howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
I hope ya'll aren't too tired of the bull riding series to read about one
more extraordinary professional bull rider by the name of Maggie
Parker. She's the only professional female bull rider that we have.
There are only 35 pro bull riders period(gee I wonder why) so it's
a small club.
There ARE a growing number of female bull riders though, but
the sport is not exactly exploding in growth for the females. Is
anyone in my audience saddened by this fact?
here is a group at an amateur rodeo:
source
I don't know what you have to do to earn that bull patch on your shirt
but I bet it ain't pretty. These women are tough, I gotta hand it to
them. If you haven't seen my previous posts about the dangers of bull
riding here are a few reminders:
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source
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this is painful to look at:
That top photo freaks me out. The height that these bulls can get up
to is astounding. Of course, they've been breeding them for years to
be the biggest, meanest, most athletic bulls in the world and they
prove it in these rodeos.
Okay well now that you see how crazy dangerous the sport is, you can
see why there are only 35 riders in the professional ranks, 34 cowboys
and 1 cowgirl... Maggie Parker. She was living in Michigan when a
friend took her to see a rodeo and she was hooked.
source
She moved to Texas(smart move) to work on ranches so she could
learn to be a cowgirl and that's exactly what she did, came as a
teenager and by the time she was 20 she reached her pro status.
Maggie's also broken alot of bones including her back twice! The last
time it was a broken vertebra. Just millimeters away from paralyzing
her but she did make a full recovery.
source
Her story is an interesting one. Unlike Myrtis Dightman from my last
series who was riding against racism and to prove that black cowboys
were just as good as white cowboys, Maggie isn't riding to prove any-
thing. She isn't a feminist and isn't trying to prove that cowgirls are
just as good as cowboys.
She just loves to ride, it's what she wants to do. And she's good too
with an average riding percentage of 35-40% which is the national
average for men. So while some women might see her as riding for
girl power and all that, she isn't. She does admit to being addicted
to the excitement, the crowds, the traveling and the lifestyle of a
professional bull rider however. I can see that.
And I kind of like the idea that she isn't out there trying to get other
girls and women on those monsters! By the way, as far as just strictly
looking at the money, professional bull riders make really good
money. And earn every penny!
I have no idea if their medical bills are covered by the Professional
Bull Riders Association but I would hope so because they spend alot
of time recovering from injuries.
Well guys that wraps up my series on professional bull riders, I hope
it was interesting and a little entertaining. By the way, as mentioned
in my last post..the bulls are pampered, very well cared for and are
also treated like stars!
They are worth a fortune and their owners make a bloody fortune
breeding them so that there can be even more big, mean, deadly
bulls! lol.
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
The tobacco chewers in your family aren't just men!