Bull Riding
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7correct to beat the crowd
40 free Bull Riding trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Bull riding asks for one thing: stay on a bucking animal that weighs the better part of a ton for eight seconds, gripping a rope one-handed. It is often called the most dangerous event in rodeo, and the animals are scored and celebrated as athletes alongside the people who ride them. This quiz covers the sport from the chute outward: the rules and scoring, the rope, glove and safety gear, the history that runs from ranch contests to the modern PBR tour, champion riders, the bulls nobody could ride, and the films that brought it all to a wider audience. It is written for rodeo fans and curious newcomers alike. Most questions carry a clue to reason from, so you can score well without knowing every champion by name.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Beverly Hills, 90210 star played world champion bull rider Lane Frost in the film 8 Seconds?
Luke Perry
Luke Perry played Frost in a film whose title is the time a rider must stay aboard to score. Its director had earlier made Rocky and The Karate Kid.
Q 02Rodeo cowboys who went on strike at Boston Garden named their new union, forerunner of the PRCA, after which animal?
Turtles
Turtles gave the Cowboys' Turtle Association its name in 1936. The cowboys said they were slow to organize but unafraid to stick their necks out.
Q 03Which actor rode a mechanical bull at Gilley's honky-tonk in the film Urban Cowboy, sparking a bar craze?
John Travolta
John Travolta and Debra Winger showed filmgoers how it was done in 1980. Rodeo riders still train on mechanical bulls, sharpening their skills without the risk of a live animal.
Q 04Before moving up to calves and bulls, young rodeo riders traditionally start out by clinging to which animal?
Sheep
Sheep are the mount in mutton busting, where a small child hangs on as the animal runs. Age and weight limits on the riders protect the animals.
Q 05After Lane Frost was fatally gored in 1989, fellow rider Cody Lambert designed which now-mandatory piece of safety gear?
A protective vest
A protective vest was Lambert's answer, based on the one his jockey brother wore. He was the only bull rider using one for months; by 1996 it was mandatory.
Q 06Which city hosted the PBR World Finals for more than 25 years before the event moved to Texas?
Las Vegas
Las Vegas staged the first World Finals in 1994 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and stayed the event's home for over a quarter of a century.
Q 07Before winning PBR world titles, champion José Vitor Leme spent years as a semi-professional in which other sport?
Soccer
Soccer was Leme's game for eleven years, and he says many of its moves translate to bull riding. In 2021 he set a PBR record with a 98.75-point ride.
Q 08How large is the bonus the PBR pays its world champion bull rider at the end of each season?
$1 million
$1 million goes to the champion on top of his season's winnings. Chris Shivers was the first rider to collect the bonus, in 2003.
Q 09Adriano Morães, winner of the PBR's very first world championship, comes from which country?
Brazil
Brazil sent Morães north after he won national titles at home in 1992 and 1993. He became the first rider to win three PBR world championships.
Q 10Lane Frost died in 1989 after a ride at Frontier Days, the huge July rodeo held in which Wyoming city?
Cheyenne
Cheyenne has held Frontier Days since 1897 and bills it as the world's largest outdoor rodeo. Frost had already finished his ride when the bull turned on him.
Q 11Which bright yellow bull of the 1990s was known across rodeo as the world's most dangerous?
Bodacious
Bodacious was retired in his prime by owner Sammy Andrews after seriously injuring two top riders in quick succession. He was a Charolais cross born in Oklahoma.
Q 12Which bull went unridden in 309 professional attempts before Lane Frost beat him in a seven-match series?
Red Rock
Red Rock was brought out of retirement for the 1988 Challenge of the Champions, and Frost rode him in four of their seven meetings.
Q 13Which bull bucked off 42 straight PBR riders before J.B. Mauney finally lasted eight seconds on him?
Bushwacker
Bushwacker had already thrown Mauney nine times before that 2013 ride. The bull won three PBR world titles and retired after the 2014 World Finals.
Q 21What hangs from a bull rope beneath the animal, adding weight so the rope drops off after the ride?
A metal bell
A metal bell is strapped to the rope's knot and clanks under the bull all ride long. Its weight drags the rope off the animal once the rider is gone.
Q 22Which substance do bull riders work into the glove and the tail of the rope to improve their grip?
Rosin
Rosin comes from pine trees, and the same resin helps violin bows bite the strings and baseball pitchers keep hold of the ball.
Q 23Which piece of tack is tied around a bucking bull just in front of the hind legs to encourage kicking?
Flank strap
Flank strap is the term, and despite popular belief the soft cotton rope is not tied around the bull's testicles. Tie it too tight and the bull will not buck well.
Q 14Which champion rode his last bull at the 1989 National Finals an extra eight seconds in memory of Lane Frost?
Tuff Hedeman
Tuff Hedeman, one of Frost's closest friends and traveling partners, stayed aboard for sixteen seconds as he won that year's world title. He later co-founded the PBR.
Q 15Which PBR co-founder and seven-time all-around world champion cowboy later competed on Dancing with the Stars?
Ty Murray
Ty Murray joined the show in 2009. The singer Jewel, then his wife, was cast for the same season but withdrew after an injury in practice.
Q 16Which Oklahoma cowboy won 16 world championships and owned the famously unrideable bull Tornado?
Jim Shoulders
Jim Shoulders, nicknamed the Babe Ruth of rodeo, set his record of 16 titles in 1959. He also helped design Wrangler's cowboy-cut jeans.
Q 17Which veteran cowboy made rodeo history in 1967 by riding Tornado, a bull that had thrown 220 riders?
Freckles Brown
Freckles Brown ended Tornado's unbeaten run in a moment still known simply as The Ride. The bull is buried at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Q 18Which Mesquite, Texas, cowboy won eight PRCA bull riding world titles between 1974 and 1984?
Don Gay
Don Gay grew up at the Mesquite Rodeo, which his father Neal ran, and both men are in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Q 19Which English songwriter and lifelong fan of the American West bought a share of champion bull Little Yellow Jacket?
Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist, bought an interest in the North Dakota bull, who won three straight PBR World Champion Bull titles from 2002 to 2004.
Q 20What must a bull rider keep clear of the bull and of his own body for the full eight seconds?
Free hand
Free hand contact with the bull, the gear or the rider himself means no score, however long the ride lasts. The other hand stays wrapped in the rope throughout.
Q 24In a multi-night bull riding event, what name is given to the final round for the top-scoring riders?
The short go
The short go, also called the championship round, brings the leading riders back for one more bull, and the highest total score wins the event.
Q 25What is the rodeo name for the comic entertainer who works from a padded steel drum in the arena?
Barrelman
Barrelman is the title, and the idea dates to the 1930s, when clown Jasbo Fulkerson first used a wooden barrel with a solid bottom for protection.
Q 26The rodeo clowns who distract the animal from a fallen rider are now usually known by what name?
Bullfighters
Bullfighters once handled the comedy too, but the job has split in two. Most no longer dress as clowns, though they keep the bright, loose-fitting clothing.
Q 27Skilled bull riders can earn extra style points from the judges by using which piece of gear during the ride?
Spurs
Spurs used on bulls cannot be sharpened or carry a fixed rowel, and the PBR permits only two types. Working them during the ride impresses the judges.
Q 28Which colorful leather leggings protect a bull rider's legs and add some flair to the sport?
Chaps
Chaps are probably the most noticeable thing a bull rider wears, and cruiser motorcyclists have adopted the same garment for protection on the road.
Q 29Once the grip is set in the bucking chute, how does a bull rider signal for the gate to open?
A head nod
A head nod is the signal, and the chute gate then swings open from the side to let the bull storm into the arena.
Q 30Bull riding grew directly out of charreada, a tradition of ranch-skill contests from which country?
Mexico
Mexico's own form of the sport, jaripeo, dates to the 16th century, and its riders still try to stay aboard until the bull tires and stops bucking.