Cowboy Up! by Jan Scarbrough

When I wrote Kentucky Cowboy, I researched the Professional Bull Riders and became a fan. Several years ago, my husband and I attended the Bass Pro Chute Out, in Louisville, KY, at the KFC Yum! Center.

 

Instead of a basketball court or the stage where Fleetwood Mac performed a few nights earlier, the floor was covered with dirt, chutes, pyrotechnics, determined cowboys and even more determined bulls. A bovine aroma permeated the arena and hard rock and country music blared loudly.

 

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Seriously. We saw Bushwacker, the 2011 World Champion Bull, buck one of the top riders in the world off his back. The bull scored 48.25 points out of 50. Asteroid, another contender for champion bull, bucked off a top rider.

 

Bulls won most of the time, but cowboys scored a few 8 second rides. There were only nine qualified rides in each of the two long rounds ― a total of 18-for-70 ― and one in the final round.

 

Tennessee native Cody Nance earned his first Built Ford Tough Series win of 2013. Nance rode Rock & Roll for 86.5 points and was the lone rider to cover all three bulls at the KFC Yum! Center.

Here’s an excerpt From Kentucky Cowboy 

 

This was the championship round. After seven rounds in a period of two weeks, he and a Brazilian cowboy were stalemated. Either one could win the finals with a high score. But to win it all, the world title and the million bucks, all Judd had to do was stick on the back of the last bull for eight seconds. His score didn’t matter.

 

He had drawn Bad to the Bone.

 

Sweat coated his upper lip. It would be the longest eight seconds in his life. He had put himself in a fix by getting bucked off twice in the first seven rounds. He had lost focus. Forgot to concentrate. Now everything was riding on his final effort. His effort, his injuries this past year, and the accumulation of so many points over the whole season would mean nothing if he didn’t ride this ornery bull one more time.

 

“You’re up, Romeo.”

 

Judd jerked a quick nod. He didn’t say a word, just jammed the mouthpiece into his mouth and climbed into the chute. The cowbell tied to the end of the bull rope clanged almost like a warning signal.

 

As he had done every regular-season event and championship for ten years, Judd pulled the slack out of the rope around the bull’s midsection. Next he wrapped the rope underneath his gloved right hand and across his palm. Closing his fingers, he made a fist. With his free hand he pounded his fist—once, twice.

 

Blinking, he shut out the past. The future. Only the present counted. Eight seconds. His heart slammed into his throat.

 

Judd nodded to the gateman. The gate swung open and Bad to the Bone blasted out of the chute in three powerful jumps. The bull turned back to the right, spinning, his power building, the motion throwing Judd off balance.

 

Judd pitched to the right, jerked out of position, slipping. No! I’m gonna ride this sucker. The muscles in his right arm burned from the strain. His jaws cramped.

 

Where’s that damn buzzer?

 

He tipped farther to the right, not really riding any longer, just hanging on. Inches from the dirt, Judd smelled defeat. He squeezed the bull rope, holding on with raw determination and fiery gut.

 

The buzzer sounded.

 

Judd released his grip and fell hard. He scrambled to his feet, the roar of approval in his ears. Thanks to the bullfighter, the bull veered away to the right. Judd sailed his cowboy hat into the air. It hadn’t been pretty, but he had stuck it. He’d won! His head buzzed as the sweet reality hit home.

I used my first hand research in two other western romances: Brody and Mercer, both of the Dawsons of Montana series.

 

Go West Young Man ~ Nan O'Berry

We were born with wanderlust in our souls.

Man, and his thirst for new horizons is one of the oldest needs to be experienced. To go, to see, to experience, what is beyond our touch seems to come naturally. From the first explorers on this continent, we have been pushing west to see what is just around the river bend, over the next hill, or beyond the mountainside.

What thrusts the species forward?

Our inquisitive nature? Perhaps.

The need for more land?

Indeed, the idea of hitting the riches, finding the next big deposit of riches excites something deep inside.

There is something to be said about sending roots down deep.  When the Spanish and English explores first came to the New World, their thoughts were to spread Christianity, to establish a new threshold in a world unknown for their king ( aka glory) , and Gold. Wealth and the ability to move up the ladder socially has driven both sexes to find their destiny.

American’s love Manifest Destiny. We see it as our “Holy Grail” to expand our beliefs in “every man is equal” (Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence)  therefore promised a piece of the pie. The Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark’s Expedition opened what lay beyond the Appalachians and the Mississippi River. An epic promise if you followed your dreams, surely good things such as wealth will follow.

Every students recalls Horace Greeley’s editorial about “Go West Young Man and grow up with your country”. The reason many left the east was the decline in employment, the threat of war, or even their own incarceration by the law. Out west, a man set his rule and lived by his own laws until civilization tamed the land.  Perhaps it was best written by the Miles Hood Swarthout for the movie, The Shootist.

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”

Of course, it was uttered by the greatest cowboy of all time (in my opinion) John Wayne. It was his last film. It gets me every time I watch it. His character had come west. Skirted the law as a gunfighter and knowing his death was a matter of time, decided he was going out on his own terms in his own way.  Something, I think all of us wish to live life to the fullest and to die on our own terms.

There can be no greater glory than that.

Writers write hero’s larger than life. We create landscapes with words that no man has walked on until our hero emerges. We give them glory. We give them the greatest gift one can, the love of a good woman with a heart of gold.

So, let’s Go West. Let’s keep dreaming. Let’s set our own rules and live by them. 

 

Until next time,

Nan.