The Galveston County Daily News

SANTA FE — Zack Brown refuses to get on a bull in the practice pen.

He doesn’t need to.

The Santa Fe resident sits at No. 4 in the Professional Bull Riders standings heading into the World Finals on Friday in Las Vegas. It’s Brown’s highest ranking ever going into the tour’s final event.

“I guess I just don’t see the point,” Brown said. “I know I can ride.”

To be fair, Brown has an A-frame contraption at home to practice techniques. He occasionally works on shifting his weight the right direction and keeping one hand in the air — bull riders can use only one hand to grip the bull.

But Brown doesn’t see mechanical maneuvers as the key to bull riding. It’s the ability to get on the bull without fear of repercussion for eight long seconds.

“The real secret,” Brown said, “Are you willing to take the risk to get the possible reward?”

Brown’s answer hasn’t always been yes. The 30-year-old started riding bulls 12 years ago when he used to go flirt with a girl at a private ranch. He met some guys who rode bulls, and it sounded like fun.

At age 18, Brown couldn’t think of anything better to do. He got hooked on the danger aspect. It also beat working eight hours a day.

Brown started with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, but in 2004 joined the PBR.

There was more money involved, since it focused solely on bull riding, the long-time attraction for most rodeos.

He was right. Brown won nearly $350,000 dollars on his way to rookie of the year honors. He finished sixth in the world standings.

The success, however, didn’t last long. In 2005, a bull trampled Brown in Billings, Mont.

He cracked his neck and lacerated his small intestines in what the PBR coined a, “near-death wreck.”

Brown was in the hospital for a week. He became one of the grim statistics. Bull riding accounts for 50 percent of all traumatic injuries at rodeo events.

“It was a nasty wreck,” Brown said. “I got thrown off, and the bull got on top of me.”

The trauma turned Brown away from bull riding.

He got scared and figured bull riding, despite the money, wasn’t worth it any more.

“We all know that we could die on our next ride,” rider Wiley Petersen told Hosili.com. “It’s a risk we accept.”

Brown no longer could accept it. He moved to Santa Fe and away from California.

He started making horseshoes and focused on his favorite hobby: spear fishing.

It lasted less than two years when the cash started to run out.

Brown wanted to live a certain lifestyle, to be able to go spear fishing along with other expensive hobbies. He needed cash to do so.

So in summer 2007, after nearly two years away from bull riding, Brown got back in the saddle.

It wasn’t easy. He started slowly with a handful of events.

In 2008, Brown competed almost half the PBR competitions, taking home six figures again.

He finished 13th overall in the final standings.

This year, Brown competed in all 31 events for the first time since his rookie season in 2004.

He’s won four of them and finished in the top 10 a career-best 13 times.

He owns a 51.2 riding percentage, more than five points above his career average.

“He has the right idea,” PBR livestock director Cody Lambert said on the organization’s Web site.

Still, Brown enters a massive 3,557.75 points behind leader Kody Lostroh.

A lot would have to go in Brown’s favor to catch Lostroh and the two other riders in second and third.

He could start by winning the world title event, which would more than double his season earnings of $222,083.04. And he’s finished second before.

Brown just doesn’t need to practice.

“It’s all about being able to get on the bull and clear your mind,” Brown said. “Practice doesn’t really help that at this point for me. The risk is greater than the reward at practice — there’s no prize to be won if you get injured.”

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World Finals TV schedule

Friday: Versus, 8 p.m.

Saturday: Versus, 8 p.m.

Sunday: CBS, TBA

Nov. 5: Versus, 8 p.m.

Nov. 6: Versus, 8 p.m.

Nov. 7: Versus, 8 p.m.

Nov. 8: NBC, 1:30 p.m.