A Brand New Season

Billy-Bob start of 2008 season at BBar Ranch.

Billy-Bob started a brand new season in 2008 with excitement and a little fear.  Mike and I were hesitant to pay for his membership in the W.R.B.R.A and hesitant to find a sponsor for Billy-Bob.  We didn't want to end up like the first year and have him pull out after just a few rides.

One thing was good, he was still young enough to ride on sheep and not calfs yet.  Calfs buck, sheep run and occasionally jump.

One thing about bull riders, even the tiny ones, are the superstitions that develop over time.  Billy-Bob doesn't have any that revolve around his riding clothes, thank goodness, I can wash the clothes after each ride.  Some of the boys wear the same pants or shirt all season.  The clothes become filthy dirty, and sometimes ripped.  Some of the boy have religions symbols on their gear, some wear religious and secular medals, some have different bands over their vest and some have different rituals that they will do before each ride.  Billy-Bob has sheep wool in his vest pocket, for his luck.  He's even had one of the boy's ask "Do you have you're luck?"  In a sport that is dangerous even with safety equipment and bull fighters, judges, and arena men in the arena superstitions are a way for the riders to negate the danger.

For the sheep riders the danger is much less.  The sheep can run the kids into the chute, the gate, or into another sheep.  Billy-Bob's first injury came from being stepped on when his sheep ran between two others, leading to a scrape on his back.  There's also the bumps and bruises from falling off the sheep.  The goal is to ride until the bull fighter pulls you off but there's a lot of skills to put together for that to happen and the reality is falling of... a lot.

Billy-Bob had some other odd superstitions surrounding his rides.   He always looked for the same boys to help him in the chute.  He'd get jumpy if the sheep were rolled to many times.  Animals in the chutes are moved forward, rolled, into open chutes so that other animals can loaded from the alley.  This keeps the pace of the ride moving.  Billy-Bob also got nervous every time he thought he was going to have to ride the one black sheep that the assoc. had.  I really never figured that one out, it did have a tendency to jump when it first left the chute although I don't know if Billy-Bob was aware of that.  All he would tell me was "I don't want the black one, its tougher".

Billy-Bob insisted that I was the one to take him behind the chutes, get him signed in, and help him put on his gear.  Heaven forbid if Mike tried to help put on Billy-Bob's spurs.  Billy-Bob also developed a routine for getting ready.  He would have me hang out his chaps and vest.  I would also help Billy-Bob in getting his rope tied up so that the rope could be rosined.  We always arrived in time for Billy-Bob to get all of that done and then go and play with the other mutton busters.  I found that if we arrived to late to allow this down time Billy-Bob didn't do so well on his ride.

Billy-Bob still has his luck in his vest pocket even though he's moved into calfs.  I am sure he will develop more as the years go on and let others drop to the wayside.  Billy-Bob is already looking forward to the hand me down riding boots that are on their third rider.  They bring luck.

The End....

Where'd the sheep go?  March 2008

Well I had lied after the last ride and told Billy-Bob that we were done for good.  But those danged toys the mutton busters got kept drawing him back.  Billy-Bob was after me to take him to another one.  So I finally gave in and signed him up one last time.
I'd like to say that things went well, but really they didn't.  They went mostly downhill once we got to the arena.  Billy-Bob started getting freaked out being behind the chute.  I really didn't know what would happen but I kept reminding Billy-Bob of our rule, once we pay, you have to ride.  Billy-Bob kept nodding yes but wouldn't talk to me or any of the other kids. 
The ride before, the one where Mike tried to get Billy-Bob ready, one of the bull rider dads and I had talked about a dad that kept bringing his son to the calf rides and making him get on when he was screaming and crying.  Then the first dad looked up and asked the boy's sister if she wanted to ride.  She did and kicked butt!  The dad of the calf rider never brought his family back.  I didn't know if this was a subtle hint about Billy-Bob or a story about girls or even a story about how his son was taking to bulls but I did a lot of thinking in the interim.
Back to the ride and behind the chutes Billy-Bob was much quieter than he had been before.  I was getting worried about how he would do and if he would even go or not. 
It was time to get ready and Billy-Bob got into his vest and chaps for grand entry.
Well we made it through that time and Billy-Bob was smiling.
Then it was time to line up for a chute.
Theoretically sheep riding is normally a chute draw.  Which means if you're number four on the list you get number four chute, if there's five chutes and you're number eleven then you would get chute two on the third loading. 
Notice I said theoretically?
For some reason chutes are not usually numbered the way the chute or arena director seem to think they are, even when they are lucky enough to have a number on the back of them.  What seems to always be the case is that number one cute is the opposite chute, even if the chute that everyone thinks is number one is really number five.
Then you have boys, really, even if they are calf, steer, and bull riders, helping younger siblings, friends, and just newbies in general.  Add to the mix a lot of fathers that used to ride bulls, still ride bulls, or have been around rodeo a lot and things get really mixed up.
Adults that want their kids to get certain sheep, or the stock contractor that brought the sheep saying that one's for so and so.  Also, the sheep can vary, so larger kids need a bit larger sheep.
Then you have me, I had no idea what to do behind the chutes, and while the older boys helped, there were a lot of different and sometimes contradictory opinions about what to actually do and even how to ride!
Confused yet?
I was and sometimes I still am.
A little background on me, I was always horse crazy, but didn't get lessons or a horse until high school.  During college I volunteered at a youth ranch and became a horse leader in 4H.  I can tell you how to saddle a horse and how to get one ready for a show, but where to put a rope on a sheep or even hold a sheep still, that was WAY beyond my comfort zone.
Lets just say that I sweat more and more as the time for Billy-Bob's rides got closer.
Mike and I had talked about Billy-Bob's attitude over and over and really worried over taking Billy-Bob to that last ride.  Earlier, Little Mike, our older son, had tried calf riding in NorCal Junior Rodeo.  On the way to the rodeo, Billy-Bob looked at his brother and said in a very worried tone, "You know, if they pay, you have to do it."  Just one clue that of what was going through Billy-Bob's mind.
Well it was time now for Billy-Bob to get on his sheep.  With Sara helping, I hauled Billy-Bob up and handed him over the back of the chute.
Billy-Bob was not a happy camper.  He screamed, he cried, he said NO NO NO, he kept letting go of his rope.  The arena crew moved onto the next kid and I calmed Billy-Bob down.
Then I threatened, I pleaded, I begged, and finally I told him that this would be the last time, for sure, I promise, but he had to go ahead and ride.  We'd paid already and that was the rule.
Billy-Bob calmed down although he was still crying.
The arena boss came back and the guys got ready to pull the gate.  Billy-Bob started ramping up his screaming and kept trying to let go.  I reminded Billy-Bob again, that this was a done deal but "We'd never ever come back and he would never ever have to ride again.  Never!"
Finally Billy-Bob got settled enough, one hand up in the air, one on his rope, that the gate was pulled.  He didn't go far but he did get out the gate!
I also will never forget that this was the first time that any of the dads acknowledged me, a mom.  The arena director looked up, shook my hand, and said "Nice job getting him to go" and walked off.
Well after the ride was done, the tears dried, and the toy was given, Billy-Bob looked at me and said "I want to do it again!"
"NO!"  I said "NO! We are done!"
Billy-Bob said "I'll do it again when I'm five!"
Yeah Right!

You may ask...

You may be asking why would a mom encourage her son to ride calfs? Why encourage the beginning of bull riding? Sure riding sheep is cute, but calfs? He could get hurt!

Billy-Bob was a deceptively calm and quiet baby, only three sleepless nights in the first year.

Of course that was just to lull us into a sense of calm.

Ignore the fact that he was starting to roll over at 3 days old. I thought he was a bit ahead on his milestones but the doc. didn't, he didn't try to crawl, pull up, or walk.

But at eight months and three days I get a call from the hubs. Guess what Billy-Bob did today... He stood up and ran!

OMGosh help.

He hasn't stopped since. Although the boy sure can sleep hard. We've had to find something for him to keep him busy.

Along came a young man that bought our colt. He was a nice young man, Nic Lica, with a bit of a hard life. My oldest knew him from riding lessons, he was in junior high and both boys immediately idolized him. Nic worked off his colt by doing chores and exercising horses for us. He also wanted to ride bulls. Eventually Nic was going to ride steers in Jr. Rodeo and asked us to come watch him. Billy-Bob was three and was enthralled. He didn't want to leave the fence. At the next rodeo we talked with another parent who told us of an association that had sheep riding.

Thus starting our adventures.