All guts and no glory
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BYERS, Colo. — Mason Reine worked a gob of rosin into his riding rope. Friction warms the rosin, giving it a molasses-like consistency that helps him hold on.
Reine, 18, began riding bulls five years ago. He is one of 9 bull riders competing through the Colorado High School Rodeo Association.
“My mom’s still a little terrified,” said Reine, whose injury history includes numerous concussions, cracked ribs, broken fingers, a cracked vertebrae, dislocated shoulder and a broken shoulder blade.
Risk is practically written into the rules of bull riding, during which riders must stay on a bucking bull for eight seconds using just one hand. In April, a 24-year-old rider died from injuries suffered at a Texas rodeo.
“It's like NASCAR. Fans don't want to see anybody get hurt, but they want to watch the wreck,”
said Jason McClain, who rode bulls professionally for 22 years and competed at the National Finals Rodeo six times.
In 2013, Forbes called bull riding “the fastest growing sport in America.” Over the past five years, prize money at Professional Bull Riders events has reached nearly $60 million.
“This is the closest to being a rock star you'll ever get without having to sing,” said McClain.
But for rookie riders like Reine, the sport is all guts and no glory.
Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
In April, dozens of high school competitors gathered at the Quint Valley Fairgrounds — 50 miles east of Denver — for a free rough stock rodeo clinic led by McClain and a posse of other decorated riders. Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” rang from a speaker as the first bulls entered the bucking chute. Boys strapped on spurs, chomped on mouthguards and tested each other's helmets with their fists. Girls are not allowed to compete in rough stock events — bull riding, bareback and bronc riding — at the high school level.
Reine lifts weights and practices on a bucking barrel — a see-saw-like contraption made from a 55 gallon drum that mimics the motion of a bull.
But bull riding is more akin to dancing with a half-ton drunk than a test of brute strength.
“You can't out muscle bulls,” said Reine. “Whenever he zigs, you gotta zig before he even thinks about it.”
Besides getting on actual bulls, riding horses bareback is the best form of training, said McClain.
“It's really a great opportunity to get better and get on more stock,” said JD Hunt, a 16-year-old rider from Greeley, Colorado, at the clinic.
High school bull riders warm up on a bucking barrel at a rodeo clinic in April. Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
When he graduates high school in Colorado Springs later this month, Reine plans to hit the road and compete at 50 to 75 rodeos this summer.
He’s in the process earning his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association certification , commonly called a pro card, that allows riders to compete at PRCA sanctioned events and accumulate money towards qualifying events, like the National Finals Rodeo.
“If you're at that elite of the elites, there's enough money in it. But for a lot of us, as we first start to get into the pro stuff, you're winning a few grand here, a few grand there, and that money goes right back into rodeo,” said Reine.
Since McClain last competed in 2014, he said that rodeo earnings have increased, but so has the cost to travel between rodeos.
“I try to drill it into these kids, if this is what you want to do, you got to be serious about doing it. As bad as some of these kids want it, they're going to find a way to make it work,” said McClain.
Entry fees run around $125 per rodeo. Sports Illustrated estimates that professional rodeo cowboys must spend roughly $50,000 per year to compete full time.
“I know I've gone a week straight of only eating peanut butter and jellies just so I can have enough money to pay for entry fees,” said Reine. In 2024, he rode 116 bulls, traveled 15,000 miles and won $12,000 at rodeos.
“Fans don't want to see anybody get hurt, but they want to watch the wreck,” said Jason McClain, who rode bulls professionally for 22 years and competed at the National Finals Rodeo six times. Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
Reine said he loves “every bit of it,” the rush, the relationships with other cowboys, and, of course, the buckles when he wins.
“The ladies love everything about it. They love the cowboy hat. They love the grit,” said Reine.
Reine plans to attend the College of Southern Idaho in the fall, where he has a full ride scholarship to ride bulls.
His dream? “It's the same as any other Cowboys dream, NFR world champion,” said Reine.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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