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.

"See Mom I said I wouldn't be scared."

March 2008 before Billy-Bob quit.  It think at Lincoln, Ca.

Billy-Bob said, "Remember mom I said when I'm five I won't be scared" and he wasn't.  He didn't cry or scream or freak or try to climb off.  After Middletown Billy-Bob walked a little taller.  I think that Billy-Bob was proud of himself for conquering a fear.  I don't think that Billy-Bob would have termed it conquering a fear, I don't think he'd really understand that completely at the age of five.
To Billy-Bob, he was excited that he was riding, excited that he was seeing friends again, and excited to get a toy!   Mutton busting was something to do that was a combination of exciting and scary.  For Mike and I, mutton busting was something to keep Billy-Bob busy.
Billy-Bob is my active child, moving full speed from morning to night, his teacher this year calls Billy-Bob her squirrel.  An apropo nickname as we've often compared Billy-Bob to Hammie from "Over the Hedge".
Billy-Bob didn't crawl as a baby.  He did try to pull himself up a few times.  But at eight months and three days Billy-Bob stood up and ran.  He hasn't stopped since!
Billy-Bob exhibitioned in two more rides after Middletown before the season ended.  Billy-Bob never covered the rest of the year but he had a lot of fun and both of us learned.
For Billy-Bob there was the rush to get ready, the grand entry, and the rush to find his sheep.  For me there was a new routine and a lot to learn.
Just getting the sheep rope rosined is an artform in itself.  And trying to learn the knot was beyond me.  All rough stock ropes, from the sheep ropes all the way up to the bull ropes have to be tied in a knot, one that won't slip but is easy to adjust for the size of the animal.  Sometimes the ropes have to be tied into a double knot, which is not twice as hard to tie but about 100 more times harder to tie, if the animals are small for the rope.
Then there is the task of hanging the rope on the animal.  The bells go on the bottom and the rope has to go around but leave the room for the tail to come up to let the Billy-Bob take a wrap and still have excess left over.
Once that is all done it's time for Billy-Bob to climb down and get set.  Getting set is a skill that has to be developed but unfortunately I did not know what to teach.  So it wasn't until 2010's season, Billy-Bob's first on calfs, that Billy-Bob started to really learn what to do when in the chute and when it was time to go.  Normally other older boys helped Billy-Bob when he was riding sheep which was a good thing for Billy-Bob but unfortunately the older boys would contradict each other, which wasn't such a good thing.  Sometimes the dads would offer advice.  This was more helpful.
After those last few rides we had six months to get ready and prepare for the new season.
Then it was time to go and go we did!

A New Beginning

We thought we were done.
Billy-Bob gave it a try and was done, less traveling, less money spent.
A lot less money.  We'd paid out the sponsorship fees and entry fees and had even ordered jackets for all of us, but I gave up on ever getting them.
The holidays came and went and Billy-Bob turned five.
We passed other milestones and finished out preschool.
We had a house fire that destroyed a lot of stuff and what wasn't gone was put in storage.
Then Billy-Bob looked at me one day and said "How come I'm not riding sheep any more?  Remember I said I would again when I was five."
Um, really?  Really?  NOW!  That's what went through my head what came out of my mouth was
"Oh ok, really, are you sure"   I mean we were living in a trailer rented from the insurance at this point and dealing with any schedules just threw me.
Billy-Bob was sure.  I kept trying to put him off.  But one thing Billy-Bob is, when he gets something in his head is, to put it nicely, insistent.
I finally started looking around and trying to find the association info again, but didn't have any luck.
I had no contact numbers for anything.
Then it dawned on me, the lady who originally told me about the Northern California Junior Bull Riders Assoc., N.C.J.B.R.A, had been a substitute teacher in my older son's class, her son was riding calfs at that time.  411 to the rescue!
There was no longer a N.C.J.B.R.A., apparently the secretary was being investigated for embezzlement, gee no wonder we never got our jackets, from the association.
What there was now was W.R.B.R.A., Western Regional Bull Riders Assoc., which, after a lengthy conversation with Brian Moniz, was started when N.C.J.B.R.A. had to fold, leaving a whole lot of kids with no place to ride.
I got Billy-Bob entered for a ride up in Middletown, a beautiful but really long drive through Napa Valley (some day I'd like to actually have the time to stop and enjoy the places we drive through!)
Now for hectic phone calls, unanswered phone calls, and phone tag with the laundry company that was storing our clothing.  Trying to find Billy-Bob's gear bag, rope, vest, chaps, helmet, and boots.  Instead of having the items delivered to us, that would take up to two weeks, we drove the hour and a half to the warehouse to pick up the items.  The gear bag was missing but at least we had the other important equipment.  Although  my boots were missing.
Off we drove to Middletown with a nice lunch stop in Napa itself.  Although, the grade from Napa to Middletown is incredibly twisty and Billy-Bob gets car sick.  Wish I had known that ahead of time.
We got a little lost on the way to the arena, which for such a small town shouldn't have been hard to find!
One thing that one of the men had gone over the year before, was proper attire for the kids and the parents.  They were very serious about long sleeves rolled down for the parents, boots, hats, and jeans.
When Billy-Bob got signed in I was again reminded of the clothing requirements.  Of course I had no boots but was given a pass for this ride.
Mike and I were really worried.  We didn't join or pay anything but the entry fee.  Billy-Bob was going to ride exhibition, which meant no accumulation of points.  At this point there was three rides left in the season before finals.
Several of the dads remembered Billy-Bob, "that kid with the long hair" and Billy-Bob said hello to several of the kids.
We got Billy-Bob's gear set up and ready to ride.  Sara was no longer riding with the assoc. so I needed someone to help.  Dakota Thompson, a Jr. Bull Rider, helped now and while Billy-Bob got a little stressed he still rode.
Billy-Bob didn't go far and he did finally let go but he seemed to have conquered that fear.
Oh No What are we getting ourselves into!

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.

Hello!

Welcome!
Thanks to my sis-in-law, Cathy Chapin, for recommending that I start this blog.
My son Billy-Bob rides calfs in rodeo. He started riding sheep on and off when he was three. He's eight now and just finished his first full year competing on calfs.
In Billy-Bob's first year of calf riding, he has made the Youth World Bull Riding Finals in Texas this year, www.YBRnow.com , the first week in Aug.
Join me, if you will, on Billy-Bob's adventures this year.
Share in the stories of a mom in the back chutes.
Watch as Billy-Bob grows in his sport and in his maturity!