There’s nothing quite like getting on the back of a bucking bull in front of tens of thousands of onlookers.
Just ask Jake Gardner.
The B.C. cowboy with Fort St. John roots is at the top of his game, coming off a big championship win at RodeoHouston that kicked him to the top of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings for bull riding.
Gardner wasn’t originally scheduled to ride at RodeoHouston.
He joined CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton to talk about his lucky turn of events, and life on the rodeo circuit.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Jake, congratulations. Take us back to that ride. What’s going through your head?
I wish I could relive it every day. It’s such a special moment for me. It’s a lot of buildup getting on bucking bulls. Everything builds up to that moment and it could be a very quick couple seconds or eight seconds. Hopefully, it’s eight seconds. The gate opened and that bull blew up real high in the air and he kicked real hard. Then he started spinning, and when he started spinning I felt in really good position, really good timing with him. About four seconds into that ride, I knew I had him rode. Then the whistle went and the Houston stadium went wild.
And you were a replacement rider in this rodeo. Tell us how that worked.
Houston’s the biggest rodeo in the world. The Top 40 in the world standings get to go there. I originally didn’t get in, so I called them and just asked, ‘Hey, where am I at on an alternate spot?’ because if people get injured, they will replace them.
They said I was 10th. I didn’t really think that they would have went down 10 spots, but unfortunately some guys must have got hurt and some other guys might have not been able to make it. They called me and said, “Hey, can you be in Houston? We got a spot for you.”
I was in Arizona at the time, found one flight that was getting there about an hour before it started. We made it work, got to the rodeo about 15 minutes before it started. I didn’t have much time to think about things. I went and rode five bulls later, and three weeks later ended up winning the title.
You said it’s the biggest rodeo in the world. For people who haven’t been or aren’t familiar, what’s the atmosphere like there?
It’s pretty crazy. I believe 80,000 people can fit in there, maybe even more. So that day, on Saturday, it was full of people and it was like a rock concert. Felt like the roof was going to blow off the place. The atmosphere was just really, really exciting and energetic. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.
Talk to me about the relationship you have with the with the bulls that you ride. What do you sense from that animal?
We’re bull riding athletes and they’re bucking bull athletes. Most of these bucking bulls, they follow the circuit all year and we see them at different rodeos throughout the year. So we’re able to pay attention to them and get a read on what they do. Some of them are desirable to get on and nice to be around. Some of them are mean and snorty, and they want to trample you down.
Aren’t they all mean?
No, some of them are like puppy dogs. These contractors, they treat these bulls lFriike their kids. They have the best feed, they get the best grain. A lot of bulls in the back pens, you can walk up with a bucket of grain and they’ll come up and be all friendly and jolly, like a dog when you got a treat. But you get to the show, they know what’s going on. They’re kind of like a racehorse. They get to the gates and they’re ready to go.
Some people say they cheer for the bulls when they watch bull riding. What do you say when you hear that?
They gotta win sometimes too.
What was the bull that you rode for that final one when you won the whole thing? What was that one like?
They call him Milkshake. The name is pretty self-explanatory. He’s a nice bull. He’s one that all the riders want to get on.
He didn’t seem all that snuggly to me when you were riding him. It still seemed like it was pretty hard.
It might sound weird to some people, but bull riding, or any sport with an animal, it’s almost like a dance. You got to be in sync with the animal you’re competing with. Me and him just found that rhythm together and made it look good. Without a good bull, you’re not doing much.
You’re at the top of the world standings. You win the biggest rodeo in the world. What are your goals for the rest of the season?
The goal at the end of the year is a world championship and make the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. This win is great, but there’s a long season ahead. We still got five months or so here of hard rodeoing. I’ll be going everywhere every weekend. The game plan is to just keep pushing forward, move on to the next one and keep riding my bulls and having fun doing it.
You travel all over the world. All over North America, you travelled to Australia. What’s life like as a rodeo cowboy?
I love the journey of it. I love travelling, I love driving, I love seeing people, meeting people. There are some times, for sure, when it’s not as glamorous. You’ll be down here in Texas away from your family for months at a time. I’ve been down here alone a lot of winters and I’m lucky now I got a really good group of friends I can come down and hang out with and it feels like home. When I was young it was tough being here and trying to fit in. But that’s part of being an athlete and wanting to be at the top of your game. You got to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
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