Riding with Confidence
One rep recalls the ups and downs of rough stock rodeo from his childhood
Michael Day doesn’t look the part of a cowboy. "I don’t wear - and haven’t worn - cowboy boots for years," he says. "I also played high school football, which is much more believable." Nevertheless, growing up in Texas, rough stock rodeo was very much a part of his life. "I still have the receipt for the first rope I bought when I was 12 years old!" he laughs.
Throughout his high school years, Day competed in rough stock rodeo competitions nearly every weekend, from September through June. So named "because of the rough nature of the events," rough stock rodeo involves bull riding, bareback bronc riding and saddlebronc riding. The good news for young boys is that the equipment is minimal and the sport is relatively inexpensive (an $8 entry fee per event). The bad news is, aside from a piece of rope or leather, there’s very little between the riders and the bull.
An eight-second joy ride
Rough stock rodeo is a competitive event, but not among the riders. "[As a rider], you are competing against the animal," explains Day. Agility, balance and strength are key, he points out. "You are constantly moving and trying to stay centered on the animal." And, though the ride may last a mere eight seconds, the challenge is huge.
"I only participated in the bull and bareback events," says Day. Whereas roping and barrel racing events require long hours of training, and participants generally must own a horse, "bull riding requires only a specially braided, 2-inch-wide rope (about $35), which is attached behind the bull’s front legs, he explains. "The rider wears spurs and boots, and holds onto the horse with his legs." He uses one arm for balance, and the rope is pulled taut and wrapped around the other hand. "The rider is almost tied in," says Day.
The bareback rigging - a hard piece of leather with a rawhide handle - is placed over the horse’s shoulders. The rider uses one hand to hold on to the handle and the other to help balance himself while the horse is bucking. "The rider’s hand fits into the handle very tightly," notes Day. "He wants to be glued in there!" Indeed, riders are custom fit for the leather rigging, he adds. "They wear a leather glove (coated with a chemical resin for better stick) and then have to work their hand into the rigging. It’s a very tight fit."
Because so many young boys participated in rough stock events, the competition was stiff, Day continues. "It is a two-part scoring system, with two judges," he explains. "One of the judges watches to see how well the cowboy maintains his balance on the animal, while the other [evaluates] how hard the animal is bucking or spinning. On a 100-point scale, a score of 70 is very good, he points out, especially if the rider gets an animal that is strong and difficult or spins around.
In spite of the agility and strength that rough stock rodeo demands, the training involved is less intensive than that for team roping events. "The only training I did was with a practice barrel," he says. "When I was about 13 years old, a neighbor friend and I constructed a practice bucking barrel, which was actually a 55-gallon oil barrel we had found. We [erected] two fence posts behind his garage and put four garage door springs on each corner of the barrel. The other ends of the springs were connected to the two posts and the back of his garage." The bouncing barrel simulated a bucking bull or horse, he explains.
Day was a member of his high school’s rough stock team, although "it was more like a club than a team," he recalls. "I can’t remember any aspect of [the events] I didn’t like. I enjoyed the sense of adventure in doing something that involved an element of danger. I played high school football as well, but never experienced the feeling I had after drawing a particularly mean bull or strong horse. It was rather euphoric after the event was over and I had escaped another episode."
The final ride
Unfortunately for Day, when he was 17 years old there was one episode that he did not escape unscathed. "I was competing in a bareback bronc event one Saturday night and drew a very large, extremely strong Clydesdale. Toward the end of the ride, I felt myself being tossed to the left, and my hand became lodged in the [leather] rigging. I got tangled underneath the horse and was stomped several times, breaking three or four ribs and puncturing my lung.
"It happened so fast, I don’t remember having time to be scared," he continues. "When I got up, I couldn’t breathe. And, as I walked back to the gate, I heard someone [exclaim], ‘My gosh, look at his back!’ I had gotten tangled up and stepped on by other bulls in the past, but I could tell this was more serious. I just didn’t realize how serious it was." Day spent the next 10 days in the hospital recovering. "After that, I decided that football was much safer, and I stuck with that!"
A sense of determination
Day never had any regrets about participating in rough stock events, not even during his hospital stay. "I love things that scare me to death," he admits, noting that it’s nice to be able to "say I’ve done it." Indeed, rough stock rodeo instilled in him a sense of determination and accomplishment, so meeting his sales goals at Nashville Dental has been an inviting challenge, he points out.
"I joined Nashville Dental in 2001," says Day. "I had been working in the banking industry for 12 years and had seen several mergers." With yet another merger on the horizon, he knew it was time for a career change. "I got my insurance license and began selling insurance," says Day. From there he moved on to car sales, but neither industry was the right fit for him. Not long after that, Day was talking to his dentist during a checkup. "I had been seeing this dentist since I was a child," he explains. "As a kid, I was always interested in devices and gadgets at the dentist’s office. So, I asked my dentist who he bought his supplies from." It so happened that one supplier was Nashville Dental. "That was it," says Day. "I pulled out a phone book and set up an interview with Nashville Dental. After one breakfast meeting, I was sold!" Soon afterward, he joined the company as a sales rep and has loved it ever since, he notes.
"I still look back on [my rough stock rodeo] days with a sense of pride that I accomplished something that many people would never try," Day continues. "It was a wonderful time in my life, and I never regretted doing it. Whenever I am discouraged or having a rough day [in sales], I often think, ‘if I can ride an 1,800-pound bull, surely I can get through this."
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