Bull Riding: Helmet Required?
My education on Texas continues.
We flew to Houston for the Livestock and Rodeo Show for a story on cowboys and helmets– more bull riders are wearing them. I can imagine the stigma, but watch one round of bull riding and you wonder why everyone’s not wearing them. Scratch that. Watch one round of bull riding and you wonder why on earth anyone would get on top of a bull without full body armor. We talked to two top bull riders, one who rides with a helmet, one who doesn’t.
Last year’s world champ Wesley Silcox doesn’t. He says he’s tried them on before and feels like it hurt his performance. One of the guys who patches up the bullriders, Dale Kiecke of Justin Sports Medicine, says he hears that sort of thing all the time. In a sport where split decisions can mean life or death, having a helmet that’s too heavy, affects balance, blocks peripheral vision or– just plain doesn’t feel right– won’t work. Kiecke and his team are doing research that would help build a better helmet. They’ve outfitted riders with devices that clock the g-forces riders sustain when they’re jerked back and forth on the bull. They’ve also started a database to track injuries.
The need for a helmet is obvious. The other rider we interviewed, BJ Schumacher, the 2006 World Champ, does wear a helmet. A bad ride convinced him of the necessity. Schumacher says, “I had a bull stick his horn in my mouth, my teeth went into my nose and it was a bad deal, yeah.” He says this with about as much nonchalance as I might tick off what’s on my grocery list. But calm or not, since that bad ride, Schumacher wears a hockey helmet that he says has already protected his face and head in a few close calls with a bull.
There’s some talk that helmets might be required in bull riding, but most guess that won’t happen any time soon. On the night we watched, of the ten bull riders competing, only two wore helmets. But it wasn’t so long ago that the safety vests most riders don today– were uncommon. As helmet technology improves, more riders might try them on for size and find them as essential as a cowboy hat.
You can see Kris Gutierrez’s full story on rodeo helmets tonight on Fox Report.
Maggie Lineback is a field producer in FNC’s Southwest Bureau. Based in
Dallas, she has been on a variety of stories, covering everything from
shuttle launches, to illegal immigration, to destructive hurricanes. 
Maggie, I rode Bulls for 14 years and yes it can be dangerous but I do not believe that helmets are the answer. I never rode with the vests as they came about after I stopped riding but they also seem to me to be restrictive and heavy when trying to scramble to avoid getting hit by a Bull. I guess if they want to be safe they should take up needle point. Wait, they might get poked. Rodeo is a celebration of a bygone era that should not be watered down because injuries can happen. Guess what no matter what you do injuries will happen. It is sad to see the sport I love get changed so much.
Bill
Bill- I have to tell you– I laughed so hard when I read the part about needlepoint. To be honest, I don’t know how you guys do it, helmets or not. I hope you don’t feel too sad because it seemed like all the guys we talked to had a lot of heart.
Maggie, I am 62 years old and have seen the rodeo scene change from old to new. If bull riders want to wear vests or helmets or full body armor, it should be their choice…not mandated. We are losing our freedom of choice more and more every year. Yes, bull riding is dangerous as are so many other things in life. As the previous commentor stated…have a huge sneeze while working needle point and you could lose an eye!
Billy B
It seems like that’s where they’ve left it– if you want to wear a helmet, that’s fine but if not, that’s ok too. For now. And I will definitely stay away from the needlepoint!
Maggie,I grew up working on ranches in central and west Texas and have rode many young horses (broncs) and have rode a few bulls although I never was able to actually Rodeo. I think we all know we would probably be better off with a helmet and vest. The vest is not really a problem, but the helmet for me would take some getting used to. I readily concede it would prevent a lot of head injuries as we see regularly in rodeo and the PBR.
Gary C.
What amazed me was the doctor we talked to who said they were actually studying the “g” forces that the riders are under. It didn’t even dawn on me that the impact could be so great until I actually saw some of the riding and saw those guys getting really rocked back and forth. Just watching it made me want to take a couple aspirin.
You completely miss the entire point of this (and many other endeavors). The whole point is to stay on the bull and not fall off! By attempting to make it safe to the point of stupid is just that - S-T-U-P-I-D. If you have all this “protection” why not fall off? Then again, why ride the bull? Many of us baby boomer’s are wondering how we survived anything without all this so called “safety”. Oh I know how, we knew things were dangerous and tried like heck to avoid getting hurt by being damn good or by not doing it. Hey, now there’s a concept.
Edwin J
Well once again someone is trying to tell us what to do. Well I say the hell with that people know bull riding is dangerous and if they want to do it then that is there choice! Dont try and tell them they will or will not wear some helmet. Politcal Correctness is ruining the nation. May God help us all.
I think it’s definitely a voluntary thing– I don’t think they’re trying to force it on anybody, but there seem to be more people trying the helmets.
Maggie, “bull riding has absolutely nothing to do with the business of cattle ranching”. Those were the words of my father. I’m 53, and I’ve used horses through the years for the business of raising cattle. I’ve ridden some hard to ride horses, roped cattle big and small, wrestled some smaller ones to the ground. All work related. In the only rodeo I participated in, I rode a bull. Young, and wanting to prove how tough I was, I decided to give it a try. I survived with a few bruises, but was told the right rear hoof narrowly missed coming down on my skull while down on the ground. I decided right then that ol’ dad was right again. Bull riding is somewhat of a gladiator sport, but I don’t feel it should be outlawed. I just think people should only INTENTIONALLY risk life and/or limb to an extreme when a life is in danger.
Well, I have to admit, when we covered the rodeo, I hadn’t seen one before and I found it really interesting to watch.