Stephen Montoya
Cody Lambert, right, during a PBR opening press conference on Thursday at Dickies Arena.
In essence, the sport of bull riding is based on a very simple premise.
A rider holds on for dear life while a very annoyed animal weighing more than 1,500 pounds — probably closer to 1,800 pounds — does its best to throw that cowboy off.
More like sending him flying as if he were a tumbleweed in a West Texas gust.
We have all seen it, but not many can say they have experienced it, and even fewer can say they were good at it. Thirty years ago, before the invention of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), most would-be bull-riding legends would have to start anew in the mid-to-later part of their lives, after their careers.
PBR founder Cody Lambert and cohorts believed a professional bull riding circuit could present the sport in a better way as an event unto itself. Bull riding at rodeos was already a popular event with fans — wacky, daredevil clowns and all — it traditionally being the last event at rodeos because it’s the most exciting.
But it was this issue with competitors making a living — or not being able to because of injuries and other issues — that Lambert says the PBR was created.
“Bull riders have the most dangerous job in rodeo, and they have the shortest careers in rodeo,” Lambert says. “This got us thinking about the young guys and how they can make the most of their careers.”
The PBR brings its highly anticipated 10-day World Finals festival to Dickies Arena, beginning Friday. Forty of the world’s best bull riders will duke it out through eight rounds of competition as one of the most ferocious title races in PBR history concludes.
The first three rounds of the World Finals will be conducted this weekend. The final four rounds will be conducted next weekend.
However, in addition to the World Finals — the PBR’s crown jewel — dozens of events will be held throughout the week, including: ABBI American Heritage Futurity, UBF Midnight Bullfights, PBR World Finals Fan Zone and Concert Series, Miniature Bull Riders Team Challenge Series, and more.
It is being touted by promoters as the “greatest party to ever come to the Lone Star State.”
A purse valued at more than $2.7 million will be up for grabs.
Daylon Swearingen is the defending champion, but he did not qualify for the finals. Kaique Pacheco, runner-up a year ago, enters 74 points ahead of Jose Vitor Leme, the back-to-back champion in 2020-21. Both are Brazilian.
“Most of these guys spent their youth learning how to be great bull riders, so their skill sets were limited,” Lambert continues on the subject at hand — how this all got started. “This was tough because when they couldn’t physically do it anymore, they had to start at the bottom doing something else and learn another trade.”
And their bodies don’t work like they used to either after taking on these beasts for years.
Professional athletes in other sports, who had devoted themselves to their craft for the same amount of time, had earned enough money to make the transition into retirement easier.
“These athletes made more money, bottom line, and we wanted that and also to expose this sport to more people.”
Lambert is also known for being the creator of the protective vest that professional bull riders have been required to wear for many years after the death of his friend and rodeo legend Lane Frost at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1989.
A few years later the PBR was formed with its first-ever event taking place right here in Cowtown, circa 1993. Today, the PBR is considered one of the most significant events in Western sports.
Lambert won the circuit’s first event.
“It’s an easy sport for fans to understand,” Lambert says. “It’s scary, it’s physical, and very hard to do.”