Rodeos in the Wild East? Who knew?

Published in the Post-Star (G1)
7/20/06

Most of the time, the only thing Josh Mead wrangles are packages, but he's a cowboy at heart.

The slim, gentle-eyed 23-year-old from Clifton Park is a UPS worker by day. But at least one night a week, he's an amateur bull rider at the Double M Western Rodeo in Ballston Spa.

"I'm a rodeo cowboy. I mean, I do live on a farm, but that doesn't make me any more of a cowboy," he said. "It's not about that. It's all a test of skills, and how strong a person you are."

He certainly looked the part last Friday night, wearing a worn plaid shirt unbuttoned at the top, jeans, leather chaps, tall boots with silver spurs, and a big, classic cowboy hat.

Of course, that described pretty much all the guys in the herd.

Eric Berghammer, a 35-year-old motorcycle parts salesman from Scotia, was similarly decked out as he and Mead lounged on a picnic table and waited for the rodeo to start. Berghammer's 10-year-old son roamed nearby, scowling beneath his black cowboy hat like a miniature John Wayne.

They were soon joined by Steve Dobbs, another bull-riding, hat-wearing, rodeo cowboy.

"Cowboys aren't born, they're made," Dobbs declared. "When I was a kid ... I saw the rodeo on TV one day, and said, 'That's what I want to do.'"

Mead explained that any adult who pays the $40 entry fee and has appropriate "Western attire" can ride the bulls at the Double M. Most nights, about 20 or 25 guys take the challenge.

The hats usually fly off as soon as the bucking begins, but the crowd likes them. So do the girls.

"I don't think of myself as a tough guy, but I guess that's the image that goes with bull riding," Mead said.

Berghammer nodded.

"A lot of chicks are into that," he added.

Since joining the rodeo circut about five years ago, Mead has learned just how rough-and-tumble a cowboy's life can be.

"It's dangerous, yeah. I broke my wrist two years in a row, and had to get pins in it and a bone graft," he said. "But if you love something enough, you keep doing it."

To an outsider, bull riding is a perplexing sport. These guys actually pay for the chance to straddle an angry animal that could crush, skewer or trample them.

"Yeah, it's pretty much the only sport where you have to pay to play," Berghammer said with a rueful chuckle.

The riders' only potential reward is a few hundred dollars. Most of the time, they go home empty-handed, bested by the beasts in less than eight seconds.

And (no offense, pardners), it's not like they're saving the world from destruction by this act of self-sacrifice. In fact, the only reason the bulls are angry in the first place is because they have a rope around their flanks and a person on top of them.

Mead gets this.

"I wouldn't want somebody on my back, either," he said, grinning. "But there's a misconception that the rodeo is cruelty to animals. The bulls are well taken care of. They know they have a job to do, and they're proud of it."

And in the end, there's one simple reason these guys put up with so much bull. It's the same reason other people jump out of planes, ski down glaciers or drive racecars.

"It's the rush," Mead said. "It's like an addiction. But a good one."

IF YOU GO
Bull riding and other events take place at several rodeos in the region throughout the summer.
Double M Western Rodeo, Ballston Spa 8 p.m. Fridays, $15/$10 at gate. 885-9543 or www.doublemwestern.com/rodeo.html

Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Lake Luzerne 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, $14/$9 at gate. 696-2421 or www.paintedponyrodeo.com

Pond Hill Ranch Pro Rodeo, Castleton, Vt., 8 p.m. Saturdays, $10/$5 at gate. 468-2449 or www.pondhillranch.com

RODEO LINGO:
Bullrope: Braided rope wrapped around the bull and held onto with one hand by riders.
Chute: Gated pen where a rider gets on a bull right before it is released into the arena.
Cover: To stay on a bull for the full eight-second period.
Rank: Measure of how ornery a particular bull tends to be. Higher ranks bring higher scores for riders who can cover them.
Rosin: Sticky substance placed on bullrope to improve riders' grip.
Roughstock: Rodeo events which depend on endurance rather than speed, like bullriding and bareback bronc riding.