Being a sports fan, at least for me, is not just about following baseball, football and hockey.
It happens I like some sports which don’t necessarily make most people’s list. Of course walking a path less traveled is never a bad thing.
One sport which has always intrigued me is bull riding.
The strength of the bulls and the fearless nature of the riders is a winning combination for me.
It is also fascinating how the sport, long a part of rodeos, has emerged as a stand zone discipline thanks to the creation of Professional Bull Riding (PBR), and its savvy marketing of major events across the United States. It is through the PBR bull riding has drawn fans to major venues in major cities far removed from the generally perceived western/cowboy roots of the sport.
If you are a fan of PBR, and a Canuck, then there was no better bull rider in 2015 than Prince Albert, Sask’s Tanner Byrne. Byrne won his first PBR Canadian Championships and finished eighth overall in the PBR’s World Standings.
In total he won over $250,000 US in what was only his first full year on the PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series. Byrne finished third at the PBR’s World Finals ranking in $110,500 including bonuses.
For Byrne bull riding is very much in his genes, having grown up around the sport.
“I was. My dad was a professional bullfighter,” said Byrne in a recent interview with this writer, adding he was the first Canadian to fill the role at the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas.
Byrne said in growing up around the sport, and at the high level he saw traveling with his Dad, it was almost inevitable he’d get involved.
“I was just always around cowboys and the lifestyle,” he said.
And so he chose bulls, well calves to start.
“I started when I was a kid. I started on calves when I was about nine-years-old going to some rodeos with my older brothers and parents,” said Byrne. “I entered Junior Steer Riding when I was 12.”
From there it was simply a case of honing his skills, and that meant riding as often as possible.
“There is no shortage of opportunities in the summer time,” said Byrne. But in Canada in the winter, bull riding events are scarce. “It wasn’t unusual to drive from P.A. to Kennedy to go get on two bulls when it was minus 40.”
The miles paid off though. Byrne said there were a number of American colleges offering scholarships to go ride bulls.
But at 18, Byrne took a different path.
“I rolled the dice,” he said, passing up the scholarship offers to turn pro.
“When you’re 18 it’s not very hard to talk yourself out of going to school … I wasn’t going to be into it 100 per cent, so I wasn’t likely going to pass.”
Looking back Byrne said he might have chosen the other road, but it is working out for him now too. He said competing in the Built Ford Tough Series he’s at the top level of his sport, the NHL of bullriding.
Being at the top level of bullriding is rather demanding though.
“You’re on three or four of the best bulls in the world every weekend month after month,” he said.
Even with a successful ride the body is subjected to the jerks, twists and turns of a 2000 pound bull, and no dismount comes easy either.
“You’ve got to be in top physical condition,” said Byrne, adding for him that includes yoga exercises for flexibility, and lots of core strength training.
The power of the bulls and dismounts into the arena dirt wear on the body.
The wear starts in Chicago in early January, and then it’s just air miles a plenty.
“It’s every weekend across the U.S. until May,” said Byrne.
Riders get the summer off, at least from the Built Ford Tough series, but Byrne said he’ll keep riding back in Canada.
“I’ll go to the Calgary Stampede, and some small events,” he said, adding it keeps him sharp as he will head back south to ride PBR events from September until the finals in Las Vegas.
For Byrne, who is six-foot-four, that core strength is critical in a sport where height is seen as a detriment because of a higher centre of gravity away from the strength of the bull.
“They say it’s (bullriding) a small man’s game,” he admitted. “You’re not supposed to be able to ride when you’re as tall as I am.”
But Byrne has adapted, riding with his legs higher, to keep his centre of gravity lower, and it has been working. He has twice been the top Canadian in the world and at the last finals was eighth overall, and third in the actual finals event.
“That’s the best a Canadian has ever done in the PBR,” he said.
And at 23, Byrne aspires to be better still. He said he hopes to ride for another 10 years, and somewhere along the road of his career he wants a World Championship.
“No Canadian has done that in the PBR,” he said. “… Hopefully I can make it happen.”
