Tyler Hicks

Jan 9, 2025 | cowboysindians.com | Tyler Hicks |Hunter Hauk

It was 2005, and 18-year-old bull rider J.B. Mauney couldn’t shake the feeling that something was growing inside him. He knew the pain’s origins, of course. The previous night, at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina, a bucking bull weighing roughly 1,500 pounds (give or take a couple hundred) had stomped on Mauney’s chest.

Jan 9, 2025 | cowboysindians.com | Tyler Hicks |Caroline Cabe

Clay Guiton was conscious enough to crawl, but he was crawling the wrong way, heading towards more danger. The 1,500-pound animal that had just tossed him off its back was still bucking, still angry, and mere feet away. Guiton’s coach says instinct took over at that moment. J.B. Mauney, the legendary bull rider who now leads the Oklahoma Wildcatters, leapt into the arena and used his body to shield his 18-year-old star from grievous injury.

Jan 9, 2025 | cowboysindians.com | Tyler Hicks |Kaylee Brister

All of the executives, experts, and industry insiders you can find will agree on at least one thing: today’s bucking bulls are leagues ahead of yesterday’s stock. Even so, the history of bull riding is riddled with rank specimens. PHOTOGRAPHY: Leah HennelBushwackerMichael Jordan. Seabiscuit. Secretariat. If it’s a GOAT, chances are good it’s been compared to Bushwacker.

Dec 30, 2024 | fwtx.com | Tyler Hicks

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for.” — Louis L’Amour There was roughly 15 minutes to dusk when the man and his horse pulled up to the white teepee and the family toiling outside. He wore a black cowboy hat, and beneath that, his eyes betrayed the exhaustion that comes with days of riding. His whole body was sore, especially his hips.

Oct 23, 2023 | fwtx.com | Tyler Hicks

The dark closes in, threatening to overwhelm your field of vision. But there’s a way to fight it, to shake off the shadows.   That’s how Braidy Randolph describes it, at least. An 1,800-pound bucking bull smacked him in the face, mid-ride, last year in Las Vegas, and he tried to fight through the daze and walk back to safety. The bull, aptly named Mule Train, would strike fear into the heart of most mortal men.