> I mean,
10:40
>> I was having wind burns and my old straw
10:43
hat, the brim had folded straight back
10:45
up. I mean, we we going probably 68
10:48
and there's a fence up there, you know,
10:52
and I could hear Randy hollering. She's
10:54
going to turn, go with her, you know,
10:56
and we're getting closer and I'm
10:59
thinking, is she going to go left? Is
11:01
she going to go right? She didn't do
11:03
neither. She went She just run head on
11:06
into the fence.
11:06
>> You're kidding. It was a bullwire fence
11:09
and when she hit it, it throwed me over
11:11
the fence, you know, and sort of like a
11:14
yard dart out there in that the little
11:17
pin. And I told him, I said, "I am never
11:20
doing this again, you know. I never had
11:22
any desire to become a bearback rider."
11:24
>> Yeah. So, talk to me about that. How did
11:26
you decide to do bull riding? because
11:30
there are a lot of events within the
11:33
rodeo circuit, whether it's PRCA or D
11:36
WRCA.
11:38
>> Um, for those of you don't know, those
11:39
are two different rodeo circuits,
11:42
slightly different events in each one.
11:46
>> Um, so why why bull riding?
11:49
>> Well, when I was
11:52
13, 14, I just quit bull riding, you
11:55
know, and I roped a lot. We had a lot of
11:57
good roping horses and uh I knew how to
12:00
rope calves, tie them down, you know,
12:02
and it was easier than bull riding, you
12:05
know, cuz you're you're I mean, you
12:08
could have got hurt, but it would it's
12:10
not like you've got 70% chance of
12:12
getting run over, you know, so roping
12:14
become pretty well a passion of mine.
12:16
And Randy was a great calf roper, too.
12:19
And uh and that's the time when he had
12:21
he was went to the high school finals
12:23
and all this had happened. But after he
12:26
graduated and moved, when I was about
12:29
17, 16, 17, I got into what they call
12:33
the Little Bridges Rodeo Association.
12:35
>> Whoa.
12:36
>> And it would be one of them deals you
12:38
had, you'd have to call to enter, you
12:41
know, and it'd say books open at 9:00
12:43
a.m.
12:43
>> Okay. But so you're 17. Little Britches
12:46
feels like it should be
12:47
>> No, it was they had two groups. It was
12:50
like uh 14 and under and then 15 to 18.
12:54
It was high school sort of in a way.
12:56
>> Oh, okay. Okay.
12:56
>> And uh so you'd get up at 9:00 and you
12:59
had the rotary phone, you know,
13:02
>> and you try to get called in before they
13:06
got booked out, before everything was
13:08
taken, you know. And I remember going
13:10
one summer went pretty hard. Me and a
13:12
friend of mine, Spud said, and uh he is
13:15
a calf roper. He never want to be no
13:17
bull rider. He didn't have a heart for
13:19
it, but he he liked to rope.
13:29
You know, Sham being out there on the
13:31
wagon three, four, five days up to four,
13:33
five, six weeks. And sometimes I don't
13:36
get to shave often and used to. I toed
13:38
them little old disposable razors and
13:40
they'd gouge you up something awful. But
13:42
when I got me one of them Harry's razors
13:45
and some of their shaving cream, first
13:47
of all, I fell in love with the little
13:49
shaving cream deal. that stuff. It just
13:52
and it it don't take very much.
13:54
>> That's what I like.
13:54
>> And when you put it on there, you feel
13:56
the difference right off. You figure
13:58
say, "Oh, this is going to be a pleasant
14:01
experience." And the razor fits your
14:03
hands so well and it's such a smooth
14:07
finished product when you get through. I
14:10
even had you say to me, "Oh my gosh, you
14:12
look so good."
14:13
>> I give it the one swipe test. You know
14:15
what I mean? Like after one swipe, did
14:18
it get all the hair? And Harry's does
14:20
it.
14:20
>> You know, Shan, they're their razors are
14:22
sharp. They are nice. Their blades are
14:26
honed at three different angles to give
14:28
you the perfect edge that you need. But
14:31
they're spaced too, just right in there.
14:33
So there's no clogging. A lot of times
14:35
if you ain't shaved in four or five days
14:37
and you drag that across there, you
14:39
ain't you can't go back. You got to get
14:41
that out. So you get the wire brush and
14:43
the vacuum cleaner out. You know
14:45
>> what I love about Harry's 2 is if you
14:46
don't like your shave, they will make it
14:49
right. No questions asked.
14:51
>> For a limited time, our listeners can
14:53
get Harry's Plus trial set for only $10
14:56
at harry's.com/cowboykint.
15:00
This set includes all the new Harry's
15:02
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15:05
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15:09
a travel cover. Head to
15:11
harry's.com/cowboykent
15:14
and after your purchase tell them cowboy
15:16
kent sent you.
15:22
I remember coming back one time and I'd
15:24
won like a second in a calf rope and a
15:27
second in the bull ride and had two
15:28
trophies, you know,
15:29
>> nice.
15:30
>> Carried them in the house. I was pretty
15:31
proud of them. And my dad looked at me
15:33
and he said, "Uh, you know, you've been
15:35
going them things all summer." He said,
15:37
'You can't eat one of them trophies and
15:39
it ain't buying you no gas money.
15:41
>> Mhm.
15:42
>> So, I sort of rethought the situation,
15:45
you know. I'm thinking, well, I'll just
15:47
start going to them amateur rodeos with
15:50
Randy, you know,
15:51
>> and that's where you can win some money.
15:52
>> Yeah. You know, entry fee $20. You might
15:56
get the chance if you if you won first,
15:58
you might get 150.
15:59
>> Oh, okay.
16:00
>> I mean, that's big money, right? You
16:01
know,
16:02
>> uh back in 70. And um but it I don't
16:06
know. I don't think my heart was in it
16:09
as much then. Uh because Randy would
16:13
tell me that y'all have some junior
16:15
bulls. You know, they they they didn't
16:18
have no junior bulls. You was on the
16:19
same bulls that the high school people
16:21
was on, the amateur rodeo association
16:23
was on. They didn't care if you was 9
16:26
years old or you was 29, you know.
16:28
>> Yeah.
16:29
>> And I quit when I was 18. I just
16:32
thought, you know, I'm through riding.
16:34
>> You just didn't have the passion for it.
16:35
>> Well, I I'd won some bull ridings and I
16:38
even went to clowning some rodeos uh
16:41
after that and sort of enjoyed that, you
16:44
know. Uh
16:45
>> when you say clowning rodeos, what is
16:46
that?
16:47
>> You know, they have a bull fighter at a
16:48
rodeo, a rodeo clown, and he's there to
16:52
save the cowboy if something gets to
16:54
going wrong, you know. But it it was one
16:58
of them deals too where you could get in
17:00
a bind pretty quick, get run over
17:02
>> as a clown.
17:03
>> Yeah.
17:03
>> Oh, for sure. Because you're the
17:05
distraction, right?
17:06
>> When I was 23, I started back.
17:10
>> And why?
17:11
>> Because I I was going to some rodeos,
17:13
roping, you know, and I'd see people
17:16
falling off stuff I thought I could
17:18
ride,
17:18
>> you know, and I'm thinking,
17:21
you just got to have the heart for it.
17:23
You You got to want it. But I was from I
17:28
rode bulls really good from 23 to about
17:31
34.
17:33
>> And that's a long string for for rodeo
17:37
world, right? And writing.
17:39
>> It's one of them deals where I prepared
17:41
myself physically,
17:43
but more mentally. And I'd never done
17:45
that before when I was in high school.
17:47
Mentally, you know,
17:48
>> you you would you would track your
17:51
motion. And I would I'd get behind the
17:53
shoots and I'd say this is what's going
17:55
to happen. You know, I always prayed a
17:58
lot before I ever got there, before I
17:59
ever got on. I learned something through
18:03
them last I'd say six years riding bulls
18:06
cuz I was going hard, you know, I'd go
18:08
every weekend.
18:09
>> Well, so the reason you got back into
18:11
it, it was just the challenge of it.
18:14
>> I think so. And there there's a rush to
18:16
and the the adrenaline rush that you
18:18
get. I mean,
18:19
>> is it different than any other event or
18:22
experience you've had when you're
18:24
talking about that adrenaline rush
18:26
>> at the time? Yes. You know, I mean,
18:28
you're sitting there on top of anywhere
18:31
from 17 to 100 to 2,000 lbs, you know,
18:35
and he's an athlete, too.
18:38
>> That's a great point.
18:39
>> I mean, this bull knows what he's going
18:41
to do. You know, he's been doing it for
18:43
the last four or five years, and he's
18:44
enjoying it. Yep. And uh so and when I
18:47
say they're athletes and and and bulls
18:50
have sure changed from what they were
18:52
when I was riding to what they are in
18:54
the PBR, the PRCA, I mean the bloodlines
18:57
are so strong and so stout. These bulls
19:00
are worth tons of money, you know, and
19:02
they are bucking machines. That's what
19:04
they do. I mean, they know what's going
19:06
on.
19:07
>> There was nobody wore helmets then like
19:09
you see now. And I'm so glad they got
19:10
them. Nobody had vest back then, you
19:13
know. It was it was it was rough.
19:17
>> When you're on it, what does that 8
19:20
seconds feel like? Does it go super fast
19:22
or does it feel like slow motion?
19:24
>> Sometimes it felt like it took forever.
19:26
>> Yeah.
19:27
>> You know, and then sometimes you'd think
19:29
cuz you'd be you'd feel like you was one
19:32
with the bull and you you were both in
19:34
motion. You could feel it. Everything
19:36
was there and you're thinking, I wish
19:38
this could last another 8 seconds,
19:40
>> you know, because everything was just
19:42
right. and uh you knew when you hit the
19:45
ground that you had done your job, but
19:48
there's a there's so many times that
19:50
you'd hit the ground and your first
19:52
instinct is get up and get out of the
19:54
way,
19:54
>> right?
19:54
>> You know, it ain't one of them deals
19:56
where you going to lay there on the
19:57
ground, make a snow angel or something,
19:59
you know, cuz you're fitting to get a
20:00
thrashing. I promise you. And uh but I
20:05
was very fortunate. I prayed a lot. Good
20:08
Lord took care of me. I mean, sure,
20:11
there was broke ribs, dislocated joints,
20:14
you know,
20:14
>> ripped muscles.
20:16
>> Yeah. Ripped ripped a muscle back here
20:18
on my forearm. And that's when a guy
20:20
told me, he said, "You can ride
20:21
left-handed." That didn't happen. I
20:23
promise you there. But, uh, I knew my
20:27
time was getting to where, hey, you
20:30
ain't got a lot of years left for this,
20:32
you know.
20:32
>> Well, you said that you ended at 34.
20:36
Yeah. Is that right?
20:37
>> Y. What is the average retirement age of
20:41
a bull rider? Is it is it 3? Is it
20:44
around 34 or
20:45
>> I I I don't know. I'd say from there is
20:47
a lot of them pro rodeo cowboys now, you
20:50
know, riding bulls and they're they're
20:51
athletes they are. And I'd say, you
20:54
know, 19 to maybe 30, you know, it's
20:58
peak time, but 19 to 25 is probably the
21:01
best.
21:02
>> Was it Was it age that made you retire?
21:05
What was it? Some of it was age and some
21:07
of it was us thinking, you know, I got
21:09
two kids now.
21:11
>> You know, something could happen. You
21:13
know, you're not The Lord doesn't say,
21:15
"I'm going to guarantee you have another
21:16
day tomorrow." There was another thing
21:18
that was determined quitting.
21:23
And that was
21:25
the ground got really hard.
21:26
>> Oh.
21:27
>> When I was 34
21:29
and I couldn't get out of the way as
21:31
fast as I used to could.
21:32
>> Yeah. you know, when I was 29, 30, 31,
21:36
32,
21:37
and I'd go to them rodeos and there'd be
21:39
these 17, 18, 19 year old cowboys, you
21:42
know, and I call them kids, and I don't
21:44
mean no disrespect to them,
21:46
>> and they'd say, "Well, the old man's
21:48
here, you know, and
21:50
>> at 30, you were the old guy. Crazy."
21:52
>> And I remember some of them saying, "You
21:54
better watch out. That old man will get
21:56
you money, you know." And but when you'd
21:58
go to three for a week, it begin to wear
22:01
on you pretty hard. You know, if you got
22:02
beat up, bruised up.
22:04
>> Well, but and then with with age also
22:07
comes wisdom and experience. But what
22:09
was your mental training like? How did
22:11
that improve and how did that make you
22:14
better? I think mentally
22:18
I used to I used to just think, you
22:20
know, I just show up, get on, get her
22:23
done, you know,
22:24
>> and probably like cocky like a kid that
22:27
could write anything.
22:28
>> Uh I found out that didn't work. Yeah.
22:30
Uh, but to to be there and I I won't say
22:35
it was like meditation,
22:37
but I would I would sit there behind the
22:40
shoots or I'd get on a fence and you
22:44
knew what you draw at the time. you knew
22:45
which bull you was going to ride and
22:47
most of the time you'd seen this bull
22:49
before or somebody would tell you what
22:51
most what he had done, you know,
22:53
>> and you'd try to I I just sit in the
22:55
quiet and try to imagine each second
23:00
and just run it back over and over and
23:03
over. Now, it's not guaranteed that,
23:05
hey, this bull's going to jump out there
23:07
and go to the left about three times,
23:08
then jump out of it and go to right. you
23:10
know, he might have thought, you know, I
23:13
think I'm going to change things up
23:14
today. And it was all about you have to
23:18
be prepared for change, you know. Um
23:23
there was so many ways that when I was
23:26
riding bigger big old stout bulls, uh
23:30
2100 lb something like that, that you
23:33
didn't ride so much with your feet. And
23:35
what I mean by that is get such a big
23:37
hold with your with your spurs and mash
23:40
more with your knees, pull more with
23:41
your arm to try to keep all that
23:44
pressure off them old growings, you
23:46
know. And um
23:47
>> mentally, how did you beat a bull?
23:51
>> Uh
23:53
I don't know that you ever really beat
23:55
him completely
23:56
>> really. Uh, I mean, you can ride him,
23:59
you know,
24:01
and you might have drove the same bull
24:03
in two weeks again and he buck you off
24:05
second jump.
24:06
>> I'm just telling you, if you're still
24:08
riding bulls out there today and you're
24:09
36, 37, you know, I admire you. I do
24:13
because at one time they was telling me,
24:14
"Hey, you need to get the old-timers
24:15
rodeo association, you know, and I'm
24:18
thinking, I think I'm just going to
24:20
quit, you know."
24:21
>> Was it hard after you quit to then go to
24:24
rodeos? Yeah, it bothered me bad, you
24:27
know, cuz uh some of them stock
24:30
contractors or some place that have a
24:31
rodeo, they'd call and they'd say, "Hey,
24:33
you going to come judge this bull
24:34
riding?" You know, and they pay you
24:37
$200. And I'm thinking, I'll come do
24:40
this, you know, get my little stopwatch,
24:43
my little clipboard, get out there in
24:45
arena, and I'd go and I'd see some some
24:50
really good bull rides. I would. And
24:52
then I'd see somebody fall off something
24:53
that I was pretty sure that I could
24:56
still ride,
24:57
>> you know, then I'd think, I'm going to
25:00
go next weekend.
25:01
>> I'm I'm going to call I'm going to go.
25:04
Finally, I took my rigging bag, my rope,
25:08
my leggings, spurs,
25:10
and I put it where I couldn't see it.
25:12
>> Oh, out of sight, out of mind.
25:14
>> Yeah.
25:15
>> You've mentioned all the different
25:17
ailments, breaks, rips that you've had.
25:21
Was there
25:23
one moment where you thought this is not
25:28
good?
25:30
>> Yeah. Uh this was when I was about 27
25:35
and um I was a member of the TC, the
25:38
Texas Cowboys Rodeo Association,
25:41
and had had a good good year. It was
25:44
like three rodeos left before the
25:45
finals. They take the top 15
25:48
contestants, you know, to go to the
25:50
finals that they had. I was number 12 at
25:53
the time. And uh but three more rodeos
25:57
to go, a lot can change.
25:58
>> Oh, sure.
25:59
>> And um cuz it was based on money one,
26:03
you know.
26:05
So, so Children's Texas and uh draw this
26:10
old bull that nobody liked, you know.
26:12
>> And why is that? I just want what you'd
26:14
call an eliminator, you know.
26:15
>> An eliminator.
26:16
>> Yeah. Uh they'll run them in still today
26:20
in places. They'll have so many bulls in
26:23
there, you know, from different stock
26:24
contractors all over and then they'll
26:28
just have one night that, hey, he's
26:29
going we're going to put some
26:30
eliminators in there. Something that's
26:32
going to get you bucked off, might get
26:34
horn in your head, you know, get you run
26:36
over, drug around.
26:37
>> You know, these bulls are
26:39
>> Yeah. And this looking at this bull, you
26:42
wouldn't think that he didn't have no
26:44
horns. And I remember Randy telling me a
26:46
long time ago, if they ain't got no
26:48
horns, I can't hurt you. And that's a
26:49
lie, Randy. You lied to me, brother. You
26:52
did. I love you. But that that didn't
26:54
work. He was a Herford Bremer cross.
26:59
And he was really long
27:02
bodied. You put him in a chute, they'd
27:05
have to leave the back chute gate open
27:07
just a little because he was so long.
27:09
And nobody ever got away from him
27:11
without getting a hookie. I'd seen him
27:14
break arms, you know. I'd seen him break
27:17
a guy's hip. I seen him just beat the
27:19
snot out of people with his old head cuz
27:21
he he'd hold you down with his front
27:24
feet.
27:25
>> Oh my gosh.
27:26
>> Just have them on you and just go to
27:27
beating on you with that old head, you
27:29
know. And I kept telling that stock
27:31
producer at stock contractor at the
27:33
time, Freddy Cordell, I said, "You get
27:36
rid of him, Freddy. He going to hurt
27:37
somebody." He said, "Crowdown loves it."
27:39
>> Oh, I bet.
27:40
>> You know, and I get over
27:41
>> like the the gladiator in Rome.
27:44
>> And I get over that night and that's
27:45
what I draw, you know.
27:47
>> Okay. So, when you know you have drawn a
27:51
quote unquote eliminator.
27:53
>> Mhm.
27:53
>> How does that change your head game?
27:55
>> Well,
27:57
there was times in years past where I'd
28:00
draw one of them or somebody knew what
28:02
I'd draw before I got to rodeo. and Rice
28:04
Singer, the guy that made my bull ropes,
28:06
got me over at Cash one time. It was an
28:08
added money rodeo sponsored deal and I
28:11
was fixing to walk in to the arena and
28:14
go pay my fees and he caught me by the
28:15
arm and he said, "No, no, you ain't
28:18
going." I said, "What do you mean?" He
28:20
said, "You drove 161 and uh he was one
28:25
of them old bulls had a horn that come
28:27
back. He shelled teeth out nearly every
28:29
week."
28:31
>> He said, "Uh, ain't no sense in it, you
28:33
So he turned him out. Then I'm thinking,
28:34
"People going to think I'm a coward?"
28:36
And he said, "No, people going to think
28:37
you're smart."
28:38
>> Yeah.
28:38
>> You know, so
28:42
three more rodeos to go before the
28:43
finals.
28:45
People that ride this bull that I had
28:47
drawn that night at Shielders won most
28:49
of the time, you know,
28:52
but you were going to pay for that
28:53
winning so bad.
28:56
And so I got out there.
28:59
Bull riding's last event.
29:01
>> Uhhuh. you know,
29:02
>> it's a grand finale.
29:03
>> And uh there was this guy there, he was
29:05
a clown and I' I'd been a bull fighter.
29:08
I knew how.
29:09
>> Yeah.
29:10
>> And this guy, I don't know if it was his
29:13
true calling in life.
29:14
>> Okay.
29:15
>> We won't mention his last name, but his
29:17
first name was Buffy. And
29:19
>> there can't be too many Buffies in the
29:21
world.
29:21
>> Buffy the bull fighter. And I told him,
29:24
I said, "Buffy,
29:26
you know what's going to happen." And I
29:28
said, "You better be there when I hit
29:30
the ground."
29:32
And he just looked at me. I said, "I
29:34
mean it, brother." I said, "I've known
29:36
you a long time." I said, "Be there when
29:37
I hit the ground." He wasn't there.
29:48
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
29:51
You know, Shan, summertime is here. I
29:53
mean with a vengeance at times because
29:55
it gets hot but only with summertime
29:57
too. You get maybe an abundance of
30:01
company. Kids invite people over.
30:03
Relatives come in. Everybody wants to go
30:06
do something. You go to the beach. It
30:08
can pile up and be a little overwhelming
30:10
at times and it can,
30:11
>> you know, with me especially like with
30:13
the change of seasons sometimes that's
30:15
hard. And so it's really great if you
30:17
have somebody that you can talk to and
30:19
that's why BetterHelp is a great
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resource. I've used them in the past.
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you thought.
30:37
>> As we get all this piled on us in
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summer, kids is out of school. We love
30:42
the kids. We do. But my gosh, now
30:44
they're here 24 hours a day. Everybody's
30:46
calling. Everybody's wanting something.
30:49
You forgot to take this over here. you
30:51
forgot to make this dish for the church
30:53
social and then you find out I don't
30:56
know that I I can get all this done.
30:58
>> Yeah, that's
30:59
>> I don't know who to turn to.
31:00
>> That's why BetterHelp is a great
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resource just to talk to somebody who's
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31:54
>> Did you make the 8 seconds?
31:55
>> Oh, yeah.
31:56
>> Okay. When you're writing this, is it
31:59
feeling smooth? Are you feeling good? Or
32:00
are you knowing
32:01
>> I'm knowing when I hit the ground, I'm
32:03
going to eat.
32:04
>> Really?
32:04
>> Yeah. He was out away. He was not going
32:06
to get away from you.
32:07
>> So, the hardest part wasn't like being
32:09
on him. And it
32:10
>> I mean he was ranked, you know, but
32:13
everything was just right that night.
32:15
Good.
32:15
>> And I'm thinking,
32:17
>> hit the ground, run,
32:19
>> okay?
32:19
>> You know, and I was going to try to hit
32:21
the ground on my feet, which is you can
32:25
do that at times,
32:26
>> okay?
32:27
>> And arena was plowed a little deep that
32:29
night. And when I hit the ground, I
32:31
stumbled. And I knew right that instant
32:36
he got me.
32:37
>> Just from that stumble. Listen to that
32:39
stumble because he was going to the
32:42
left. I get off to the right and I
32:46
stumbled and when he come back around
32:48
his next step was both front feet right
32:52
here on my hips.
32:54
>> He had you pinned down
32:55
>> and he just kept wearing me out and I
32:58
can remember him just feeling them ribs,
33:01
you know, and I'm think I'm gonna die
33:03
right here. And um good friend of mine,
33:07
Joe Johnson, and you met Joe?
33:09
>> Yeah.
33:10
>> He went with me a lot. And people would
33:12
say that guy's going with me now cuz Joe
33:15
would jump over whatever he had to to
33:17
come out there and get me no matter what
33:18
was happening.
33:19
>> Where is Buffy at this point?
33:21
>> Buffy is on the shoot
33:23
>> popcorn.
33:24
>> He is just sitting up there hollering at
33:25
me, "Get up."
33:27
>> That was his that was his strategy just
33:29
to yell at you. And uh Joe finally got
33:31
me out from there and
33:34
him and another guy they drugged me back
33:36
up there against bucking shoots and I
33:37
was just you couldn't get nowhere. I
33:39
knew a ri was broke, you know,
33:41
>> and I just couldn't breathe and I
33:43
remember just sort of leaning back in
33:45
pain and first thing I seen was Buffy
33:47
above me
33:50
and I struggled to my feet, you know,
33:52
had a hold of that old shoe and I looked
33:54
at him. I said, "Buffy, you need to give
33:56
this job up." And he said, "I'm sorry,
34:00
Kent." I said, "Buffy, when you got a
34:03
job you're going to do, and this is what
34:06
your title is, bull fighter,
34:09
that's your job. You You're going to
34:12
sacrifice yourself for that cowboy
34:15
that's on the ground if you're true to
34:16
your job."
34:18
And I coached on him for a long time
34:20
that night waiting for an ambulance. and
34:22
um just kept on telling him either quit
34:26
or get it done. One of the two cuz
34:28
you're going to you're going to get
34:30
somebody hurt real bad, you know.
34:32
>> And um I didn't know it till about 3
34:35
weeks later
34:37
that same bull got him down
34:39
>> and
34:40
>> got Buffy down.
34:41
>> Yeah. He was trying to make hand, broke
34:43
his ribs, you know, and he quit after
34:45
that, which is probably good. But
34:48
if you're going to do a job in life,
34:53
you need to realize that is your
34:55
responsibility because someone else is
34:58
counting on you. It's just not like,
35:00
>> well, I think today I'm going to be a
35:02
dentist. I ain't never been one before,
35:04
but
35:04
>> we'll just see how it goes.
35:06
>> We'll get two pair of pliers and a
35:07
hammer. I think I can go to town, you
35:09
know. But that that knocked me out of
35:13
going to the finals. I tried to get on
35:16
the next weekend, couldn't do it, you
35:18
know.
35:18
>> But it's
35:21
I thank God cuz I could have been a
35:23
whole lot worse.
35:24
>> Absolutely. you know. So
35:27
I think that was I got on one more bull
35:29
after that and um
35:31
>> that year
35:32
>> that year and it was that was it was
35:34
late in the year and was at an indoor
35:36
deal in January and um everything
35:41
felt the same except for that one little
35:43
memory you get in the back of your mind
35:46
that says
35:49
when you hit the ground this could be
35:51
the last time you hit the ground. Fear
35:54
got in there a little from that
35:55
incident, you know.
35:56
>> Yeah.
35:57
>> And when you I mean, it's good to have
35:58
fear. You need to have it.
36:00
>> Yeah.
36:00
>> Yeah.
36:01
>> But when it's mentally when I would
36:04
prepare, it would always go back to
36:07
this might be the last time I could get
36:10
hurt really bad cuz I good Lord had took
36:12
care of me. I'd never been hurt so bad
36:13
that I couldn't go the next week. Now, I
36:16
may have 464 yards of tape on me
36:19
somewhere. Yeah. You know, but this was
36:21
the one that made me realize
36:23
>> your heart's not in it no more.
36:26
>> Oh,
36:26
>> I think it's time to do something else,
36:29
you know. Um, and I struggled with it
36:32
for a long time. I did because I'd got
36:35
to where I was pretty good at it. I
36:37
enjoyed it, but just that just that fear
36:42
and unknown, you know, and I'm I'm sure
36:45
all them young guys that's out there,
36:46
they've had that. They've seen some bad
36:48
wrecks, some really bad injuries, you
36:50
know, people have died from it. But it's
36:53
always got to be back in there
36:55
somewhere, I think. And um to remind
36:57
you, maybe in a way, do you think it's a
36:59
good thing it's there, Shannon, or a bad
37:01
thing? Well, I definitely think fear can
37:04
be good, especially it's a a signal
37:07
Yeah.
37:07
>> to yourself like watch out. Um, but I
37:11
think the the biggest thing I took away
37:13
from this is the passion.
37:16
>> Yeah.
37:17
>> You have to have the passion to do good,
37:20
to be good, to share that with others.
37:23
Um, what what was your biggest takeaway
37:26
from all your years of of bull riding? I
37:28
think too it was about accomplishing
37:30
something that gave me the pride to try
37:32
to do better every week.
37:34
>> Well, you put a lot of work into it.
37:36
>> You didn't just, you know, every
37:38
weekend, hey, I'm going to jump on here
37:39
and see what happens. There was a lot of
37:41
training both physically and mentally.
37:43
>> It was something that if I knew I was
37:45
going to do and do well,
37:48
I had to work at it.
37:49
>> Yeah. I mean, I think there is God-given
37:52
gifts to for people to for athletes, for
37:56
anything in life that you have the
37:58
ability,
38:00
but do you have the mental capability as
38:02
well?
38:03
>> I think that's a very good point. What
38:05
gift has God given you? And then what
38:07
are you going to do with that gift?
38:09
>> Are you going to share it with people?
38:10
Are you going to let your light shine?
38:13
>> But you got to work at it. Yeah.
38:14
>> It's not He's not just going to hand it
38:15
to you and everything. And I'm going to
38:17
tell you right now, it ain't just 8
38:20
seconds.
38:21
>> Yeah.
38:21
>> It's 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Y
38:25
>> uh because
38:27
you're you can make a difference in
38:29
somebody's life or they can watch what
38:31
you're doing and think,
38:33
>> look what he's accomplished.
38:35
I I'm going to try to do something like
38:37
that. You know, and I'm not saying there
38:39
I'm going to leave you with this one.
38:41
There was an old man many years ago that
38:43
was a rodeo announcer and he had the
38:46
same thing every rodeo you went to. He
38:48
said, "So, you want to be a bull rider?"
38:51
"Well, you get you a mouth full of
38:52
marbles and every time you ride a bull,
38:55
you spit a marble out. And when you
38:57
ain't got no marbles left, you're a bull
38:59
rider, you know."
39:01
>> And I'd say, "What even mean
39:02
>> your brains?" When you ain't got no
39:04
brains left, you know, and I'd think,
39:06
well, that's Marvin right there. He
39:08
knows it. But it's it was a lifestyle.
39:13
>> Yeah.
39:14
>> You know, I and I did get to carry on
39:16
that heritage.
39:18
Like I said, daddy was was allaround
39:20
champion at Hollis in 1952. Randy was in
39:23
72 and I was in 82, you know. So,
39:27
>> uh that was something that I wanted to
39:29
to do. But I tip my hat to all them all
39:33
them youngans that's out there now
39:35
because they are athletes but what
39:37
they're riding them bulls in the PBR and
39:40
at the national finals and a lot of them
39:42
all them rodeos they are gifted athletes
39:45
themselves.
39:46
>> Well and I do have one takeaway that for
39:49
everyone a message
39:51
>> don't be a Buffy.
39:53
>> I think that's what we can leave
39:54
everyone with. Um but that was fun.
39:57
Thanks for taking us. I didn't know
39:58
those stories. So, thanks for taking us
40:00
along the rodeo trail.
40:02
>> You know, I get a comment a lot
40:03
sometimes on YouTube from some of them
40:05
folks that uh ain't friendly. You know,
40:08
they'll sell
40:10
all hat, no cattle, no cowboy.
40:13
>> Yeah.
40:13
>> You know, I'm not saying I'm better
40:16
cowboy than anybody else, but I've been
40:18
there, done that,
40:19
>> and enjoyed every minute of it. Um, I
40:22
still can relive some of them moments in
40:25
my mind. Uh, no, but I can still feel
40:27
the pain, too. You know, you used to
40:30
really laugh at me. I don't know if you
40:31
thought it was funny, but we'd go
40:33
somewhere to a doctor and they'd say,
40:35
"Well, have you had any trauma?" And I'd
40:37
say, "No,
40:37
>> not that." No, not that I can think of.
40:39
And I was like, "They leg, collar bone,
40:42
broken shoulder." Yeah. No trauma. But
40:45
whatever you're riding in life, whether
40:48
you're a rodeo, whether you're just
40:50
trying to get in a car going down the
40:52
road, be prepared.
40:53
>> Yeah.
40:54
>> Try to do your homework. Um try to know
40:57
that you're doing something good for the
40:59
world and you can accomplish it if you
41:00
put your heart into it and you pray
41:02
about it. But we thank them all for
41:04
joining us today.
41:06
>> It has been a great episode of Cowboy
41:08
Coffee Hour. Please don't forget, join
41:10
us every week. We're going to have more
41:12
stories of faith, family, fortitude,
41:17
>> fortitude. We do thank y'all each and
41:19
every one. Remember, there is our
41:21
regular cooking videos every Wednesday,
41:23
podcast out every Sunday, Spotify,
41:25
Apple, whatever you're listening to, our
41:27
YouTube channel. But I want to tip my
41:29
hat to all the servicemen and women, all
41:31
the veterans that have kept that old
41:32
flag flying. No matter where we'd be, we
41:34
commend you all and we lift you up in
41:36
prayer daily. Rest of you, hey, we thank
41:39
you so much for joining us. God bless
41:41
you each and everyone. We'll see you
41:42
down the podcast trail.
41:53
Pioneer
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