Inside the Life-or-Death World of Competitive Bull Riding

Inside the Life-or-Death World of Competitive Bull Riding
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As a third-generation Native American bull rider, Bo Tyler Vocu faces risk of serious injury and death each time he gets in the ring. At just 16 years old, Vocu has already broken his hip twice pursuing his dream of becoming a world champion bull rider—a dream that’s been passed down from his grandfather to his father and is now his.

​On this episode of ‘Rites of Passage,’ VICE caught up with Vocu and his family ahead of a major bull riding competition in Oklahoma to talk about the serious risks riders take to compete in one of the most dangerous sports on Earth. Vocu talks about his grueling practice schedule and his pre-competition rituals, and his father weighs in on what it’s like to watch his son compete as a parent, and as a bull rider himself.

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40 Comments

  1. Half of you on here running your mouth about the lively hood of these cattle are just pure damn ignorant….stock contractors CANT make money if the bulls don’t perform….bulls can’t perform if they aren’t in the best shape possible, a stock contractor neglecting they’re bulls would be like you buying a brand new Ferrari and driving it off the lot into a fucking wall. Owning these animals is absolutely not cheap, feeding them is expensive, vet care is expensive, hauling them is expensive, taking them all over the country and entering them in abbi events is expensive, not to mention a lot of them get muscle therapy, they get swam as well….none of that shit is cheap, not to mention your doing that for multiple bulls, oh and you wanna talk about mentally draining….yeah we don’t have sick days or the option to be late, there is no such thing as 9-5, the animals get fed and watered before we even eat our own breakfast, same goes with lunch and dinner. 6 inches of snow on the ground or 10 inches of rain, your ass is out there on time taking care of them animals. Yalls own damn house pets or even kids dont get that much care and attention. 95% of you could never make it in that line of work day in and day out, period.

  2. Ya know I know a lot of people in rodeos, I'm good just watching them get thrashed and stomped on you got some balls or raging stupidity to get on a bull. And no the bulls are not treated badly thrashing around for 10 seconds will not hurt them in any way

  3. And before the comments start yes I have done it I got messed up by a bull from my ankle to my knee bleeding they put morado on me it's fucken crazy but still you guys tried built Ford tuff my ass ??

  4. You keep that head up young man. Keep going. I know its hard but you need to keep your eyes on the bulls head. It will tell you. Witch way to get your next step. And do your self a favor. Start ridding your horse with out a saddle. That way you use more balance and lege movement. Thadeous. Ganthner. 1978. World. 11th in the world of bull ridding. 12 th in the world team roping.

  5. you really have to wonder though whats going on behind the scenes. This is rodeo, if you think all the animals are being treated well and enjoy what they are doing you are a fool. Bull riding is dangerous, his son could die in this sport. I don't think thats something to be proud of.

  6. I hate how much he keeps throwing out the indian he has in him. I respect his culture, but he should be talking about new things rather then the same stuff.

  7. Before hint legs is rope that goes around belly and is attached underneath to the bull's or horse's genitals. In the moment of opening cage's gates one of "operators" that usually seats on fence behind, stretching rope causing enormous paint and frustration what makes animal's strikes it's hint legs up desperately trying to loose painful loop. Nice.

  8. This is the one sport I genuinely don't feel I can have an opinion on. I don't know enough about it despite working with large animals for the majority of my life.
    I don't know bovine body language well enough but i can't help but think some of these riders are missing a few screws xD

  9. Bulls are actually trained to buck ita not a painful proccess these animals are athletes and are treated as such they dont even start competition until 3 yrs then they get huge for a year at that

  10. People keep saying they don’t get hurt and that’s a damn lie also some bulls are drugged before the Match others hurt in the process they’re forced to do that sis that isn’t natural imagine u were forced to have someone that weighs a third of u on ur back and half to jump around and throw them off in order to get it over with and then eat them ahaha yes I’m vegan Incase u were asking a nd this is saddening I’m not saying ALL but most

  11. These bull riders deserve all the respect. I'm giving them all my respect as a US Marine. They risk their lives to make a living. They don't have contracts for healthcare or anything liberals demand. You even have vegans who are bull riders. Again. Bull riders deserve more respect for risking it all to make a living. Anti-bull riding Protesters need to see how these riders live. Many are Native American yet liberals are still willing to take away their way of life.

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