| The Ride | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Meredith Danluck |
| Cinematography | Jake Burghart |
| Music by | The Weight |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Ride is a documentary on professional bull riding. [1] It was produced by Vice Media and directed by Meredith Danluck, after originally being created for VBS.tv. It premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2010.
With event footage, bull riding, pyrotechnics, and big arena rock and roll, The Ride goes through the lives of professional cowboys [2] on the Professional Bull Riders' circuit. The circuit is a tour of the top 45 bull riders in the world, consisting of roughly 32 stops a year around the US. The winner of the world title in Vegas also wins a million dollars. [3]
Filmed in 2008, it has an original score by Brooklyn band The Weight. Director Meredith Danluck and DP Jake Burghart both previously worked on the VBS.tv showcase entitled Toxic Garbage Island. It was produced by VICE Films [4] as a presentation of a Jeff Yapp production. [5]
It premiered in March 2010 at the SXSW Film Festival. [2] According to a review in the Austinist , "People are the soul of a well-told story and Danluck is enamored with her down-home characters at the expense of a deeper look at the sport, its history and rules. Danluck’s not-quite-novel glimpses into rural southern culture eclipse the beautifully shot ringside action. She’s hooked on the rugged romance of cowboydom, from cattle to Coors, and less transfixed by the intricacies that lead these people into the bull’s eye." [6]
Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, Steer roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.
Lane Clyde Frost was an American professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was the 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider. He was also the only rider to score qualified rides on Red Rock, the 1987 PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year. Frost sustained severe injuries at the 1989 Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo when the bull Takin' Care of Business struck him after the ride, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Bodacious #J-31 was an American bucking bull. He was known throughout the rodeo world as "the world's most dangerous bull". He was also known as "the greatest bull ever to buck". During his rodeo career, he was the 1994 and 1995 Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) Bucking Bull of the Year, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) World Champion Bull. He and Bruiser are the only bulls who have won bucking bull world championship titles in both organizations. Bodacious is most well known for his serious injury to bull riding icon Tuff Hedeman. Not long after, Bodacious also seriously injured Scott Breding. His owner, Sammy Andrews, then retired Bodacious. In 1999, Bodacious was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, and in 2017 into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. In 2019, the PBR inducted Bodacious into the Brand of Honor, which is part of the PBR's Heroes and Legends Celebration, the PBR's unique way of honoring outstanding individuals and livestock in the sport of rodeo.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
8 Seconds is a 1994 American contemporary Western biographical drama film directed by John G. Avildsen. Its title refers to the length of time a bull rider is required to stay on for a ride to be scored. The film stars Luke Perry as American rodeo legend Lane Frost and focuses on his life and career as a bull riding champion. It also features Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman, and Red Mitchell as Cody Lambert.
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization headquartered in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. It is the largest bull riding league in the world, sanctioning hundreds of events every year in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia. Over 500 bull riders from said countries, as well as others hold PBR memberships.
Adriano Silva Morães is a Brazilian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He was one of the leading bull riders in the world from the mid-1990s to 2000s, with two titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and three Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world titles to his credit.
James Burton "J.B." Mauney is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. At the very beginning of his career, he rode in both the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Championship Bull Riding (CBR) circuits, before deciding to ride full-time in the PBR in early 2006. He would win the PBR Rookie of the Year title that same year and would be a top contestant in said organization for several years; eventually winning the PBR world championship in 2013 and 2015. During the last few years of his career, he competed full-time in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He is considered one of the greatest bull riders of his generation.
Michael "Mike" Lee is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He was the 2004 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) PBR World Champion. He competed consistently in said organization from 2001 through 2017. However, he announced his retirement from the PBR in November 2017. He then competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Championship Bull Riding (CBR), and Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBR) circuits, but later mainly rode in regional semi-professional bull riding organizations for the next five years. In the summer of 2022, he announced on his Instagram page his return to the PBR.
Kasey Hayes is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed on the Professional Bull Riders (PBR)'s Built Ford Tough Series tour. He is one of the few riders to come from the PBR’s minor league series and win his very first premier series event that same weekend. Hayes also briefly competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and Championship Bull Riding (CBR) circuits. After suffering a major head injury early in his career, Hayes began riding with a protective face mask underneath his cowboy hat. However, by 2010, he was riding with a full helmet. He qualified for the CBR World Finals in 2005 and the PBR World Finals from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2016. He retired from professional bull riding after the 2016 PBR season with pride. Hayes currently resides in Liberal, Kansas.
Cord Jarret McCoy is an American professional rodeo stock contractor and producer and former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He is best known as the 2nd-place finisher on The Amazing Race 16. Jet and Cord returned to compete in the eighteenth season of The Amazing Race, finishing in 6th Place. Jet and Cord returned for The Amazing Race 24 also known as "The Amazing Race All-Stars" finishing in 5th place. Since 2022, Cord has been the head coach of the Oklahoma Freedom during the PBR Team Series season.
Warren Granger "Freckles" Brown was a hall of fame American rodeo cowboy from Wheatland, Wyoming. His career spanned from 1937 to 1974, competing in bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, team roping, and steer wrestling. He was the World Bull Riding Champion in 1962. Brown was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for bull riding in 1979. He was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Bull Riding Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2015. Brown was most famous for riding Tornado, who had an undefeated record of 220 riders. Brown was also a close friend and mentor of Lane Frost.
Championship Bull Riding, Inc. (CBR) was a professional bull riding organization that was based in Weatherford, Texas, United States.
Shane Proctor is an American professional rodeo cowboy. He is the 2011 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world champion bull rider.
Cole Elshere is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in saddle bronc riding. He qualified for the 2012, 2013, ,2014 and 2020 National Finals Rodeo.
Bonner Bolton is an American fashion model and former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He won the 2007 world championship for the now-defunct Championship Bull Riding (CBR) organization. He also competed in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuits. He placed fourth at the PBR World Finals in 2015. He performed as a stunt double for Scott Eastwood in the movie The Longest Ride, being the only one of four doubles who managed to make a virtually eight-second ride on the PBR top ranked bull Rango for an ending scene. His bull riding career was cut short by a neck injury sustained during a dismount from a bull he had just finished making an 8-second ride on at a PBR Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) event in January 2016. He sustained a break to his C-2 vertebra. Bolton was temporarily paralyzed, but made a full recovery. The parent company, IMG, of the PBR made an offer to contract him as a fashion model in May 2016. Bolton now works steadily as a fashion model.
Miniature bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a youth rider getting on a miniature bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal attempts to buck off the rider. It is bull riding on a smaller scale, as both the bull and the rider are smaller than in professional rodeo. All competitors are under age 18.
Oscar #16 was a ProRodeo Hall of Fame bucking bull. The hall of fame inducted Oscar in its 1979 inaugural class of inductees. To date, only seven bulls have been inducted, which is the highest honor a bucking bull can receive in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The California Rodeo Salinas inducted Oscar into its hall of fame in 2013. In 2018, the Bull Riding Hall of Fame inducted Oscar. In over 300 attempts, only eight bull riders made qualified rides of the requisite eight seconds on Oscar. Eight-time world champion bull rider Don Gay made the highest-scored ride on him at the time, earning 97 points, just 3 points short of a perfect score. Oscar's owners retired him in 1979 as a living exhibit to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He remained at the hall until his death in 1983.
