Dusty Tuckness is a bullfighter, but not the matador version that comes to mind – the one waving a red cape to goad the bull into charging at him before going in for the kill.
Yes, this bullfighter faces 2,000-pound animals all the time. But his job is to give bull riders who’ve completed their rounds at the rodeo enough time to scramble back behind the fence before the next performer is called out for an 8 second (or shorter) ride.
The goal is for the rider, the bull and Tuckness to come out of this safely. Of course, that last part can’t always be guaranteed.
“I’ve got one job and it is to keep the guys safe, if that costs me getting hooked or ran over, then that’s my job,” Tuckness says. “I am going to do anything out there to keep the guys healthy and wealthy, so they can go onto the next rodeo.”
Tuckness is a 14-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Bullfighter and a 10-time winner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Bullfighter of the Year award. And a fan favorite at RodeoHouston, where he’s back for his twelfth year.
Wearing his trademark horizontal “T” black and white face paint, the 36-year-old is hard to miss when performing.
Tuckness, who is a Wyoming native, grew up around livestock shows and rodeos. Tuckness’s father, Forrest “Timber” Tuckness, was a bullfighter himself and a rodeo clown who went by the name of “Cody Nite Rodeo.”
Watching what his father did, made Tuckness fell in love with the sport. After a short stint trying bull riding, he began pursuing bullfighting when he was 12, he says
There is something unique about Tuckness’s fighting, he’s got the touch as many of his colleagues have says. Whether it’s his dedicated work ethic or tendency to keep his head held up high, the Wyoming native is nicknamed the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) for a reason, says bareback bronc rider, Kaycee Field.
While bull riding presents its dangers, bullfighters are in one of the most vulnerable positions they could be in – between the bull rider and the bull – otherwise known as “the gap.”
As soon as a bull rider’s eight second heat is completed, bullfighters have to quickly figure out where the bull riders will be thrown off and where the animal is going. “It’s a reaction type game, we do a lot of anticipating, so you can’t really have a game plan because the rider and the bull could do anything at any time,” Tuckness says. “You have to expect the worst but hope for the best.”
Once they find this spot, bullfighters wedge themselves into the space between the bull and the rider. With the help of distractions from the rodeo clown, they are able to fend off the bull in time for the rider to head back toward the chute.
“It’s kind of an art form when you see how we work and how we move around the animal not only for the bull rider’s benefit, but for the bull’s and for ourselves,” Tuckness says.
Prior to getting into the game-time zone, Tuckness appreciates taking in the slower moments shared with the other athletes.
He describes the energy in the NRG Center as chill. Often the guys will come together to chat, socialize and grab a bite to eat before their events. Many of his best friendships have been made through rodeoing, so different cities reunite him with old and new faces.
“I love coming down here, the camaraderie here is amazing to see,” Tuckness says. “I mean it’s almost shocking you see competitors going head-to-head and they are encouraging each other to score higher than themselves.”
Tuckness’s switches gears however, at the start of the bareback riding competition. This is his queue as bull riding will be the next event.
He is well-aware that bullfighting does not come without its risks. Bullfighters can be severely injured or even in some cases, killed while performing.
Tuckness relies on his training, both in and outside of the arena, to ensure he is taking every precaution to avoid any accidents.
Tuckness still remembers a run-in with a bull early in his career when he was just 15 years old. The bull got Tuckness, pinned him up against a fence and repeatedly rammed into him.
“I was really young, I honestly didn’t even know what fear or nerves were, it really opened up my eyes to what the sport can do.”
Two years ago, a bull stepped on Tuckness’s lower leg and broke two long bones in his leg.
The injury, which Tuckness says was his worst to date, took him out for half of the then-upcoming 2022 season, as he worked to rehabilitate, he says.
Despite being on the road 10 to 11 months out of the year, Tuckness goes to the gym for four to five hours a day and focuses on agility exercises to keep him light on his feet when responding to bulls.
And to prepare mentally, Tuckness says he reads scriptures every morning before the sun rises. His favorite that keeps him going is John 15:13, which reads, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
“I’ve got pretty good peace in myself when I go into the arena and a lot of people don’t quite understand that because I am going against a really big, unpredictable animal,” Tuckness says. “But my faith is where that comes from, that and all the hard work that I do outside of the arena. I just have to apply all that I learn and trust all that I have done.”
He uses these two guideposts to push him through events, “A lot of people look at me and think I am crazy, but really crazy people aren’t good at anything,” Tuckness says. “I have studied this; everybody has their own gifts, and it is up to us to find and apply them in our lives and this is my gift.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
