COLORADO SPRINS, Colo. (KOAA) — When a 1,800-pound bull sends a rider crashing to the dirt, Tyler Dahl and Beau Schueth don't hesitate. The two bullfighters have spent the last 14 years fighting bulls across the country, a job they say takes far more than fearlessness.
"It's instinct. You know, you do it enough it becomes second nature. You know it's muscle memory. You just get in and do your job and get out," said Dahl.
The pair say they study riders closely before a wreck even happens.
"There's ways we read them bull riders. We kind of watch their hips, and so, when they start getting bowed out we kind of try and see where they're gonna get bucked off so we can meet that bull before he even ever sees them hit the ground," said Schueth.
What many people misunderstand, they say, is that the job isn't recklessness, it's responsibility.
"We're trying to control chaos in an animal that, I mean, you don't know what he's going to do. You can kind of guess, but just staying calm in sticky situations, and you know, not backing down when stuff hits the fan," said Schueth.
The physical toll is real. Schueth described an injury that sidelined him after a bull drove him into the bucking chutes.
"Last year I got smashed into the bucking chutes and, if you don't know, like, those chutes don't really move, they're pretty dang heavy, so a bull smashing you into them, and like ,I was out probably two weeks with kind of like some fractures along the transverse processes in my back," said Schueth.
While the crowd may notice the wrecks, Dahl says the best nights are the ones that go unseen.
"Getting in and getting out, and you know, it's almost like nobody even realizes you're there... As long as both of us, you know, walk away healthy and all the bull riders do the same, then we did our job," said Dahl.
___
Ranch faces tough choices after Aspen Acres Fire scorches most of property
The fallout continues from the Aspen Acres Fire as hundreds return to their homes and ranches. One man stayed on his property through it all, safely protecting his cattle.
_____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
