roughstock

Luckily, I got into all three roughstock events saddle bronc, bareback, and bull riding.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

I could compete with anyone my age and a fair number of kids a lot older than me in bull riding and bareback riding, but to be a great roughstock rider I needed more experience saddle bronc riding.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

I had been fortunate that individual injuries had been minimal, but the effects roughstock riding has on your body are cumulative.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

In the fifty-six rodeos I entered, I placed in the bull riding the toughest and most unpredictable of the roughstock events fifty-one times.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

Technically he was right: the timed-event guys were dealing with easier animals in the final two rounds than were the roughstock riders, but it had always been that way.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

Rather than building my schedule around PRCA rodeos where I was competing in all three roughstock events, I began to spend more time at PBR events where I was strictly riding bulls.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

Rodeo purses had to be distributed among all events: calf roping, bulldogging, barrel racing, team roping, and the roughstock events.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

In my mind, too much information about roughstock is counterproductive.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

The injuries roughstock riders sustain are not too different from those of NFL players—concussions being the most common, followed by broken bones, and knee injuries.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003

The three roughstock events are so different, each requiring its own set of skills and disciplines, that being equal in all three was, for me, a great accomplishment.

King of the Cowboys Ty Murray 2003