Bull Riding - 4

This is the last set of Gene Ratliff's bull ride. I am hoping that 9 photos don't kill your e-mail. I feel like I have dragged this ride out long enough. I probably should have started this series with a note that Gene appeared to be OK afterwards. He walked away from this ride with a limp and less breath in his lungs.

The last photo yesterday had the bull starting to turn into the cowboy. The photos today show what happened in the next second or so. From my first photo of this ride to the last, the time stamps changed just 7 seconds during which time I took 68 photos of this ride. To get a score for riding a bull, you have to stay on it for 8 seconds.

I'm guessing these cowboys wear chest protection in addition to the helmet but Gene takes a couple of BIG hits to his chest that throw him around like a ragdoll. In the first few photos today, you can see just how high he was thrown by looking at the height of his hips - and this is mitigated due to his hand still attached to the bull.

The sixth photo is the first one I have of his hand finally free (sorry for the butt-shot). The bull takes one more big shot at him as a going away present knocking Gene many feet back onto the ground while the clowns divert the bull's attention away from Gene.

The judge awarded him another ride due to the bull buckling to its knees early in the ride. Gene looked at the announcer and says he will take it (we did not see any of the re-rides). People that do this sport are just made different.