# so, can you ride a bull ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948 "2001-01-08T03:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/1 "2001-01-08T03:55:17Z")
I have been to rodeos and I have seen bull-riding. It appears to me to be the exact same way a cowboy “tames” a horse. This is just conjecture : but I wonder if that is where riding a bull began, in an attempt to tame them. Is there a bull somewhere who can be ridden like a horse ? It would seem the logical result of this sport. Or perhaps are “bulls” simply unable to be tamed (you know, by human standards). ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/2 "2001-01-08T04:27:46Z")
Well, I’m not even going to try. Rodeos use Brahma bulls, which are bred especially _not_ to be ridden. In fact, unlike horses, those bulls will try to come back and kill you after they throw you off. (And the guy defending you is a clown! ☹ ) Other breeds may be docile enough. In most of southern Asia cattle are widely used as draft animals with no problems, but they don’t seem very exciting to ride. ---
**Author:** ![Answeringaquestion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Answeringaquestion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Answeringaquestion)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/3 "2017-06-28T16:27:21Z")
It is definitely possible, but the question is “why bother if you have a horse.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/4 "2017-06-28T16:31:56Z")
> [@Answeringaquestion](#): > > [Hannah Could Not Have a Horse So She Trained a Cow! - GIF on Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/6g1Ux7N.gifv) > > It is definitely possible, but the question is “why bother if you have a horse.” Does anyone make saddles for cows/bulls? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/5 "2017-06-28T16:57:35Z")
The real test of a man’s mettle is to tame and ride a buffalo: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kGweZgg\_roA](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kGweZgg_roA) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/6 "2017-06-28T16:59:18Z")
There you go - [Photobucket | Make your memories fun!](http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/sprogspawn/media/cGF0aDovc2hlZXBoZXJkaW5nMS5qcGc=/?ref=) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/7 "2017-06-28T17:15:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Does anyone make saddles for cows/bulls? Mongo’s bull in Blazing Saddles had a saddle. I don’t know if they just used a horse saddle or if they had to have it customized or altered in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/8 "2017-06-28T17:22:49Z")
According to [this article about a cattle-ridin’ lass](http://www.horsenation.com/2014/09/29/saddle-yourcattle/), > [@](#): > > Kimberly rides in both western and dressage saddles with draft-sized girths. One major difference in tack is the nose bit: rather than a bit in the mouth like a horse bridle, saddle steers are guided by a metal bar that’s pierced through their nostrils (similar to a nose ring for driving oxen.) ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/9 "2017-06-30T05:29:13Z")
Yes, it’s a common interstitial act in a rodeo to have a person ride a tame bull around as if it were a horse. But that’s obviously a different breed from the bullriding bulls, the tame ones are more domesticated types. The thing with the main-event bulls is that they are twice the mass and specifically bred to be the t’oher way 'round, and want nothing more than to dance upon your face with their pointy hooves. Hence why rodeo cowboys mostly wear Kevlar vests and hockey helmets nowadays. And I can’t provide a cite, but pretty sure the bucking-bull event derived from sheer extreme-sports machismo back in the days before Group B rally cars were a thing. “What is the most badass thing I could do…?” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/10 "2017-06-30T06:05:00Z")
The Khoekhoen, the pastoralist indigenes of Cape Town, had [riding](http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/hottentot-family-in-africa-engraving-from-journey-by-pierre-picture-id142086967) [cattle](https://therealmovement.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/khoe-jj.jpg) (the first sketch is likely contemporary second-hand reporting, but the second sketch is in-person). They were likely riding oxen, not bulls, though. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/11 "2017-06-30T09:23:04Z")
The only thing I know about riding bulls is keep one hand on the bull (the rope) and one hand in the air. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/12 "2017-06-30T17:10:46Z")
Yeah, the really surprising thing to me is how little cow-riding there has been in history. You’d think riding cattle would be a normal thing, maybe not as good as a horse, but if you don’t have a horse just ride a cow. Or put your knights on bulls rather than horses, for an even more formidable cavalry charge. We’ve seen camel cavalry, and war elephants, but war cattle? Nope. War bulls are apparently right out. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/13 "2017-06-30T19:15:06Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yeah, the really surprising thing to me is how little cow-riding there has been in history. You’d think riding cattle would be a normal thing, maybe not as good as a horse, but if you don’t have a horse just ride a cow. Or put your knights on bulls rather than horses, for an even more formidable cavalry charge. We’ve seen camel cavalry, and war elephants, but war cattle? Nope. War bulls are apparently right out. You’re right, that would be an awesome sight. War Bulls! Love the concept… ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-can-you-ride-a-bull/48948/14 "2017-06-30T20:21:44Z")
The problem with cattle-riding may be that they don’t have a gait in between “charging madly for a very short distance” and “ambling along very slowly, grazing as they go”.