This time around, Parker Breding knew what that sonuvagun was gonna do.
They call the bull Gatekeeper. Fitting, it seems. Last eight seconds, and gain entry into the Promised Land.
When they last met last August in Preston, Idaho, Gatekeeper scored the victory, a knockout punch in the fourth round, 3.42 seconds, to be exact. He swung right, swung right and swung right again, and Breding flew.
So on a sunny Thursday afternoon at the third go-round of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, Breding let Gatekeeper tire himself out in the chutes, took him “laying down” this time.
Gatekeeper again burst out of gate and twisted right, only Breding felt it coming, and he held on — two seconds, four seconds, six seconds, eight seconds, relief — and just like that, faster than he could think of any more strategy, Breding had an 85-point ride. Coming off a fourth-place finish in the semifinals of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and headed later in the night to Scottsdale for yet another performance, he beamed.
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This happens only every so often. In nearly 300 professional rides, Breding has had just over a dozen rematches.
That makes it extra tasty when he learns he’ll be atop Gatekeeper. Tastier when he has him beat. Tastiest because it’s Tucson.
“This was extra nice, because I’ve never done well in Tucson before,” Breding said. “This is my third year here, and it always seems to go bad. I had it in my mind today, ‘I am not gonna let go of this bull.’ ”
In today’s PRCA, even if a rider has never actually met a bull before, he’s given enough advance warning to learn about him. It’s like online dating. Match.com for bull riders. E-Farmony?
With the advantage of video and research, riders can come to know a bull’s tendencies.
“It’s a big advantage knowing them,” said Scottie Knapp, who used his familiarity with Slim Chance to score a go-round high of 87. “You know what he’s gonna do, his tricks, his average scores, his average markers, and you can kind of put two-and-two together. You can come up with a game plan, which is definitely an advantage. Before they didn’t have none of this. It was luck of the draw, go on, strap up and ride.”
That was bull riding the way Breding’s father, Scott, knew it. Scott Breding was a five-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and got to know bull after bull, including the baddest of them all, Bodacious, who took Scott on one wild ride at the 1995 NFR. After Bodacious obliterated the face of world champion Tuff Hedeman with a head butt, Scott knew he had to protect himself. He wore a hockey mask. Didn’t work. Bodacious again landed a heavy blow, breaking Breding’s nose, knocking him out cold, busting up his eye sockets.
Know that term, familiarity breeds contempt? Makes sense when you’re talking bulls.
“It’s better to not really care what the bull is gonna do, because then you’re going off your abilities and reactions,” Breding said. “I’ve always had this thing where I look him up, try to find videos of him. I’m glad I’ve been on (Gatekeeper) before. I kinda knew what to expect.”
Of course, just because Breding ended up on his feet and in good shape doesn’t mean he came away unscathed. This is rodeo, after all.
Minutes after he’s competed, surviving to ride yet another day, busting a familiar bull, Breding says he feels fine. He’s been doing this so long that bumps and bruises are tolerable. Breaks are a pain, and sprains are a plague, but not enough to keep him out of an event.
“My adrenaline is still going, but I have a torn meniscus in my left knee, so here in about 20 minutes, I’ll probably be limping again,” he said. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
