MY WORKING LIFE
What does it take to be a rodeo star?
This year at a one-day rodeo where the Dallas Cowboys play, I won $433,000; the prize pool at the national finals is more than $10m
SSage Kimzey, 23, is the defending three-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Champion Bull Rider. He tells us about pampered bulls and how hopefuls start on sheep
How did you get into rodeo, Sage?
I grew up in a rodeo family in a little town in western Oklahoma called Strong City. My dad rode bulls and broncos growing up and my mum was involved in rodeo as well. It was all I ever wanted to do. I fell in love with the cowboy way of life and I’ve been lucky enough to get to ride bulls for a living and help to preserve western heritage.
What’s a quick history of rodeo riding?
It dates back hundreds of years to the cattle drivers who would sit around telling stories and talking about which horses were most difficult to ride, and it was a way of seeing who was the best cowboy. Now it’s a pretty big sport, with 70,000 people at some of the events.
What was the first beast you rode?
I’ve been riding horses since before I could walk. Before they do rodeo on bulls and horses, kids try out on sheep – they call it ‘mutton bustin’ – and the first time I did that I was about four. Sheep can be pretty fast.
How do horses and bulls differ?
Bulls are a bit wider and more muscular; horses are almost elegant in their movements compared to bulls. Bulls have a lot more power.
Is there anything to hold on to when you ride?
There’s a poly-blended rope with a hand-hold. You put your hand in it, pull it up snug around the bull’s girth and that’s all there is to hold on to. There’s some core strength and leg strength involved, but really when it’s done right it’s more like a fine-tuned dance. Whenever you’ve got a 68kg rider going up against an 800kg animal athlete that was bred to do what he does and loves it, you’re overmatched in every sense.
What’s the trick to staying on?
The big thing is picking up the timing and rhythm of their jumps. If you can get it right and stay in the middle, it’s a bit like being in the eye of the hurricane and there’s not a whole lot going on. The second you lose that, the centripetal force takes over.
Why are the bulls so feisty?
They’re bred just like racehorses with amazing athletic ability and they are raised to try and get you off their back! Some bulls have really big personalities – one of the top bulls right now is a real pet and he loves being scratched. His owner gives him baths before every performance and he loves being pampered. But then he’ll come out of the chute and bucks extremely hard.
Talk us through the moments before your turn.
It’s not any different to any other sport, really: You try to get warmed up and ready to compete. We usually know beforehand which bull we’re getting onto; we’ll ask our buddies that have been on him and they’ll tell you what to look out for. So you get a bit of a game plan, but the second you think you know what a bull’s going to do it will usually do something different.
On a scale of 1-10, how scared are you?
Every time I go out, I realise it could be my last time, and even the last thing I do, so I don’t take it lightly. But the more bulls you get on and the more years you do it the more comfortable you become with it. So I’m not scared – I’ve just got to be ready.
What has been your worst injury?
I’ve broken arms, dislocated shoulders – all that fun stuff – but my worst was compartment syndrome when the fascia around your muscle gets blood in it and the doctors had to go in and cut each side of my calf to let it bleed out for about three days. It was pretty scary because I was less than 24 hours away from losing my leg. When did safety gear become the norm? Cowboys have always had their chaps, which are really just a thin piece of leather, and then the Kevlar vest came around in the early ’90s after Lane Frost was killed by a bull in Wyoming. A bull stuck a horn in his rib cage and he ended up collapsing a lung. The vest helps with some of the impact, although it’s not going to save you from getting banged up. But the fatalities went down a lot. Helmets are optional – I’ve always worn one; about 90 per cent of riders do.
What’s the best prize money in the sport?
This year at a one-day rodeo where the Dallas Cowboys play, I won $433,000 [Dh1.6m], and the prize pool at the national finals in Vegas is more than $10m. So it’s pretty competitive and there are several hundred guys at each event that are tying to make a living and make a name for themselves. A lot don’t make it. It’s not very profitable for 90 per cent of the guys doing it, but most of us do it for the love of the sport.
Why are you so good?
I don’t know if I have a natural gift or not, I think it’s more that I had such a passion for it at such a young age. Anybody that does something for 19 years is probably going to be pretty good at it.
Can you give us a couple of rodeo slang words?
One word you would hear the cowboys use is ‘rank’, which means a bull or a horse is really good and bucks really hard.
How long would the average Joe last on a bull?
A qualified ride is eight seconds, so that’s what we’re all shooting for – to stay on for a full eight seconds without disqualifying yourself by touching with your free hand or breaking the other few rules that would get you disqualified. We get scored on how well you ride and how well the animal bucks. But a normal guy getting on a top bull? It would be really impressive if they could last more than one second.