Bull riding mania arrives in Coshocton

COSHOCTON — Once the gate is open and the bull is released, a bull rider has to stay on for eight seconds. After eight seconds, they get a score. If they fall before eight seconds, they get nothing.

The trick, according to Zach Parker, a 16-year-old bull rider from Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, is to move with the bull. And not to think.

"It's kind of like an extreme form of dancing," he said. "You're making a counter move to whatever it does."

Learning how to move like that on top of an animal trying to throw you off (or trample you) takes practice. Lots of practice. Parker has been riding bulls for six years, since he was 10 years old. He rides in rodeos across the Midwest, but Saturday night was his first time riding at the Coshocton County Fair during the A-Bar Rodeo's Bull Mania.

Riders came from across the state. Some came because it's something they love to do while holding down another job; others, like Parker, came because this is what they want to do professionally.

"It's like no other sport," he said. "It's not a hobby. It's my life."

Parker's advice to those who are thinking they might want to try bull riding is simple: don't. If it's not something a person wants to take seriously and work hard and practice, then the sport isn't worth it.

"I could get hurt every time I get on a practice bull," he said.

Parker's father, who also was at the fair Saturday, said he initially didn't want his son to ride bulls. Chris Parker is proud of how hard his son works now, but he said he still has a letter from his son from six years ago, promising he would ride only steer.

"He broke that promise," he said, laughing.

And just as Parker has spent nearly half his life training to ride bulls, the bulls have spent almost their entire lives training to be ridden. Jimmie Keirns, who co-owns a farm just outside of Frazeysburg called Single Shot Bucking Bulls, spent 17 years riding bulls and now raises them.

"I know what these boys are looking for," he said about the riders. "I try to raise the bulls they want to be on."

At 1 year old, Keirns fits the young bull with a dummy rider and trains it to get used to the chutes and the rodeo atmosphere. As it is with riders, he said you can just tell when a bull would be good for the rodeo.

"They've either got it or they don't," he said.

Three of his bulls were at Coshocton County Fair on Saturday night. He likes to bring them to local rodeos when he can, and it's also one way to stay in touch with the rodeo culture.

"This is my life," he said. "This is all I've known."

ksnyder2@gannett.com

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Twitter: @KL_Snyder

Sunday's Coshocton County Fair schedule

8 a.m.: Pony pull/horse pull, Grandstands

9 a.m.: Open class beef show, Dairy Barn arena

9 a.m.: Open llama show, Hunter arena

1 p.m.: Harness racing, Grandstands

8 p.m.: Aaron Tippin concert, Grandstands