January 19, 1999 — It was 3:30 last Monday morning when Cindy Cook decided she was going to ride a bull. And when Cindy Cook decides she is going to do something, Cindy Cook does it.
“I was just headstrong on doing it,” said the 34-year-old Cook, who, at a petite 5-foot-5, doesn’t look much like the bull riding type. “Unfortunately, that’s the way I am. And I’ve lost a lot of men because of it.”
No, Cook doesn’t look like a bull rider. She looks more like a school teacher, a nurse, or a human resources assistant — which she is at Springs Industries Inc. in Gainesville.
She doesn’t look like a bull rider. But she is.
Because Friday night Cook rode a bull … for the first time … in front of more than 1,500 screaming fans … as the only female rider at the seventh-annual Southeastern Championship Bull Riding competition at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville.
Just five days. That’s all there was between Cook’s Monday-morning revelation and her Friday-night baptism into the world of bull riding atop a bull named Black Sabbath.
“I needed something in my life to make me happy,” said Cook, of Gainesville. “Because apparently God hasn’t sent the right man.”
Last Sunday Cook went to sleep crying. She was longing for her children — Barry, 13, and Kari, 9 — who live many miles away in Louisiana with their father, Cook’s ex-husband. Barry and Kari called their mother Sunday night. They were watching bull riding on television.
“I went to sleep with bull riding on my mind,” remembered Cook. “I woke up at 3:30 and it was laying on my heart. God wanted me to ride. I wanted to ride.”
So Cook took things into her own hands Monday morning. She knew the bull riding championship was coming to town and she called its promoter and told him she wanted to ride. By Tuesday night, she talked her way into a spot in the event’s lineup.
When she told her son, he exclaimed, “Mama no! No Mama!” She waited until Saturday to tell her daughter. She already worries about her mama enough, Cook said.
Just two days. That’s all the time Cook had to prepare for one of the most dangerous sports around. That’s all the time she had to change her mind — and anyone who knows Cook, knew that wasn’t going to happen.
She called up Clay West of Little Bear Rodeo Co. in Auburn to get some pointers. West put her through an hour-long crash course on the bull riding basics, with a log of wood filling in for the bull.
West, on hand Friday to coach Cook, said the session — albeit short — was productive, but any cowboy or cowgirl’s first ride is less about technique than it is about sheer courage.
“If she’s got the guts to do it, if she can do it here in front of all these people, she can do it anywhere,” said West, a former champion bull rider.
Cook isn’t lacking in guts and she’s no stranger to the rodeo scene. She grew up on a beef farm in Columbia, Mississippi. She’s ridden horses competitively. She’s ridden them bareback. And she’s broken her share of bones doing so.
“Honestly, I’d rather have physical pain than other types of pain,” said Cook.
For all her bravado, Cook admitted to having a serious case of nerves Friday night. And who wouldn’t?
“If you’re not nervous and you’re not scared, you don’t need to be doing this,” said one cowboy Friday night. “Because that’s what keeps you alive.”
For Cook, the whole evening had to be quite overwhelming. She was there to ride a bull. That’s it.
But more than twenty of Cook’s co-workers were in the crowd to cheer her on. The competition’s emcee brought her out into the center of the jam-packed arena — alone — for an interview prior to her ride. A young girl asked Cook for her autograph — Cook’s first. Countless cowboys offered her last-minute tips and suggestions throughout the night.
And a sports writer from The Times followed her every move.
“I’ve got to walk,” said Cook politely, as she took off on her own at one point. She needed to think. She needed to pray.
She returned to eye up the bulls, which were milling about the pen behind the arena. A blonde bull, with sharp horns and terror in his eyes was pawing the dirt, ready to charge.
“I don’t want that one,” said Cook, turning away.
Finally, Cook’s time had come. She made her way to the chute where Black Sabbath was waiting.
“Just keep digging and keep leaning forward,” said Cook when asked her strategy. “And pray to God. I’ve been praying to God all week.”
Just over two seconds. That’s how long Cook stayed on the bull before crashing to the ground, leading with her right wrist.
“I want to do this again,” cried a beaming Cook, holding her wrist. “I am going to do this again.”
“Did it hurt?” asked six-year-old Alyssa Preslar, of Gainesville, who wanted to meet her first female bull rider.
“Just my wrist, and a little bit of pride,” answered Cook to the group that was forming around her. “I wanted to stay on longer. But at the same time, I was proud to hang on for just one buck. I’ve got a rush to get more though.”
Indeed, Cook was already making plans to ride again Saturday, the event’s final night.
But Cook will have to wait to make her sophomore run. She woke up at 3:15 a.m. Saturday to another early-morning revelation. She was in pain. Her fingers had turned blue. She realized she had fractured her wrist.