Essay #1

Wild Cow Ride

My older brother, Ryan and I have been in completion with each other for as long as I can recall. We have never accepted that one of us can accomplish something without the other doing it, as well if not better. People have said we have the same distinct eyebrows and lips. Ryan however, has a lot less hair then I do. He stands about five foot nine inches and weighs approximately 220lbs. Ryan has never been considered a weak person, in fact he has been described as a “walking ball of explosive muscle”.  What he lacks in hair and height he makes up for in power and wittiness. There is never a dull moment when Ryan is around. There isn’t anyone that can bring a smile to my face and make me so angry I could scream at the same time. All in all though he has a good heart and considers me his greatest foe. 

                  Over the last few years Ryan and I have been challenging each other to new and more highly intense challenges then when we were children. Last year, I challenged him to finish our first marathon together. This wasn’t an easy thing for him to agree to do, considering he was not a poster child for what a marathon runner should look like. Long distance running was not his thing but he survived it and vowed to get his revenge.

                  During the last week of July every year, our hometown St. Johns, Arizona, holds a festival of activities to celebrate “Pioneer Days”. One of the activities they offer is a town rodeo. The rodeo offers several different events. One of the events is called “The Wild Cow Ride”. The wild cow ride is an event that only the bravest cowboys compete in. Each team consist of three people that are assigned a cow ranging anywhere from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. A rope is placed around the neck of the cow while the cow is still in a shoot. There are several teams lined up, each with their own individual cow. When the horn blows, the gates are opened and the cows are turned loose. The teams must stop the cow. Then place a saddle on it and ride across the center of the arena. If you are able to get your cow across the center of the arena with a rider still in the saddle before the other teams, your team wins. 

Ryan has competed in this event for the past three years. So, there was no surprise when he said he would be competing in it again. The surprise came when about a week before my husband and I would be returning home to celebrate Pioneer Days, my dear brother had called with his challenge. His proposal was that I would be his third teammate in the wild cow ride along with my husband, Nick. At first I thought he was joking, unfortunately he was not. His teammates from the year before were not able to make it and he needed new teammates. Naturally he thought of me.

                  I wouldn’t consider myself to be the toughest girl on the block but I have been a tomboy most of my life. I learned to wrestle by being my brother’s dummy while our dad coached him to become an Olympic level wrestler. I’ve never been a large person but I have surprised myself, and others with the strength I can muster up if challenged. So when the challenge came to join him in the Wild Cow Ride, I of course accepted it.

                  Over the next week Ryan and I discussed our game plan over the phone. The team would consist of Ryan, my husband Nick and myself. Nick is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 215 pounds. Little scares him because he has spent the past 15 years in the Marine Corps as an Infantryman. Between Nick and Ryan alone our team was sure to do well, according to Ryan.    

                  The day of the event came up on us quickly and as we woke the morning of the wild cow ride, my nerves started rattling. I felt that I was one step behind and could not focus. I started second guessing what I had gotten myself into. All of a sudden the front door bust open and there stood my brother. The grin he held across his face dwarfed his massive “Mickey Mouse” ears. 

                  My husband said something to Ryan and they began to wrestle around the front room, half dancing and hugging, in celebration of the day’s event. I, on the other hand, was dreading it more and more. We ate breakfast, gathered our children and headed down to the rodeo.

                  We arrived before anyone else and checked the time for our event. We still had about an hour. The kids ran around and played, without a care in the world, as my husband and I watched the rodeo. I know we talked, but I don’t think I even heard a word he said. My heart was racing faster with every minute. The announcer said something, and my husband got up and started gathering the saddle and ropes. I guessed this meant that it was our turn to compete. We walked around the arena and met my brother on the other side.

                  The area was about 100 meters long; the ground was a combination of dirt and cow manure. The smell of farm life was very distinct. As we entered the arena, I could feel flies swarming my body, maybe they smelt the fear radiating off of me. Or they could have been drawn to the sweat on our bodies from the heat of the hot summer day. All six teams lined up facing the shoots as the announcer gave us our rules. I didn’t hear a word the announcer had said but I did notice that I was the only girl in the event. The other teams seemed to notice it too and I could hear their snickering. I asked my husband what I should do, he told me to be ready with the saddle and be careful not to get between a rope and a cow. If I saw a cow headed in my direction I was to do whatever it took to get out of the way.  

                  I grabbed the saddle and moved toward the fence. I was about 50 feet from our shoot, which was on the far right side of all the other shoots. I stood there looking at my team and waited for the horn to blow. The tension continued to grow and I questioned my decision to agree to this.

                  The gates opened and all hell broke loose! This pure black cow came running out of the shoots like it had been shot out of a cannon. It ran straight past the guys. My husband was holding the end of the rope as an anchor when the cow hit the end of the slack on the rope and it was then that my heart stopped beating. As this twelve hundred pound beast twisted sideways in the air and had its head turned in our direction, I could see its eyes. They were red outlined and darker than the night. It felt like the devil had just looked through my soul.

                  The guys fought the cow for the next 10 minutes. Ryan now held the anchor and Nick was trying to get hold of the cow’s head. I watched as this demon cow dragged my husband around in circle with just its head and neck. Finally the cow stopped. Ryan started yelling at me to bring him the saddle.

I ran over to them with the saddle in my hands. A little voice in the back of my head was telling me not to hand it to him. I could hear our dad screaming for me to give Ryan the saddle. My dad is 55 years old, as handsome as they come and is capable of out working and out performing men half his age. He is the symbol of the saying, “age is just a number.” But, he will concede to his age when it favors him. He had also done the wild cow ride himself a few years before. But having fractured some ribs when the cow slammed him against the shoot, he claimed the best spot for him this year was on the safety of the other side of the fence. Hesitantly I finally gave the saddle to Ryan. I knew as soon as I did, I would have to get on the back of “Satan” and attempt to ride her across the arena.

                  I have no idea what happened to my legs but they started walking towards the cow on their own. Ryan boosted me up on her back and I took hold of a rope that cinched down the saddle. I felt as if I were about to die. I had just watched this thing destroy two of the strongest men I knew and now I am on its back. All I could think about was my children, and what I would miss in their lives, if this damn cow kills me. My husband started taking the rope off from around the cow’s head and then turned the cow loose. She stood there for about a second and then unleashed her fury upon me.

                  I felt her leap three or four times and can remember the ground getting far away and then coming near me fast. Each buck showed me a new future vision of my family’s life with out me. I had to focus, I told myself. The cow turned left then right and then made a hard left again as she kicked her legs out sideways. The rope ripped through my hands and I flew straight up in the air. My feet where above my head and I landed on my right shoulder. My right arm went completely numb. I was lying on the ground when the thought came to my mind, “The cow is still next to me”. I realized this just in time to see the cows back legs headed straight for my face. I sprang to my feet and ran for the fence.

                  My brother was able to grab the cow before she got away. I was still dazed from being bucked off of her. I could again hear my dad screaming for me to get back on the cow, but this time, I wouldn’t be following his orders. I had just escaped death and I wasn’t about to tempt fate again! I could see Nick walking towards us and I told him to help Ryan. He grabbed hold of the saddle and jumped right up there. Ryan let go and the cow didn’t even move. My heart was in my throat. I knew how powerful the cow had been with me on its back and now my husband was there. I waited for the worst. The cow began to move and it looked like it tried to buck once but realized it was carrying more weight on its back. The cow just started moon-walking and ended up crossing the center of the arena. We were the first team to cross the line. Not only had we all made it out ok, but we also won!

                  Looking back on it, I’m glad I did it, but I didn’t realize how crazy it would all be. Cows were running in every direction. Men were being beaten down and drug around by them. It was visual shock to me and hearing my husband concern before the gates opened, still haunts me. We see things like this every day in our lives from the side line and say, “I could do that, no problem”. But when you’re in the arena of life, fear takes away your senses. All the strength you think you have is drained, and you don’t know what to do next, it changes you. You become more humble and maybe just for a second admit defeat to your greatest rival.

                  I walked out of the arena still shook up until I walked by the first group of cowgirls sitting on the fence. I could hear them say, “That’s that chick that just won the wild cow ride”.  I started walking a little taller.

That night, my family and I went to a town dance and some of the other teams walked in. As soon as they saw us they turned around and walked back out. I’m guessing they didn’t want to socialize with the team with that beat them. I never told my brother that he had finally found a challenge that beat me. I do however think about the challenges a little more now of days. But I did survive and I don’t think I’ll ever back down from a challenge without at least giving it a shot. It looks like my dear brother just sent me a new one.

                  “Lets do the Great North American Dog Sled race”. Hmmm???