Bull riders entertain crowd
The crowd went wild as young men put their bravery and skills to the test by trying to stay on a bull for at least eight seconds at the Dodge County Fair Grand Stand last Wednesday night.
The Rice Bull Riding Company put on the event and featured riders from all over including Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.
Skyler Sims, 20, was the rider that took the win with a total of 90 points out of 100 in the championship round.
“It was a great night and I couldn’t have picked a better bull to get. It makes it even better to widen the gap in the standings,” Sims said.
Sims is from Peculiar, Missouri, and has been riding bulls since he was 13 years old.
“My mom took me to the county fair and they had sheep riding there and I wanted to do it. She let me do it and I ended up winning and I kind of got hooked from there,” he said.
As Sims got older he transitioned from sheep, to calves, to steers and finally bulls. To get started out he attended a monthly bull riding school put on by Everett Bohon, father of professional bull rider, Matt Bohon.
Sims has been riding with the Rice Bull Riding Company for one to two years now and rides with many other bull riding companies. Bull riding is his full -time job. In the summer he typically rides five days a week in locations all around the United States.
Sims enjoys traveling. “You are always on the road and seeing new places. I am not a big fan of working either. I am only working for eight seconds and that is a lot better than eight hours.”
The main challenge Sims has faced in his career is injuries.
“It is challenging for anyone who is riding a bull to try to stay healthy all the time. You work with what you’ve got and if you are injured you’ve got to try to push through it, if not you can’t work and get paid,” Sims said. “I’ve been blessed. I haven’t had too many bad injuries.”
Sims has broken both of his arms and a leg although he doesn’t let that stop him. Last year after he broke his left arm, his free arm he holds up in the air, he took a two-week break and rode the rest of the summer with his arm in a cast.
“A lot of people think that we just kind of sit there and hold on tight, but there is actually a lot more to it. There are a bunch of drills that we have to do to make sure we are making the right reactions,” Sims said. “We can’t just sit there and power a 1,500 pound bull, I don’t care how strong you are, it is just not going to happen. You’ve got to work with what you’ve got and counter react to his moves.”
Although Kody Monroe, 29, did not qualify for the championship round this year, he was the Glory Bound Tour Champion with the highest score of the tour, 92 points out of 100, at the Dodge County Fair last year.
“It was an awesome experience, I will never forget that. The crowd went wild and it is was an unbelievable feeling to ride a great bull like that and hear the crowd’s reaction,” Monroe said. “That is what bull riders feed off of… it makes us more excited and ride better.”
Monroe is from Waukon, Iowa, and started riding bulls when he was 15. He started out on sheep and transitioned to calves, steers, junior bulls and bulls. “I rode sheep before I could even walk,” he said.
When he was younger he learned a lot of his skills from his dad, but as he got older he taught himself new things and found his own style.
“Nobody will ever perfect bull riding; the bulls are so good at their jobs these days it would be impossible to perfect. I still learn something from every bull I get on whether it’s something I did right or something I did wrong,” Monroe said.
Bull riding is not a full-time career for Monroe, as he works for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
Monroe has also faced many injuries including broken ribs, broken hand and a lot of stitches, pulled muscles, bumps and bruises.
“Something people may not know is the hard work and planning it takes to put on a show, or the time that is spent raising the awesome livestock. It is all such hard work and the bulls get great care; they are treated very well and love what they do,” Monroe said.