Back to School

Junior, who is a son of Gunslinger, greeted me when I arrived at school

 With all the talk of fall and back to school ads on TV, I contemplated going back to school myself, but only if bulls were involved!  So off I went to Let R Buck Bull Riding School for another session with JW, Junior and the boys.

First lesson: teaching young cowboys to ride bareback horses helps with balance, hip movement, and posture.

JW instructs the cowboys as they ride in the arena, changing horses to get a feel for different mannerisms and body type.

Once the horses were out of the arena, the bulls had to be coaxed in.  Here, JW uses the old feed trick to get their attention.  Iron Man was the first to enter.

Iron Man (r) looks at Gunner (also a son of Gunslinger) like, "C'mon dude! "

Once the bulls were loaded in to the chutes, JW and one of the cowboys put powder on them to protect them from flies and ticks.  Sic 'Em on a Chicken was not exactly thrilled with the concept!

Here the cowboys prepare for their bull rides.

With a big lunge out of the chute, Iron Man scores the first buck-off of the day.  This cowboy gave it a good try!

JW gives instructions, constantly teaching proper technique and safety.

Hannah, the school's female bull rider, gives it a go on Gunner.

Sic 'Em on a Chicken is a rank bull!  Too bad he took a nose-dive out of the chute!  He quickly rebounded with huge jumps and kick, and went the entire length of the arena.

Here Sic 'Em on a Chicken runs by me on his way out of the arena.

Gunner wasn't too happy to see me leave.

But by far, the best moment of the day was when I got to go in to the field and give the big boys a special treat!

Junior was instantly my friend when the Wonder bread came out.  Too cute!

It was the first time in my life that I got my hand licked by a bull!  Junior is a sweet boy, just coming 3 years old.  I thought I'd be more afraid but I was eerily calm with the bulls around.  Maybe because JW was there to jump in if they got aggressive in any way.  I would never approach them on my own but I was the one in their space, and with a treat, they didn't seem to mind!  It was truly a special moment for me!

I'm fascinated watching and learning from the young cowboys and their fearless leader/teacher, JW Gowan.  A big THANK YOU goes out to JW and his "horse-whispering" wife Cindi, for welcoming me in to the school family!



All photographs by/property of Susan Hanrahan.