The Ride of Their Lives: Retired bull riders bring passion to business

Retirement comes at an early age for professional athletes, and perhaps no sport retires competitors earlier than professional bull riding.

But when Missouri natives LJ Jenkins and Luke Snyder said goodbye to the Professional Bull Riders Inc. circuit, they weren’t putting themselves out to pasture. Ranked at Nos. 12 and 13, respectively, on PBR’s All Time Money Earners list and both former World Finals champions, Jenkins and Snyder are applying passion for the sport to the world of business.

“In the long scheme of things – trust me – none of us is complaining,” said Snyder, who in 13 years with PBR posted career earnings of $1.7 million. “But you look at other professional athletes, someone in the NFL may not even get off the bench for that.”

A Raymore native now living in Springfield, Snyder handles corporate partnership marketing for Bass Pro Shops and will be an event coordinator for Big Cedar Lodge’s Outdoor Academy when the facility officially opens next year.

Originally from Springfield, Jenkins earned $1.8 million in prize money during his 11-year career and now operates a 600-acre cattle ranch in Porum, Okla. For the last four years, he’s produced his own amateur bull riding events, most recently appearing at the Ozark Bull Bash 2015 at the city’s Boosters Club Arena on Oct. 10.

“I had a good career and I wanted to retire before I was too broken up,” said Jenkins, who was already considering an exit before breaking his C-1 vertebrae when he fell from a bull this April in Nampa, Idaho.

Being able to walk away from a potentially paralyzing or fatal injury made retirement an easy decision.

“It’s the most dangerous sport in the world,” Jenkins added. “You know you’re going to get hurt – it’s just when and how bad.”

Risk and reward
For both cowboys the path to PBR was paved when they were young, growing up on ranches and riding in youth competitions. Around the same time 10-year-old Snyder attended his first rodeo school, 5-year-old Jenkins’ father Larry, a bareback bronco rider, and brother Dustin, an amateur bull rider, started him riding calves and sheep. Jenkins and Snyder excelled at the sport and never looked back, purchasing $300 permits at age 18 to enter the Touring Pro Division. They also would go on to ride in and win their first PBR competitions at separate events in Wyoming.

After earning $2,500 in winnings, permit holders earn cardholder status, allowing them to compete in the division and accumulate points to take part in the major league of PBR events – the Built Ford Tough Series. Snyder won Rookie of the Year and the World Finals in 2001. Jenkins won the World Finals in 2006, three months after his first winning ride. The distinction is the sport’s second highest after winning the World Championship in overall season points.

“What people don’t see is the hours we put in,” Jenkins said. “We can win a lot of money, but at the same time the cost to be there is extremely high.”

Throughout the season, top-level riders are guaranteed entry and compete for five or six figures at regular season events. They must maintain high points to remain with the tour or risk losing their spot to an up-and-comer.

At the farm league level, PBR riders pay their own entry fees – around $375 per event, according to Snyder – plus travel costs to compete for $7,500 to $10,000 in prize money and half the point values. Expenses add up since most cowboys don’t live near major airports, and only the best are deemed worthy of sponsorships.

“Especially if they don’t have sponsors, these guys have second jobs when they get home, work as hard as they can and take their paycheck to try and live out their dream,” Snyder said. “It’s really grueling. You definitely have to have a passion for it.”

Fresh starts
While some riders live for moments in the ring, Jenkins spent the last half of his career setting up for entrepreneurial ventures in retirement.

“Whenever I won a bunch of money, instead of giving it to the government, I’d go out and buy cows,” Jenkins said. “I never want to leave the sport of bull riding.”

Jenkins also is setting his sights on being a PBR stock contractor and had seven bulls featured at a main event Oct. 2 in Tucson, Ariz. While PBR pays between $500 and $1,000 per ride, Jenkins said high-caliber animals can sell for $20,000 to $100,000 to other contractors.

“That’s where you make the money,” Jenkins said. “You put your own price on them and see what you can get.”

Few people who have broken their neck and all of their limbs at different times on the job would call their career fortunate, but Snyder said that’s the only word to describe his experience on tour.

His longest hiatus was four months during the 2009 season after being “dash-boarded” by a bull in Vernal, Utah. Snyder said during the ride he pitched forward as the bull’s head was coming up. The result was a broken nose pushed so far over his left eye that Snyder thought he’d been blinded. A surgeon flown in from Salt Lake City reconstructed Snyder’s nose using the rider’s driver’s license as a reference.

Snyder said despite the injury quitting never entered his mind.

“The first thing I asked was how long was I going to be out and when could I get back in,” he said.

At the time of his retirement in 2013, Snyder was the third-oldest rider in the locker room.

“I was 31 years old, and as you can imagine this sport takes a toll on the body,” Snyder said. “When you start thinking about not only a wife but kids you think outside the box a little more.”

A month after retiring, Snyder married Jennifer Manna, stepdaughter of Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris. The ceremony was held at Big Cedar Lodge overlooking Table Rock Lake, and People Magazine wrote about the affair.

Snyder said he interviewed for Bass Pro’s corporate marketing position because of positive experience with media training offered by PBR. The Morris-owned outdoor retail chain is an event sponsor for the organization’s bull riding events, and Snyder said he participates at in-store events when the rodeo passes through cities with Bass Pro stores.

On Oct. 20, Snyder will be the 2015 inductee to PBR’s Ring of Honor, adding his name alongside such bull-riding legends as Jim Shoulders and Lane Frost.

“It’s a lot of guys I look up to, so for me to be in there is kind of the cherry on top of everything in my career,” Snyder said. “It’s my World Championship, given all the blood, sweat and tears I’ve shed to have this.”