A rodeo clown gets tossed into the air making sure riders stay safe during the Professional Bull Riders Canada Cup Series on Feb. 28 at the VisitLethbridge.ca arena. Photo by Brock Strate.

During the 18th century, Mexican citizens thought it would be a promising idea to stick one man and a raging bull inside an arena to see how long they could last. Either the man would be charged down by the bull or the man would kill the bull with a sword.  

While this event continues to this day in Mexico, up in Canada they have a separate way of being a matador. Instead of just standing in front of the bull, they ride the bull.  

The rules of bull riding are simple. Wear some basic padding, get on the back of a bull and once the door opens, hang on for dear life until you hear the buzzer.  

If you get bucked off within eight seconds, you are out. If you survived the eight seconds, then judges will allocate a score based on how well you rode the bull and how well the bull fought back. 

These points matter because if you ride the full eight seconds, you get points towards the national standings, even if you do not win the night.  

Just like any other sport, it takes about a full year for all the points to be tallied and the $100,000 to be given out to the year’s winner. 

On Feb. 28, Professional Bull Riders Canada held their second Canada Cup Series event of the 2025 season in Lethbridge, AB. Being such a significant event for the area, on Friday alone, they had the highest crowded attendance on record. Attendees came from across North America, including BC, the USA, and even some riders from Brazil and Australia. 

 Nick Tetz, winner of the Lethbridge event, says it is special to ride in Lethbridge because he has had so much success and the crowd is so supporting.  

“There’re so many people here” says Tetz.  

“They’ve released an extra 200 tickets for standing room only and they sold in minutes. The sports in a really good spot, I think there’s never been a better time to be a professional bull rider.” 

Being one of the only unique sports that makes it to TV, such as TSN, the PBR makes sure to put on a special show for the fans while the riders are getting set up for their next bull. 

Each night starts with a flurry of flames and explosions to get the fans riled up. Then during the action, music gets played to its loudest setting, making sure the fans know when to cheer for the riders.  

They also have mini contests throughout, such as “Who has the most worn-out boot?” and “Bull riding without the bull.”  

Cameron Quesnel, spectator of the event, says his family came all the way from Surrey, BC to watch their favourite riders shoot their shot. 

“Well, we’ve done PBR in the past, a few times, back in our college years, but that was a few decades ago” says Quesnel. 

“So now I guess, I just kind of rekindle all this and get back into the old groove of watching PBR come back to Lethbridge and sit down and enjoy a good show.” 

Nick Tetz was also the winner of last year’s PBR Canada Cup Series. Should he win again this November, he will be the first man to ever win back-to-back seasons. 

Both the fans and the riders are excited to see what will happen over the next eight months. Check out pbrcanada.com for the latest standings.