bull riding

PBR Round 2!

The night started out great and only proved to get better.

First, one of the PBR fangirls I know from Twitter, who also coincidentally reads my books, found me at the arena and we got to meet in person. Then Froggy, one of my old time fans from way back before I was writing cowboy books, came to the PBR event too! I’ve converted her and now she is a bull riding lover as well. AND she was sporting one of my Let’s Buck stickers. (See pic below)

We sold a ton of raffle tickets to benefit the Rider’s Relief Fund (a not for profit which assists injured bull riders) then I was free to find my seat.

Here’s the thing about Mohegan Sun Arena. The sitemap is a bit deceiving and it wasn’t until I was ushered to my seat that I realized I was 1 seat back from the dirt! If I was any closer I would have been sitting in one of the judge’s laps. My proximity to the action was made very apparent when the first bull out kicked dirt in my face. I was willing to put up with that for the rest of the night just to be that close to the action, though I was sizing up the height and strength of the metal rails which were the only thing between me and the bulls, but luckily, that was the only time dirt was sent flying my way. The rest of the night was just action-packed fun!

So today, back to the arena for the 3rd and final round. I’ll be volunteering at the RRF booth again AND I will be donating a Cat Johnson Cowboy Lover’s gift bag packed full of my Let’s Buck items and a signed copy of Unridden. This will be auctioned off at the final in Vegas to benefit the Rider’s Relief Fund.

Watch on TV today. Maybe you’ll see me!

bull riding

Bulls, Sh*t and More!

So I’m here at Mohegan Sun Casino, where you walk past the slot machines and Blackjack tables and into an arena filled with sand, bulls and cowboys. Quite the surreal sight for Connecticut but tons of fun. Last night was the opening night event. My seat was just 2 away from the pens where they hold the bulls for the competition. This morning, sunny but brisk, I got to tour the bull housing area, actually one of the covered parking structures. Though the railings holding these beasts in looked a little tentative to me, no one made a break for it and I even got to scratch one on his nose (through the rails, I’m not crazy or stupid!).

My tour was given by stock manager Cody Lambert and stock contractor Chad Berger. I got to see some of the big name bulls. Above I believe is Big Tex, Slapdown and Little Yellow Jacket Jr., looking bored to see us. As opposed to some of their comrades who warily kept a very safe distance from the crowd tiptoeing through the manure-strewn aisle between the pens. Only one of the bulls pictured below (Myspace-the black one on the right) dared cross the invisible line drawn in the sand and let us pet him. The rest stood like statues for the entire tour.

After the tour we had lunch at Bubba’s BBQ. Fabulous and we sat next to some of biggest names in the PBR. I got brave and gave them my LET’S BUCK stickers. They looked at me like I had 3 heads so yeah, I feel like an idiot. Sigh…lesson learned.

Let's Buck

Anyway…tonight I volunteer again at the Rider’s Relief Fund booth on the concourse outside the arena. We are selling chances to win VIP Chute Seats to benefit this very worthy not for profit. Then later more bull riding. And tomorrow, we do it again for the final event here in Uncasville.