How to Ride a Mechanical Bull

How to ride a Mechanical Bull – Tips from a Professional Bull Rider The sport of bull riding has become very popular in recent years through various televised events along with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) taking the sport of professional bull riding to a new level along with millions of dollars of prize money for the riders. Anyone can be a contestant in the PBR, all you have to do is buy a permit and enter events until you eventually get accepted into an event. You won’t get to be on TV at your first event, but if you get good enough maybe someday you will. However if you have no experience with horses, or riding anything at all for that matter, I personally think a mechanical bull is a good way to start to at least get the feeling for riding. There are even competitions in many bars around the country, put on by the bars where you can win some money on a Friday or Saturday night. An example of that could be the PBR Rock Bar in Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV where the mechanical bull riding winner in a competition won $1000. This guide could take you there! (Above Photo) Ted Stovin competing at the 2009 IPR World Finals in Chihuahua, Ch. Mexico Here’s how to get started: Step 1: Find the Bull! So first you have to find a mechanical bull, there are many bars around the country along with private companies that have them. If you know where one is already then your biggest problem has already been solved! Mechanical bulls are often found in bars but they are also owned by individuals in many different places. Sometimes they take them to county fairs, rodeos and even travel with them to take them to local bars on weekends when the local rodeo takes place. Step 2: Prepare Yourself So You Don’t Get Burned Once you find a bull then you need to be ready to take it on. I think the biggest thing you need to do is dress for the occasion. This means you need to wear jeans and either boots or shoes of some sort. The hat, long sleeve shirt and everything else doesn’t really matter in my eyes. I just want your legs and calves to not get burned up from sliding around on the back of the thing. Step 3: Meeting the Bull Now that you are in the same place as the bull and watching everyone else make fools of themselves, you should study the movements of the bull and think about how you might approach it. I learned to ride real bulls by study those people who rode well and won. I watched how they did things before they got on, watched how they rosined their ropes, tied on their boots, how they were in the chute, how they treated the animals, how they dressed and even how they treated other people. There’s more to mechanical bull riding and there is even more to real bull riding than simply jumping on the back of one and trying it out. Step 4: Final Preparations If someone is staying on when it is moving really fast, then you should look at how they are doing it and see yourself doing the same thing. Some people think making big moves and throwing their free arm (the one you don’t hold on with) around a bunch will help them. Well, the reality is that waving your free arm around a bunch or waving to your friends from the back of the bull really isn’t going to do you any good at all. Moving your arm around too much can throw your weight to the outside of the spin and throw you to the outside. Trying to show boat can also piss off the bull operator and make him want to turn up the speed and throw your but not only off the bull but possibly even off of the mats! The absolute final thing you should do before you do finally get on should be you thinking to yourself that you can actually stay on for the allotted amount of time whether it be the usual 8 seconds or simply the person to stay on the longest. Step 5: Getting Set on the Bull When it is finally your turn to get on the bull or else no one else has stepped up and you finally got the nerve to your going to need to get in the right spot on the bull and put your hand in right to better your chances. I have put a picture here showing how your hand should sit in regards to the bulls back when you are getting ready. You want to be able to hold on to the rope well even though your body position will keep you on longer than having your hand in the right place. Once your hand is in the rope you are going to want to slide up to it as close as you can. Many people don’t get close enough to their hand that is another one of the key things to your success. Being close to your hand means that your body is closer to a straight line up and down compared to if you are sitting way back. (Remember the photo is just pertaining to where you put your hand) Once your are up close to your hand you are going to want to pull up with your feet a bit to get a hold but then bring up your knees so that when the bull turns they turn into your knee instead of nothing. Your waist is at the handle, your knees are in front of the rope of handle and your feet are right on the rope. This is called your foundation. This will keep you on the back of the mechanical bull better than anything else. Some people however put their legs straight down. An example of this would be when someone else gets on and they fall straight off the side as soon as the bull turns, you don’t want to do that. Once you have your foundation you want to set your upper body. You should start by firming up your core then sticking out your chest and finally tucking your chin down to your chest. The final thing to finish up with is your free arm which should be out at a 90 degree angle with your elbow bent upward and 45 degrees in front of you. Once you are here and ready to go, nod your head and let it begin. Step 6: The Ride Once you are set in the pre-ride position and the bull is going, all you need to do is go with the flow of the bull. When he moves up in the front you need to be up over your hand and when he kicks up in the back all you need to do is to sit down and keep yourself compact. Having your knees up will allow you to use them to get up over the front and when the bull kicks it will actually set you back down where you started. The momentum keeps things working. As far as spinning goes, if you are down and compact and doing these things every time the right way then you don’t really need to worry about anything else because you will be I the right place as it is. Step 7: The Get Off The get off in mechanical bull riding is simple. All you have to do is look back and look at the mats. Just like in real bull riding you land right when you look. If you focus enough on that spot and commit to it fully you will land safely every time. Doubt is what causes trouble. By the time you get off and get back up on your feet you can take it in cause you probably just won! Conclusion Congratulations! You are well on your way to riding a mechanical bull the right way and the way to win any competition. Don’t mistake this guide for one for real live 2000lbs of snot breathing throw you in the dirt bull riding! That’s for next time. This is a great start though and I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any more questions or would like to know more information, shoot us a line on the Contact page at Everything Cowboy by typing http://teds.uibcsites.com into your address line. There we have more videos and information about bull riding and many other Cowboy Topics. Ted Stovin P.S. If you did and you have used it to your advantage, let us know! We would love to hear from you on our homepage at http://teds.uibcsites.com **Secret Tips** Secret Tip 1: Talk to the bull operator, sometimes these operators don’t care if you want to actually be a bull rider, or if you just want to try and win a couple bucks, so meeting them will probably be a benefit to you. If you haven’t been on one before, and you are polite and courteous to them then they just might take it easy on you and start it off slow. Getting off on the wrong foot with the bull operator could land you on your back in front of that girl you thought you might impress, just as she walks away, not very impressed at you.

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