[August 8, 2025] College football coach “Bear” Bryant once said that it’s not the will to win that matters, “it’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” Although a great football coach, Bryant would also have made an exceptional bronco riding coach because preparation is the key to staying on a wildly bucking horse and doing so with style.
The responsibility humans have over animals is a rarely discussed topic. As we become more urbanized (some of my friends call it “citified”), we are less likely to discuss it. Sadly, as the world moves away from rural life the more it moves away from animals, as pets, entertainment, work, and war. All the more reason that I highlight one of my favorite sports, manly bronco riding.
I say manly because it takes a physically strong and powerfully willed person to prepare for and ride an unbroken horse. Today, bronco riding is usually done bareback on a horse (called a bronc or bronco), but originated as an essential working cowboy skill. To prepare for the event, the participant must undergo vigorous exercises that toughen the body joints and strengthen muscles. Being young helps, and few riders are over the age of 30.
There are rules, the most important being able to stay on the bucking horse for eight seconds. That may seem like a short time, but the great strength of a half-ton, pissed-off animal is a long time. Bucking horses are usually castrated males, but the modern bronco is no longer truly feral since most are specifically bred for the sport. They are expensive and well-taken care of by their owners.
If you want to see a bronco rider in action, see the following short YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nME9MH2A0mQ
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Wishing that I were a bronco rider. But I’m just not that CRAZY.
Hey Chuck, I hear ya. My cousin Billy Joe from northwest Louisiana was a regular on the rodeo circuit and he would ride those broncos. Man, I was jealous as a child of his courage and spirit. He was a real man’s man, as Gen. S. likes to say. He could do anything and he could also tell stories about his horse riding days that would make the hair stand up on my arms. Great guy. Sadly, killed in an auto accident. What a way to go? I remember him well. I remember him as a bronco rider.
Good one, sir. It’s always interesting to read about “manliness” which has been devalued in our sissy culture. And where did that get us? Hard times.
My kind sir. You have good tastes in the sports.
Abu, yes Gen. Satterfield does have “good tastes” and not just in sports but in the development of the good leader and how also to become a good person. He has written two books and is one who is not shy about talking wisdom; wisdom that does not change when a new whim or technological gadget comes out. Read more of this articles and books and if you can, speak with him about how to better yourslef. you will see that he relates well with folks. Thanks for writing in.
I’ve not heard from you in a while Wild Bill. Great to see you and Abu back in the leadership forums. Stay safe.
… and I love horses and a good match.
MANLY SPORTS. THE DIFFERENCE IN MEN AND WOMEN
Sweeney, unless you are a crazed Leftist (which I know you are not) would you or anyone think a man can be a woman or a woman who thinks she’s a man. But, alas, these days the insane asylums no longer exist and they are out in the public and are now known as Democrats. What a bunch of wussies, the pinko types that have their nose rings ready for hookup and led wherever their politician slave owners want them to go.
Yes, soooo true!!!! 😂😂😂😂
If you ever find yourself watching bronco riding at some point in the future, remember that it is Gen. Satterfield’s favorite sport. 🐎