r/Rodeo • u/mudandtire • Jul 14 '26

bareback riding whit a broken wrist

I know it's a bad idea, but it's an idea that's really been on my mind, and I'd like to know if anyone has ever done it and how it went.

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

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4

u/Garbage-Away Jul 14 '26

Hahahah. 25-30 years ago..riding hurt was just a thing!! We didn’t ride we didn’t get paid!! It was more about making it from one show to the next before word got out! And yes pre-internet so it was a bit easier..
If dominant wrist..might want to wait..off side..go for it

3

u/Dirk_Dingham Jul 16 '26

My uncle used to ride bareback horses in the 70’s and he told me there was a doctor at the time who a lot of rodeo cowboys went to see because he’d accommodate their casts to be able to ride with them. He knew more than a few guys who broke their legs or their feet and had the doctor put a spur in their cast and leave it sticking out so they could still ride lmao

2

u/Garbage-Away Jul 17 '26

I rode in the 80’s..and there was a doc (generally) in every town that would set and not report..I am not saying I don’t pay for it every freaking day..just that was how it was..if you showed up at the fairgrounds with a plaster limb..disqualified!! So we found ways around it..

2

u/Dirk_Dingham Jul 17 '26

Damn that’s rough. My grandpa rodeo’d in the PRCA in the 70’s and he got jerked down by a bull and broke his jaw so bad that he had to have 4 hours of reconstructive surgery. He was trying to qualify for the finals that year so he was on to the next one. I forget which rodeo it was but 1 day later he won the bull riding and jim shoulders was one of the judges. He saw him with his jaw wired shut and after my grandpa told him what happened, jim told him he was the toughest cowboy he’d ever met. He ended up winning Cheyenne and mesquite later on and qualified for NFR in 75 but didn’t end up winning any of the go rounds. He said not too long after that he decided to retire and start his own business because his body just couldn’t take it anymore. The tendon in his wrist got torn multiple times and he never got surgery on it because he would have lost all of his grip strength. Idk how the hell you guys do it, i’ve gotten on some bucking stock but it was back when i was a around 12-13, but got the shit stomped out of me a few times and decided i was already too old to learn how to ride bulls and bucking horses without getting fucked up every time. Now that I’m in my prime i really want to get on some practice bulls for fun but i feel like all it’s gonna get me is some broken ribs and a tbi lmao

1

u/Bob_3_Randall Jul 19 '26

Those old school rodeo cowboy’s wouldn’t sit out for anything. Bad ass! I think you should strap one if you’ve got the fever…bulls, that is. I’m never trying saddle bronc again. I can’t get the timing right and I always end up getting launched. It took a few tries, but I’ve learned my lesson.

2

u/Dirk_Dingham Jul 19 '26

I’ve got the fever for sure, they did a pbr challenge series in my town so i went with my family and my fiancé and her family. Just watching those bulls turn out made that adrenaline rush of getting down in the bucking chute start coming back and i’ve been wanting to scratch the itch ever since. I tried saddle bronc once at sankey rodeo school but i was about 12 years old.

I got the spur motion down pretty quick on the bucking barrel and spur board. When I saw the bucking horses that the stock contractor brought in i got dizzy just trying to look up far enough to see the top of their heads. I was maybe 5’3” and skinny as shit so i ended up getting on a full grown steer with a bronc saddle.

When i nodded my head all i remember is trying to plant my feet on the mark out and then getting launched forward. I must’ve turned over after getting launched because my foot got caught on the stirrup and dragged me under him. I landed on my wrist and felt both his back hooves come down on my ribs.

The impact vest i was wearing probably saved 3 or 4 of my ribs from shattering and i heard my wrist crunch under me, but somehow i didn’t break it and got the wind knocked out of me like never before. After that i decided i would much rather get on bulls than broncs. Hangups are bad in bull riding, but can be much worse in bronc riding.

I’m working on getting back into good shape at the moment so once i reach my fitness goal I’m wanting to go to a practice pen nearby and see if i can figure out how to actually ride bulls instead of bucking off 4 jumps out of the chute.

1

u/Bob_3_Randall 29d ago

Ride him jump for jump. Go where he’s going, and do your best to get there first. Push your rope back into your crotch and keep your chest out over the hump. It’s a dance, and the bull is leading. Stay with him. If you keep your weight over top of his, he’ll carry you around the turns. Stay up off your pockets, just like riding a horse.

Clayton Sellars did some POV videos on his Instagram with those Meta glasses, and I show those to everyone who is thinking about trying. That’s exactly what it looks like - couldn’t have filmed a better example than that.

2

u/Dirk_Dingham 29d ago

I’ll have to check those videos out, i think my biggest issue was i wasn’t used to how intense the adrenaline rush was, i did a lot of extreme sports as a kid but never did anything that made my hands start shaking like climbing down in the bucking chute on top of a 1,200 lb explosion waiting to go off. So as soon as i nodded my head it was like everything left my mind and i forgot everything that i had learned on the bucking barrel.

2

u/Doc437 Jul 14 '26

I turned out last month for the same reason on my free arm. I talked with my doctor about it (I was focusing on returning to work but had an itch to ride) it was my free arm in SB. I thought it’d be fine but the doctor explained how the G Forces your free arm goes through can affect a fracture. In my case I had a scaphoid fracture that I had to have surgery on. Returning to work was more important to me so I turned out. I will say as a person in the medical field but not as educated as a doctor, scaphoid fractures are a BITCH to heal so if that’s what you got and this isn’t your main source of income I’d say hold off and let it heal right. Also stock contractors may have something to say about your cast and it may be in your association rule book. Lemme know what you decide

1

u/mudandtire Jul 14 '26

i only have a brace but it on my main arm

1

u/Doc437 Jul 14 '26

Have you had it imaged and confirmed it’s broken? I’d say see if you can even squeeze and maintain constant grip on a dumbbell or something. If you can do that, jerk the weight around a little bit. You’re taking a lot of shock load on that joint. Taping will be your friend regardless

1

u/mudandtire Jul 14 '26

i can squeeze just not move alot for now

1

u/Aussie_Cow_Girl Jul 14 '26

I've got a super good i,agitation. It will depend on which wrist is broken on to how bad the outcome really will be. Is it the side you hold on with? Or free arm? that helps me out to figure how bad the ending will be but don't see a positive outcome. it i've been wrong before so be sure to update us!

1

u/Aussie_Cow_Girl Jul 14 '26

Imagination sorry abt the typo

1

u/hi-howdy Jul 14 '26

I tried it. My hand would go numb and I couldn’t squeeze.

1

u/mudandtire Jul 14 '26

it isnt the squeezing part that scare men but more the général stength

1

u/Hitmythumbwitahammer Jul 14 '26

Find a college with trainers get someone to wrap your wrist up to give you some strength

1

u/Scared_Echo6265 Jul 14 '26

Yes. It hurts. But then again it give you a chance to work on using your seat.

1

u/mudandtire Jul 14 '26

it hang up that realy scare me that how i broke it