Hands On™ Bullriding
Get a behind the scenes look at this Hands On Bullriding Adventure with Believe In Tomorrow and the PBR.
For the past 10 years, Believe In Tomorrow children and families have had the opportunity of a lifetime to meet real-life cowboys within the Professional Bullriders, Inc. (PBR) through the Hands On Bullriding Adventures program. As the PBR tours its way through cities around the country, critically ill children and their families get to kick up their heels and watch the world’s top-ranked cowboys tough it out for eight seconds on the back of snorting, bucking bulls.
Children and families receive behind the scenes tours of the chutes, getting up close and personal with both the bulls and the riders to learn all the ins and outs of bull riding. Children come away from the tours with autographs on their t-shirts and photographs with their favorite cowboys. Children are occasionally invited to leave ‘good luck’ painted handprints on riders’ vests and chaps. Following the tour, children and families view the event from VIP seating and cheer on their favorite cowboys while they face the eight-second challenge of a lifetime.
Follow the excitement in 2013:
Jan. 8 - Madison Square Gardens, New York
Jan. 13 - Chicago, IL
Feb. 10 - Anaheim, CA
Feb. 24 - Kansas City, KS
March 2 - Arlington, TX
May 11- Las Vegas
Oct. 5 - Fayetteville, NC
Oct. 25-26 - PBR Finals - Las Vegas, NV
“Thank you so much for providing me with the BEST day of my life! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to make mine a little more special. I will definitely be seeing ya'll at some more PBRs!”
- Bristol, age 15, battling cancer
Fast Facts about Bull Riding:
- A rider obtains a high score once riding the bull for eight seconds
- The sport started in 1864 in Deer Trail, Colorado when two groups of cowboys from neighboring ranches met to see who was better at general ranch tasks
- The area where the rider sits atop the bull before the competition begins is called the “bucking chute,” a small enclosure that opens to the front
- The rider stabilizes himself with a piece of rope made of polypropylene and grass with a handle braided into its center
- A metallic bell is strapped to the bottom of the rope where it is hung below the bull to give the rope weight and allow it to fall off.
- A flank strap is a rope tied to the bull’s midsection to encourage the bucking motion
- A bull’s hide is seven times thicker than humans, so often goes unharmed when kicked by a cowboy’s spurs.
- One bull suffers a career ending injury every 100 events
- To PBR, bulls are athletes. Just like the riders, they receive stats and have their own web pages
- The average bull weighs 1,700 to 1,800 pounds
- Bulls that are part of PBR receive 20lbs of alfalfa hay per day, among other things
- Bucking is generally a genetic disposition