Young bull rider hopes to make pro circuit
Gus Teeter, a regional youth bull rider, is taking steps to help secure his dreams of competing as a professional bull rider.
Teeter has become increasingly accomplished as a young rider. Teeter recently placed 12th in the Wrangler Youth Bull Rider Finals in Abilene, Texas. Riders from five countries, a total of 72 young contestants, competed. Teeter and family will return to Texas the first week of October to compete in the World Championship Mini Bull Riders. Teeter also placed seventh in last year’s Junior National Finals Rodeo, held in Vegas. At the end of the year, he will return to Vegas for this year’s competition.
Bull riding is scored based on 100 points, with 50 of those coming from how well the bull bucked and the other 50 coming from how well the rider handled the bucking.
Teeter, who is currently 13, has been preparing for his hopeful career as a pro since he was a child.
“[Gus] started riding sheep, which is called mutton busting, then he aged out of that and started riding calves, steers, mini bulls, and now he’s riding novice bulls,” Teeter’s mother, Paula Nix, said “They’re full sized bulls, but they’re not like PBR (Professional Bull Riding) bulls. They don’t buck as hard.”
Nix said bull riding is a dangerous, costly sport that requires a great deal of travel, preparation, and daily practice. Nix said the family has traveled around 41,000 miles this year alone. Teeter practices constantly, including with bulls he and the family own and on a ‘drop barrel’, which is a spring-loaded barrel designed to mimic a bucking bull.
Along with travel, Nix said the family must stock up on protective gear to help prevent some of the dangers associated with bull riding. Nix said the family has invested about $2,000 in gear, including a hockey-like helmet and mouthpiece, a protective vest, chaps, and the bull rope that fastens around the bull’s belly and is held by the riders.
“[Bull riding is] the most dangerous sport on the earth, really. It’s a 2,000 pound animal with no control whatsoever other than your balance and your strength,” Nix said.
Nix said there is no way to really tell what the bull will do. Riders must learn how to judge the bull’s movements and predict what they’ll do next. Nix, who is an experienced equestrian, said bull riding is much different, relying on the rider’s core, legs, and balance.
Fortunately, Nix said Teeter hasn’t had serious injuries. She attributes that to her son starting young and learning over the years. Still, bull riding carries a potentially fatal risk.
“My hope when he was little was that he would get bruised up enough to not want to do it, but that’s not what happened,” Nix said. “We had a very serious talk about the fact he can die from this… Gus said, ‘I’d rather live and die doing what I love than live and die from what I hate.’”
Despite his professional ambitions, Nix said Teeter is aware bull riders age out of the sport rather quickly. She said most age out by their thirties. Teeter will still be involved with rodeos and bull riding, though. Once he ages out, Teeter plans to bring his stock to competitions for other riders to test their skills on.