September 28, 2023 • 44 mins
#072 - Hold on tight! This episode offers a thrilling ride as we plunge into the daring world of bull riding with our audacious guest, Gavan Hauck. An 18-year-old professional bull rider from Bandera, Texas, Gavan shares his unfiltered journey in this adrenaline-filled sport. Expect a heart-pounding narrative filled with life-changing experiences, family support, and the physical and mental grit needed to ride a 1500lb bull!
As we stir up dust with Gavan, we uncover the highs and lows of his bull-riding career. He candidly speaks about the risks, his rides with his practice bull, Biggie, and his extraordinary victory at a major rodeo event. We also delve into the rodeo world's camaraderie, the undervalued role of rodeo clowns, and Gavan's admiration for the two-time PBR world champion, Jess Lockwood.
In our riveting conversation, Gavan sheds light on the financial aspects of bull riding and the importance of consistency in this unpredictable sport. We explore his strategies to overcome slumps and stay mentally and physically fit. Gavan's story is a testament to passion, bravery, and resilience. Tune in to experience the captivating and hardcore world of bull riding through the eyes of a young professional.
To see more from my guests be sure and give me a follow on Instagram @journeywithjakepodcast . I also share some personal posts to get to know me better and who I am. Thanks for listening to Journey with Jake!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let me start with a question.
Would you willingly strapyourself to the back of a 1500lb
animal, knowing that thisanimal wants nothing more than
to remove you from their back?
Well, look no further than myguest today, gavin Hawk.
Gavin has been riding bowls forthe past eight years.
At only 18 years old, he isjust coming into his prime.
(00:22):
Hang on tight as we ride bowlswith Gavin Hawk.
Hello everyone, my name is JakeBushman and I am the host of
Journey with Jake.
What a thrill and adventure itwas for me to chat with Gavin
Hawk, who is currentlyparticipating as a bull rider in
the PRCA, also known as theProfessional Rodeo Cowboys
(00:43):
Association.
You will love the maturity ofthis young man and his
willingness to work hard and gofor his dreams.
Who knows, one day you may hearWorld Champion and Gavin Hawk
in the same sentence.
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
This is a podcast aboutadventure and how, through our
adventures, we can overcome thechallenges of life that come our
(01:04):
way.
While I expect you will learnsome things about different
adventures, this show willentertain you.
Each episode will featuredifferent guests or guests as
they share experiences andstories from the different
adventures they have been on.
Not only will you beentertained, but you will also
hear the failures and trialseach guest faces and what they
have done or are doing toovercome the hardships that come
(01:26):
their way.
My goal is to take each of uson a journey through the
experiences of my guests, withthe hope that you'll be
entertained and inspired toovercome your day-to-day
challenges.
After all, it's not all aboutthe destination as it is about
the journey.
Welcome back to Journey withJake.
(01:58):
This is episode number 72 today.
As I was preparing for thisepisode, I had one of those
moments where I just thought howfortunate and blessed I am to
be able to speak one-on-one withthese fantastic guests each and
every week.
Thanks to all of you who tunein and listen.
I hope you are not onlyentertained by some fantastic
stories and experiences of myguests, but I hope in some way
(02:21):
you feel inspired and thismotivates you to continue your
journey and do whatever you arepassionate about.
I know it has really motivatedme.
Speaking of motivation, I didwant to bring some attention to
my guests from episode 50, marioMinert.
Mario has motivated me in somany ways.
Mario is an endurance and lifecoach and has brought some more
(02:42):
focus and inspiration to my roleas a podcaster and where this
is taking me.
I know he can do the same foryou and whatever role you have
going on for you.
We all need some guidance fromtime to time and there's nothing
better than a personal coachlike Mario.
Check out Mario Minert onInstagram it's at mariominert
and Minert is spelledM-I-N-N-A-E-R-T.
(03:05):
Or check out his website,mariominertcom, and let him know
.
Jake from Journey with Jakesent you.
Finally, I want to invite allof you to follow me on Instagram
at Journey with Jake podcast tosee some clips and photos of my
guests, as well as somepersonal things I am up to as a
way to get to know me a littlebit better.
Okay, let's get to know myguest, gavin Hawk.
(03:26):
I'm excited today because Ihave Gavin Hawk on the show with
me today.
Gavin, welcome to Journey withJake.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Hey, yeah, it's nice to meet you Finally get to come
on the podcast.
That would be a good one.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, absolutely I'm excited for it.
You are a bull rider.
I have not had a bull rider onthe show yet.
So when I think of adventureand this is like an adventure
podcast I mean that soundspretty dang adventurous.
Yeah, sitting on the back of abull and riding a bull.
We're going to dive into that alittle bit.
I would like to know a littlebit about who you are first,
though.
So if you don't mind, kind oftell us a little bit about who
Gavin is.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
My name is Gavin Hawk and I'm from Bandera, Texas.
I'm 18 years old and I'm a bullrider and doing it since I was
10 years old and done it eversince.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Wow, started when you were 10.
Okay, when you're 10, startingoff as a bull rider, are you
riding like big bulls or youkind of start off on something
smaller?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
When you're that young, they usually start you
off on like calves or steers,like just the smaller version
pretty much.
And I pretty much just beggedmy mom and my dad and then doing
it because my dad he used to bea bull rider and my brothers,
they all did it I was like youknow what?
I want to try this.
So I tried it and the veryfirst time my dad told me he was
like you're not ready, youdon't have any spurs or nothing.
(04:41):
You're not ready, you don'thave the right equipment.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And I was like I don't care, I got my own money.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I want to get on.
He's like, all right, shootyourself.
And then I got on and I shouldhave listened to him because I
ended up breaking my arm andbiting a hole through my lip and
all kinds of stuff.
And then I was like I'm sorry,I should have listened to you,
but hey look where I am now, soRight.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, and just a few short years later, really it's
kind of in your blood.
It sounds like it sounds likeyour family.
Sounds like your dad was a bullrider.
How many brothers do you have?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I have two other brothers and I have three
sisters.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Wow, okay, where do you?
Where do you fall in line withthe family?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I'm the at the very bottom.
I'm only youngest, so you'rethe baby of the family.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Okay, very good, so you're in your 18 years old, so
you probably have any.
Do you have any nephew, nephewsand nieces or anything like
that?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Oh yeah, I have one nephew and three nieces, four
nieces now.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Very good.
Is everybody still in Texas?
Or you kind of spread out a?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
little.
Oh yeah, they're all in Texas,and then my mom's side of the
family, she's there in Vegas andwhatnot.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So okay, very good I'm.
I lived in Vegas for 20 years,so that's very good.
Excellent, Good deal.
And hey, Vegas, you know, bigtime rodeo haps in Vegas every
December typically.
So yeah, that's, that's awesome.
Let's talk about bull riding alittle bit and just kind of
rodeo overall, because I'm notsuper understanding of how it
works or how the different Iknow there's different leagues
(06:03):
or what I don't know what youcall them that that you're in.
You start when you're 10, justriding calves or steers,
something a little littlesmaller, and then is there some
junior league that you got into.
I mean, how does this all work?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
if you don't mind, so I started out on calves and
steers, just trying to get thefeel for it, just kind of get in
my mind and body prepared forwhat's coming up later on.
And you start out on calvessteers, then it goes to mini
bulls, which is just a smallerversion of the big bulls, and
then it goes to junior bulls,which is younger, bigger bulls,
and then it goes to the bigbulls and right now I'm at the
(06:35):
big bulls, so I'm at as best asit gets, are you?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
in some sort of I don't know what they call it a
circuit or some sort of rodeo.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, I'm in the cowboy pro rodeo association.
Right now I'm doing the.
It's called the.
They stands for CPR for short.
And then I got my PRCA, whichis the big boys, the big bubble.
And then they got the PBR andI've had a couple offers to go
to the PBR but I just kind ofstuck with PRCA so far, just
(07:03):
going to get the feel for it,and CPR, right now it's kind of
like a.
It's just kind of getting meprepared for what's coming up
later on, like traveling andstuff, and right now I'm doing
pretty good in the CPR.
So I'm winning the year endright now and the rookie year.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You're in your rookie year of CPR.
Okay, very good, awesome.
Okay, very good, rookie yearyou're so.
That's preparing you.
You're on the big bulls.
It's preparing you for whatcomes next.
Why, why did you want to be abull rider?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I guess it was just in my blood.
And then first, soon as I goton my first one, I said I was
never going to do it again.
And then a couple weeks later Igot on my next one and I've
done it ever since and it's justthe adrenaline rush it gives
you and everything.
It's just Hard to get away fromit.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Let's talk about that for a minute, because I've
heard people say that Bullriding can be addicting.
Yes, very there's like a fearto it, but there's also this
adrenaline rush.
What is that?
Why is it so addicting?
What is it that it does?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's just I mean the feeling you get whenever you get
off of your boy and you werejust like you rode Really good
and you were a high amount ofpoints, and just the feeling is
the best feeling in the world.
People say it's equivalent, theadrenaline level is equivalent
to skydiving.
That's what they say, but I'venever been skydiving, can't
(08:21):
compare it quite yet.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
But just that feeling , I would imagine.
I mean, I first of all, I'm,I'm not getting on a bull, all
right we'll just put that upfront.
I'm not gonna get on a bull Idon't know I'm.
I'm in my mid 40s now, so Ijust it's not gonna happen.
But I totally respect peoplelike you who do that and find
joy in it.
People might look at you andsay, oh, you're crazy, but I
(08:44):
think it's pretty awesome.
I bet you do it.
How do you prepare to be a bullrider?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It takes a lot of preparation and hard work.
Honestly, you can't just go outthere and just think you can
ride anything.
I mean, it takes a lot of skilland Training to get your mind
right for it, and it's so.
They say it's 90% mentality and10% physical and Honestly I
think it can be 50-50, becauseit it can really be in your head
too, like you can say, oh, I'vebeen on this bull before and
(09:13):
he's bucked me off, but thistime we'll see what happens.
And there's some people whodoubt themselves.
But then it also comes withphysical, which is training, and
so what we do for training iswe have like a barrel of some
sort, and Sometimes you caneither keep it stationary to
where it don't move and you sitthere and you make your moves,
the correct moves, or we haveone that is on a Brace and it's
(09:38):
on like a seesaw almost, and itjust bucks up and down like that
, and then there's some otherones that go out there and then
they make them spin and allkinds of stuff.
But the best one that I foundthat works for me is the
stationary that just sits still,because you can really Slow
down all your mechanics and justwork on it.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Do you have some sort of coach that helps you with
that?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I do, and his name is Gary Lafieux.
He's a 1970 world champion inthe NFR, so he's he's been there
, done that.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
he knows his stuff.
Wow, okay when you'repracticing on that.
He's kind of making sure yourmechanics, your positioning,
that sort of thing okay.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
And he taught me how to Do all those correct moves
and whatnot.
Big shout out to him.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
I mean, look where you are now.
So, yeah, definitely Perfect.
Yeah, give him a shout out forsure.
Yeah, cuz I would just imagineto you and I like how that you
said it it could be 50 50between Mental and physical,
because I feel like you got tobe in some shape too.
I don't think you can just notbe in shape and go out there.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
You can't just be out there and just be like, oh, I'm
just gonna go get on a bull andI'm gonna ride him.
It's like you have to train forit and Stay in shape and stay
physical.
It happens.
But some people they they haveto really get in shape, whether
they're overweight.
Or there's some guys that I'veseen that have been really
(11:04):
overweight and they've beengoing out there and just making
a good ride just because they'vedone it for so long and they
know what moves to make and howto do it.
But then I've also seen someguys that have done that and
gotten really hurt.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
So I was gonna say I would think it would be part of
that getting hurt.
Yeah, that would probablydefinitely come up.
What do you do to physicallystay in shape?
Do you have any kind of routineor anything that you do?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
No, not really.
I just kind of go for a jogevery once in a while and I do
push-ups, sit-ups, what not?
I have a sauna suit that I'llput on every once in a while.
It's just a sweat it all outand just stay in shape, and they
fit, I guess a Sauna suit.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah what is a son of the kind of what a son of it's
pretty much like it's like aShirt and some pants that you
put on.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's just like it's almost like a reflective
material.
So it just makes you sweat andit sweats all your water weight
out and whatnot.
So a lot of people use it forwrestling, like whenever they're
doing weight cutting when theyneed to drop weight.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, perfect.
Well, I mean, yeah, you looklike you're good shape, you're,
you know, healthy young man, Ithink you're healthy, thank you,
and you've been doing it sinceyou were 10.
That accident that you had thatfirst time, was that one?
Was that when you were 10 yearsOld, when you cut your lip, or
was that?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, yeah.
My tooth went through my lipout the other side and then the
bull stepped on my wrist andbroke it and my mom was so mad
because we had to go toCalifornia for a wedding the
next week.
She was like you better coverthat up and hide it in all the
pictures.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
And I was like, alright, so did you have a cast
on or something?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, I had a cast and I had had a little blister
right here.
That from where my tooth wentthrough it.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Okay, so how long after that Did you get back on
it?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
It was about six months, six months later.
And then I was like, dad, Iwant to do it again.
And he was like, alright, I'llget you spurs this time.
And he went and bought me apair of spurs and he was like
Then we're gonna take you out tothe local rodeo here in Bandera
and we'll put you on a steer.
And I was whenever I got in theBuckinshoe and I started crying
(13:06):
because I said I didn't want todo it again.
And then I was like I changedmy mind, I don't want to do it
anymore.
And he was like no, you'redoing it.
And I had, I was squeezing onto the shoot so hard and he was
priming my hand off of it andfinally I just said let's go.
And then I rode the steer andI've done it ever since did you
make the fully seconds on thatsteer yeah?
yeah, I won my first ever rodeo.
(13:28):
Well, actually the one that Igot, the one I got hurt on, was
my second ever one.
The first ever one I actuallygot on.
I won the rodeo.
My brother took me out to arodeo and he was like we'll put
you on these little tiny minibulls and see how it goes.
And he entered me up and IEnded up riding in and I won it.
So he's crazy.
And then I got hurt on mysecond one.
(13:50):
Then after that, to this then.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
So then you took the six month break to get fixed up,
get better.
Your dad took you out.
You're kind of having secondthoughts, yeah, when you're in
the shoot ready to go.
You mentioned spurs.
What is it that spurs do?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
spurs they there a thing that goes on your feet
which is has a Kind of like.
People call it a shank, butit's not like a knife, it's like
a little metal piece thatsticks out about two to three
inches whether what you prefer,how far you want them to stick
out or not and then it's got arow on the end.
It's a dull row.
(14:23):
People think that it's animalabuse whenever they we use those
, but it's really not.
It's soft and it's dull.
So it just helps us get abetter grip holding our feet in
the bull and holding our legsdown, and Sometimes people get
on without them just to keep thestrength in their legs, and I
do it every once in a while whenyou're competing, you're
wearing those just to kind ofhelp you, the grip or whatever.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah but sometimes you may, you may do practice run
or something without it, justto get build up the strength.
Okay, yep, interesting Okayyeah, cuz I mean you see spurs,
you know, you see those moviesand people yeah, yeah so you
kind of know what they look likeand things, but it was yeah, I
just wondered why it was soimportant with sounds like when
you got hurt, you didn't havethem on.
No, I didn't.
So then, and your dad's like,hey, yeah, you're gonna have
(15:08):
some spurs this time.
Yeah, so you did that and thatmade a big difference.
Okay, so, when you rode that,after you broke your arm and you
rode that, that steer, whatwent through your mind?
You won.
I mean, how, what was, whatwere you feeling?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Oh, oh, it was an awesome feeling.
But then after that, I was wellthe one that I broke my arm.
I didn't end up covering thatone.
He whipped me down the firstjump.
He came out and whip me underhim and then Stunt me and then
the six months later I went andgot on again and I felt great
and I was like I'm doing thisfrom here on out.
I was like can I do it againnext week?
(15:41):
Dang, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So over the course of your years, then and you don't
have to give me an exact number,but how many, I mean how many
rodeos competitions you thinkyou've been in?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Oh, countless a lot.
I can't list, yeah, from howmany bulls I've probably been on
.
I've probably been on about3000 bulls.
Wow with my riding career, andthen Rodeos.
It's probably about Brown 20003000 somewhere around there.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
It's usually happens kind of like over a weekend
typically.
So are you riding like just oneday of the weekend, or is it
like you're riding Friday andSaturday?
How's this work?
Multiple.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Sometimes we'll have a full week of radios.
In Texas they have them allover.
This weekend's kind of a slowweekend, but we're gonna go out
to a radio tonight and we'regonna go and get on out at Taos
radio company there.
They got a pretty good radiogoing on over there.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So how do you do that ?
You're 10 years old, you startgetting into this.
How do you do it with schooland with you know, being
traveling all the time to theserodeos?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
my mom didn't let me really travel as much Whenever I
was younger, because I wasstill figuring it out and we
just kind of go on the weekendsand then after school we go and
practice sometimes.
And then, whenever it startedgetting serious and I started
taking it as more of a jobrather than just the hobby, and
she was like, well, you got tofigure something out, you can't
(17:06):
keep missing school, I was like,why don't I go home school?
And then she was like we cantry it.
And then we've home schooledever since and that gives you
the opportunity then to travelyeah, to travel and then take it
with me and Do it a while I'mon the go.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Is your mom the teacher then?
Or how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
No, I go through a Online service which is like you
have watch videos and you taketests afterwards and then that's
pretty much it.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Okay, we're gonna kind of ask this question here
how are you doing with youronline school?
Were you pretty good at it, or?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I'm not.
I'm kind of I'm a little bitbehind.
That's why I haven't graduatedyet.
I should have graduated lastyear, but we got a lot late
start in the school year lastyear so it kind of put me behind
.
So I had to do it all throughsummer.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Very good, okay.
Well, good for you.
I'm glad you're doing that.
I'm glad you're at least gonnaaccomplish that.
And, yeah, you know, get yourhigh school diploma.
I think that's important andyou kind of move on from there,
whether you go to college orwhatever.
Who knows?
I mean, it sounds like you'reon your way to be in a
professional bull rider.
You are kind of somewhat of aprofessional already, so that
sounds like it's gonna be a goodcareer for you.
So I think that's that'sawesome.
Let's talk about that support alittle bit.
Your mom said, yeah, okay,let's do the online thing.
(18:16):
You can do online school.
It sounds like your brother's arider's, your dad is a rider.
You have a great coach.
How's that support been for you?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's been great.
I have a great support system,no matter.
No matter what I do or anythingI do in radio, they've always
supported me, no matter what,and I can't be thankful enough
for them because you're alwayson the road, because you're
Constantly going to rodeos andthings.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
How about some of those normal teenage social
things, you know, dances andproms and things like that?
Have you exact?
Just, is that just been kind ofin the back?
Yeah, backseat for now.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Yeah, I don't really.
I don't really care to go anddo partying or dancing or
anything really like that.
I just kind of stick to what Iwant to accomplish in my goals
in life, which is ride bulls andbe a world champion, and that's
been my goal ever since.
So that's what I stick toawesome.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Well, let's talk about that.
How's it coming along me?
What is it that?
You're?
You know?
How are you staying focused inorder to be a world champion?
What do you got going on?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
people think that guys who rodeo or do boring,
they're always out partying andJust drinking all the time.
And it's really.
I mean, if you want to be goodat it, you just focus on
yourself and train and get yourmind right and go to those big
rodeos and hit all those bigrodeos and stay Consistent and
then you'll be on your way tothe, to the wind.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, you can't just take it for granted, you can't.
I mean, I think the perceptionis because you talked about
people think they're outdrinking and party.
I think it's media.
I think the media is kind ofshowing off, is like some of
these movies that we've seenabout.
They're out partying anddrinking.
Yeah, I mean, we all know acowboy loves to loves his beer.
You got like you said you'reyou're focused on something,
(19:55):
you're focused on the task athand.
You want to be a professional.
Tell me kind of take us through, Gavin, your, your, you show up
to your rodeo, kind of.
What's your process?
What time do you get there?
How do you mentally prepare andthen walk us up to the shoe,
get us on the bull, if you don'tmind, just kind of take us
through that whole experience.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
So usually whenever we are headed to the rodeo, we
like to get there about an hourearlier, just so that way we can
pay our fees and Get the draw,like what bull we drew.
And then we get our rope orgear set up and all kinds of
stuff.
Usually we I mean, we'd be fineif we showed up 30 minutes
before, because more riding isusually the last event Sometimes
(20:34):
I have two sections.
Sometimes I'll put one at firstand one at the end, but we used
to get usually get there aroundhour to 30 minutes earlier, so
that way we can get everythingset up and prepared and be ready
for what has to come.
And then Whenever it's time togo, they'll run your bull
through the alley and run theminto the shoot.
And Sometimes, if you don't knowthe bull, you can ask the stock
(20:56):
contractor who owns him, whathe does and how he bucks and
he'll let you know.
Or sometimes I have videos ofthem.
Show them.
You show you a video and betterchances.
But sometimes the bull won't doalways do the same thing.
Most of the time they don't.
Usually they tell you he'sgonna go one direction and he
usually goes the other.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Okay, so you watch them, come through the shoot
there, and then are that, whatdo you call it?
The alley?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
So what you call it, yeah, the alley, which is like,
well, sometimes we call it asnake, so it's.
They just run them into thereand then it leads them into the
shoot.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Do you take a look at the bull Besides video or
talking to the stock contractor?
Do you sometimes take a lookBefore it even runs through?
That, I mean, did you ever kindof go, yeah, take a peek at it?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah, yeah, they'll be in the back pain.
One time I drew this a bull outand burn it Texas and he was a
One of the biggest bull, the oneof the biggest pets there, and
he was like I walked up to thefence and he comes up to the
Fence and I just startscratching on his head and I was
feeding them hay and stuff.
My mom has a video of it.
It was funny and she was likeshe posted on take talk.
(21:58):
She was like ready for him tobe 90 or something.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
And what happened with that bull ride?
Do you remember what happenedon that ride with that bull?
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I ended up getting second place on my road Yep.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That's awesome.
Yeah very good.
It's so funny because when Isee those video and I've seen
some videos of people back inthe pen kind of looking at the
bull they seem all docile andnice.
You know they're coming upletting people scratch them,
yeah, but boy they they'retrained to.
They want to get you off.
That's incredible.
Can you tell us, maybe, whenyou're getting on that bull,
what's going on?
I mean, did your heart startbeating faster, like when you,
(22:31):
when it's in the shoe and you'regetting ready to get on it?
What kind of how does it?
I mean?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Everybody has nerves whenever they're about to get on
, no matter what and I don'tcare who you are I know you got
some nerves in here there'snobody in this world who's
getting about to get on a bullthat isn't nervous or doesn't
have a little bit of fear inthem.
But you, I mean just trustingGod and he's just trust the
process and he's right there byyour side.
He'll keep you safe and justpray to him.
(22:58):
Every time and I mean everybodygets nervous before they're
about to get on and your heartgets to beating a little bit
faster and harder.
And then, whenever you're inthere, it's just like, okay,
it's time to do business andjust turn that switch and you
don't listen anything and youcan't hear anything.
You just focused on what you'reabout to do.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Can you tell us you mentioned God?
Can you tell us a little bitabout how important that is to
you?
Because I've seen some justsome pictures of you and stuff
that it looks like that's a veryimportant thing to you.
So can you, would you mindsharing a little bit about your
faith?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
He's my Lord and he's my, he's my father.
So I mean, I always put mytrust in him, no matter what, no
matter what happens or what'scome going on, and I always put
my trust in him and that's.
I've just always been taughtthat and I always believe in
that.
You know, that's just the wayI'm.
I guess that's just the way Ilive.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
It's great, it's a good, good perspective to have.
It seems like that's kind ofnot the big thing that's
important nowadays, which is tome kind of unfortunate.
I think that's I'm glad thatyou have that kind of at the
forefront Of your mind.
I think that's that's reallyimportant.
I want to hear a few stories,maybe a rodeo in particular, or
just some stories of and itdoesn't necessarily have to be
(24:08):
the egg the ride itself, maybeit's something that happened
before.
I, like you, told the storyabout you know, scratching the
nose of that, yeah, a big bull.
But any, yeah, any stories thatyou can share with us about,
about riding, or just some ofyour experiences being in this
industry.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, I, I can tell you a little bit of story about
this.
One time we were out and youprobably never see it in a
million years, but one time Igot on this bull out and up in
the Panhandle of Texas and I wasa little bit younger, I was
about 14 or 15 at the time and Iwas riding this bull and I
(24:41):
wrote him to write about likeseven point something seconds.
And I came off of him and myarms slid down the, the rear end
of him in his tail wrappedaround my wrist and the.
He had stickers inside of his,uh, inside the hair on his tail
and it caught around my wristand it drugged me around the
arena and and I was gettingslung around like a rag doll all
(25:06):
kinds of places.
It was crazy and you'll neversee that again because I've
never, ever seen it happen andeverybody was like godly dude,
that was the craziest thing I'veever seen.
I was like it would be my luck.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Wow, okay, so I'm trying to picture that by the
tail.
Yes the tail of the bull, cuzI've seen people get hung up
with their ropes, or whateverI've seen that, but you were
being dragged around by the tailof the bull wrist was yeah yeah
wow, okay, is there video outthere?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I got, yeah, I have a video and I can send it to you,
but okay it's crazy becauseusually people, whenever they
say they like, hung to theirtail, which is like the bull
rope.
So whenever you grab the excess, we call that our tail, like
the other rope that we wraparound Our hand.
That's it.
We call that our tail also.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Okay, that's why you're like it's the bull's tail
, not the tail of the rope, okayand Some people they hang up to
that, like with their spur.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Sometimes they'll have their row and it'll catch
in that rope and they'll dragaround by it buy it from the
bull and it's happened to a lotof people.
I almost had it happen theother day and I got close to it
but I pulled it out.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So when you got drug around by the bull's tail, not
the tail of your rope, did yousustain any injuries from that,
or you just banged up a littlebit?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I was just banged up a little bit.
It kind of pulled some muscleson my wrist.
It went even my right wrist itwas my other hand and it was.
It just pulled, pulled somemuscles on my wrist and it
wasn't too bad.
It was just I was a little bitbanged up because I wouldn't
didn't even know what was goingon.
I didn't even know I had thebull's tail because all of a
sudden I hit the ground and Ididn't know it wrapped around my
(26:43):
wrist and all of a sudden itjust yanks me back and I was
like, oh god, where are we going?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Wow, that's incredible.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthe people out there that are
helping you, like these rodeoclowns and stuff.
I mean, they seem like they'vegot a pretty important job.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Yeah, and they have a very important job with that.
You, you don't really know whatto do because sometimes usually
if like a guy, where it catchesspur inside of the tail,
they'll get a knife and they'llcut the rope so it saves the
rider, but with that you can'treally cut the bull's tail.
So they didn't know what to do,so they just jumped on top of
me and just tried pulling me out, so and they were getting there
(27:19):
for what they did, yeah that'sincredible.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, it's amazing to me how they'll they'll risk
their.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah, you know, by jumping in there to help you
guys to help the riders.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
It's a pretty, pretty neat.
I'm hoping maybe at one somepoint I can talk to a rodeo
clown to just kind of hear theirperspective of things, I think
that'd be a lot of fun.
Well, that's a great story, man.
Yeah, something that you'llnever see.
I don't think I've ever seen it.
Like I said, I've seen them gethung up before other ways, but
never by the actual bulls tail.
Whoo incredible.
Any particular competition orrodeo or something that where
(27:50):
you just were awesome and youjust felt good and man, you know
, like any story like that.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, I have like the beginning of the cowboy pro
rodeo association the series ofit.
At the very beginning of it Ihad a very great, great start to
the season and I rode everysingle bull that I got on that
like 10 or 12 Rodeos in a rowand I was winning money at every
single one.
There was like nothing couldhave bucked me off.
(28:15):
I ended up winning a rodeo andgetting and that was like one of
the biggest rodeos you can winof the year because it's a big
indoor arena and it was reallynice facility.
And then I rode a really goodbull that night.
He was a real big black bull andhe had crooked horns kind of
and he was huge.
He was a real big and he wouldjump up in the shoot and like
(28:36):
jump over the top of it and he'ddo it one time and then he'd
sit there and stand still.
But he was a really good bulland nobody is really ridden him
besides another guy I know inthe PBR and stuff and he's a.
He's just great.
And then I ended up riding himand I was like 86 or 87 points
on him.
So wow.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
So his routine was was he, would he jump up once
you were on him?
Is that when he'd do the onejump?
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah he would, and then he'd settle down and just
stop it.
Some bulls just have a routinelike that.
Some of them just like eitherlean super hard or some just do
one jump in the shoot and thenthey're fine.
But they just have theirroutine, just like how we have
ours.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
That's so interesting .
Yeah so leaning, meaningthey'll lean like put pressure
on your leg.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
They'll put pressure on your leg against the shoot.
I just actually I own a bulland his name is Biggie and he's
the biggest bull I've ever seenin my life.
I didn't know he was that bigwhen I bought him.
He's probably about 2200 poundsand he leans super, super hard
in the shoot because he's so bigand he takes up the entire
(29:39):
bucking shoot.
So he just leans on your legall the time and last night we
bucked him and he jumped up andkicked in the bucking shoot and
caught his foot inside the slotand my foot was right there and
he put his foot on top of mineand I was trying to pull it out
and I couldn't.
It was hurting so bad and thenfinally I just had to freakin'
pull his leg out from under meand it was just he's heavy.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Oh, Biggie huh.
So that's your like practicebull.
You kind of use him forpractice that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yeah, Very good I bought him out of Tennessee.
I bought him for a practicebull and I didn't know he was
that big when I bought him and Ijust seen pictures and videos
of him and I was like oh yeah,he's just good size.
And they just said big,four-year-old and I was like all
right.
And then I bought him and thenI saw him and I was like, oh my
God, I was like this is a bigpractice bull.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Well, it's good that you have something real that you
can practice on as well.
So you started off the yearjust fantastic.
What about when you have a fewdown times Like I'm guessing
you've had a few where you'remaybe struggling a little bit,
can't get a bull?
You know you're struggling,maybe not having good draws
either, whatever that may be.
Yeah, what do you do to kind ofovercome that?
(30:53):
How do you keep yourselfmotivated?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
You just got to really put the work in and you
got to really train and train,because sometimes from that
happening is due to your lack ofwork and preparation.
Coming into it Like, say youwere going into a slump that's
what we call it.
In slumps you just like you'rebucking off and you're falling
off of everything.
Then we just call it a slumpand it's due to something you
(31:16):
either did wrong in yourmechanics when you're working on
the barrel or doing somethingLike sometimes you can just have
your free arm too high or toolow and or your feet keep coming
back or something and you needto sit up on a mortgage just due
to what you did in preparationor something.
Like you're not drawing the bestof bulls.
(31:38):
Some bulls, I mean, they'reharder to ride than others and
they all do something different.
Sometimes you get them goodones that are just right there
and they just buck right upunder you and then sometimes you
get those ones that are harderto ride that just move forward
out from under you.
Sometimes it can screw yourmind if you're falling off all
bunch like that and you just gotto get back in the practice pin
, get on the ones you know youcan ride and just ride them over
(32:00):
and over and then work your wayback up and then you're riding
good again.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
So that's what you just do.
You just kind of keep it going,you just try to keep your
motivation up.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I mean that's what I was saying is 50-50.
It's in your mind and it'sphysical.
I mean it can do.
It can screw your mind a lot ifyou're bucking off a bunch like
that and you're just like, goddang, I got to get one road.
I mean you're just thinkingabout it too much Sometimes.
You just got to go out thereand just have fun, just keep a
smile on your face becauseyou're doing what you love.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Have you had a slumper too?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Oh yeah, everybody goes through one.
I've had them quite a few timesand there's been times where
it's really messed with me andthere's just been like right
after that I was having thatstreak and I had fallen off of
like one or two and then I wasgetting a road, mad at myself
for it, and my dad was like youjust need to take it back to the
(32:53):
practice pin and just have fun,because you know how to ride
them.
You're doing it good, it's allin your mind.
Right now You're buckingyourself off with what you're
thinking.
And I was like, yeah, you'reright.
And then the next rodeo.
I went out there and just hadfun with it and didn't even
think about it and just won therodeo.
Just won the rodeo, good foryou.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
That's good.
I like the fact that you'relearning from that.
I think we all kind of even notnecessarily with bull riding,
but just in our own lives, Ithink sometimes we all kind of
go through little slumps, and soit's right.
I mean, you know how to do it,you know what you need to do.
Just a matter of, okay, let'senjoy this instead of taking it
so serious and sometimes you gotto do that and get back out
there right?
Is there any bulls that youhave not been able to master,
(33:36):
that you have not been able toride, or have you ridden pretty
much all the bulls that you'vewanted to?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
There's been quite a few.
I mean, some of them are justrandom bulls here and there, but
that I've only been on like onetime.
My boss, he has about 30 to 40head of bulls.
He has all kinds he has likeall the way up from these junior
bulls all the way up to rankopen bulls and he has this one
called the Wingnut right now andhe's been one that has bucked
(34:04):
me off for quite a bit.
And then there's been a lot oftimes where me and him have been
90 points plus and he'sdefinitely my favorite one for
sure Wingnut that's yourfavorite bull.
Uh-huh, and he's a real big dude.
He's tall and long and he's gota lot of weight to him he's
about 2,000 pounds and some ofthe PBR judges that are there's
(34:26):
one that came out last night tothe practice and he had judged
the world champion and the PBR.
He was had set the world recordfor the PBR and he was 97 and
three quarter points and thatjudge judged that and he told me
he was like that bull rightthere.
He needs to be at the PBR.
There's not very many guys whowould ride on there.
(34:47):
And just to say that I'm doingit is pretty damn cool.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Yeah, that is awesome .
Good for you, wow.
So you're pretty much, you'repretty close.
I mean, when are we going tosee you in Vegas?
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Oh, I've been there one time and then, but it was
for the youth finals, so theyhad it was called the IMBA, the
International Miniatur BoardRiders Association, or something
like that.
We went there in 2019 for thefinals.
I ended up getting like sixthere's seven in the world or
something, and then that's thelast time we went to Vegas, but
(35:22):
most of our finals they happenaround here, and then the CPRA
finals they're going to happenout in Houston, and that one's a
pretty big one too.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
What time of year does that happen?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
That one should happen in October.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
So coming up next month, yeah, yeah, coming up
Very good, wow, okay, good, I'llhave to do some little research
and see how you're doing withthat.
Yeah, very cool, awesome.
So I'm going to go to the PBR.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah, I do.
I don't know.
It's kind of half and halfright now because I've people
have told me like the PBR judgehe told me to go to PRCA first
and do a year of it or do twoyears of it, try it out, rather
than go to the PBR straight inyour as soon as you turn 18,
because he says that PBR rulesyou're getting on real rank
(36:12):
rules all the time.
No matter what you're gettingon, sometimes you'll draw one
here and there.
That is just nice, that you'lllike.
But in PRCA you get a lot ofgood ones every once in a while.
But there's just a lot of good,nice bulls that you can get on
all the time and it's a lotwhere.
That's where it tear on yourbody rather than getting on rank
bulls every single weekend youcan.
(36:34):
Sometimes you'll draw one hereand there.
That's just good and you'llpick up a couple of checks on
him.
So he was like just go try outPRCA first and then go to PBR
whenever if you choose to go toPBR.
Now they got the PBR teamseries going on which is like
kind of like NFL but Bull Ridingstyle it's.
It's pretty neat.
I've had an offer to go to oneof the teams and I haven't heard
(36:58):
nothing back yet.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Wow, okay, I didn't realize they were doing that.
I used to watch PBR quite a bit.
In fact, when I lived in VegasI used to watch them watch it,
you know, the weekends quite abit, just for fun.
And so you know, jb Mooney,there's writers like I used to
watch all the time that were alot of fun to watch, and I think
that's a particular and doesn'thave to be from the PBR, but
just any particular currentwriter that you really look up
to that you think that youadmire.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Oh yeah, I really, really think that Jess Lockwood
he's two time PBR world championtoo.
He was the youngest ever win aworld championship.
He was 18 whenever he won hisfirst one.
He has the riding style likethe best riding style I've ever
seen and that's who I try toride like.
He's won two world titles andwhy not copy the best?
Speaker 1 (37:43):
The one thing about bull riding that seems a little
tough for me.
Obviously you got to make, youknow, you got to make the eight
seconds to get a score, but thenit's kind of like some of it's
a little subjective, based onwhat the judges are looking for
and things like that yeah, thedraw, you can get a bad draw.
Where you get a bull it's notyou know, that doesn't do much,
yeah.
So that part would seem alittle tough, but I do.
You think it's just theconstant being consistent,
(38:04):
working hard, that that'll workitself out.
I mean, what's kind of yourthoughts?
Speaker 2 (38:07):
on that.
Well, I mean kind of hard tosay.
I mean, honestly, it's just,it's 50-50,.
Honestly it's.
I mean you have to really workhard to get out of where you're
at and say you're in a slum.
You got to really work at itand fix whatever happened or
where you did wrong when youwere training.
And then if you need help, Imean ask somebody if you really
(38:30):
needed help and ask a coach orask another rider.
That is pretty dang good andthen they can either help you or
it won't help you.
It's just, it's 50-50.
You just kind of got to trainyour mind and figure it out.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Do you use our good camaraderie amongst bull riders,
like do you try to help eachother out?
I mean, is it like that or isit okay?
Speaker 2 (38:52):
It's like a family back there in the radio.
So I mean all bull riders, Imean some of them don't like
each other.
They're just that's likeanywhere, right.
Yeah, it's just like any othersport.
I mean some guys don't likeeach other and I mean it happens
, but mostly in all the rodeoit's all like a big rodeo family
.
We all help each other out andlook up to each other and help,
(39:15):
say they needed money to getdown the road.
I mean people will help eachother out and I mean it's just a
family back there and how isthat the whole financial side of
it?
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Because you have to pay fees and things to get in
these rodeos.
You're not just walking in anddoing it, but you could.
They're pay off.
You could have a pay off if youdo well and get paid for it.
How does that all work, is it?
What's that like?
Speaker 2 (39:34):
I just would not want to be a roper because their
fees and what it costs to takecare of them horses, the horse
trailer, all that that's way tooexpensive, so I'll stick to the
board riding it's like it's alot cheaper.
I mean the gear on range.
I mean you got to pay for yourgear and everything like your
poro, your vest, your helmet,shafts, spurs, all that.
(39:56):
I mean that ranges in price.
And then there's fees, which isa usual.
Fee is about $75 to $100.
That's usual.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
That's kind of the norm.
Could be higher, could be lower, depending on what type of
rodeo you're in.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Okay, and then just get down the road, paying for
diesel and depending on how farit gets and how far you have to
go.
It's just.
I mean, it depends.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
It ranges.
Texas is a huge state, so yeah,like I said, paying for diesel
to get down the road.
Where are you staying?
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I'm in Bander Texas.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Okay, you're in Bander, texas, but if you go to
a rodeo that's out of town, doyou have to like stay in a hotel
or do you say how does that?
Speaker 2 (40:34):
work.
Sometimes it depends, like ifit's a really far drive, like
four, if it's four hours plus,I'll stay in a hotel, but if
it's like three hours, two hours, I'll drive home that night and
just make it home real late andthen just wake up the next day
and do it all over again and doit again.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Wow, okay, very good.
Okay, I wonder, because thatcould get costly as well.
I've been traveling all overthe place, so, wow, interesting.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
And sponsorships help with all that too.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Perf.
So do you have a few sponsors?
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yeah, yeah, like Gary and my coach, he's gotten me a
lot of sponsors, and then myboss, he helps me out whenever,
and then I have another sponsorthat gives me a lot of money and
they Okay, you've mentionedyour boss, so do you have like
some sort of day job thenbetween yeah, so I'm a farrier,
(41:23):
I do horse's feet, I put shoeson them and, yeah, trim them up
and Okay, that's why you kind ofhave an idea too how much it
costs to like for those calfropers and things like that.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
That's got to be expensive then to take care of
those horses Very good.
So you do that.
That's your like kind of yourday job.
You're a Western guy, I meanyou're a cowboy, like that's
kind of that's what you are andthat's what you do.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
My life.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
Yeah, that's who you are.
So eight years now you've beendoing it 18.
What's the average lifespan?
I mean, I would think it's kindof more of a young man's game.
How long do you want to keepdoing this?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
I'm going to try to go as long as I possibly can
until I just physically can't nomore.
And then I mean sometimes itgets to the point where your
injuries get too serious andthen like if it happens again,
then it can be life-wrisking.
And I mean there's been peoplewho I've seen that ride all the
way up to 45 years old and I'mlike, dude, you're still riding,
(42:18):
pretty dang good for being 45.
But usually people stop aroundwhen they're like 32, 33,
somewhere in that range, andthen it starts to put a little
bit of wear and tear on theirbody and they're just not like
how they used to.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
So I would say you're coming into your prime.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Yeah, yeah, right now , my age is the best I will.
From here to about 26, 27 isgoing to be my best years.
A lot more to come A lot moreto come.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
So everybody look up Gavin Hawk, Check him out.
Where can people, if peoplewant to follow along, kind of
see your story.
Where can people follow you?
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Gavin Hawk on all social media Instagram, Facebook
, TikTok.
Just, I mean, my name isspelled G-A-V-A-N-H-A-U-C-K, so
look me up and I should be thefirst one.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Perfect, Gavin.
This has been fun for me.
Thank you so much for coming onJourney with Jake.
I appreciate having you.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Of course, yeah, thank you, it was great.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Fantastic.
Special thanks to my guest,gavin Hawk.
Be sure and check him out onsocial media.
Again, it's Gavin Hawk and it'sspelled G-A-V-A-N-H-A-U-C-K, so
check him out.
He's got a lot of fun stuff.
He's doing some great things.
I see him going right on upthere.
I see him doing some reallygreat things.
Fantastic To talk to such awonderful young man like Gavin.
(43:34):
Thanks to every one of you forlistening to Journey with Jake
each and every week.
I would love it if you couldleave me a rating and review on
Apple Podcasts or wherever youlisten to your podcasts.
That would mean a lot to me.
I would really appreciate it.
If you have an adventure thatyou've participated in, maybe
something you're doing, let'stalk about it on the podcast.
Reach out to me.
You can send me an email, jakeat JourneyWithJakenet, or you
(43:57):
can reach me on Instagram.
Dm me at Journey with Jakepodcast.
Let's talk about it on thepodcast.
Just remember, it's not alwaysabout the destination as it is
about the journey.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Take care everybody.
Let me start with a question.
Would you willingly strapyourself to the back of a 1500lb
animal, knowing that thisanimal wants nothing more than
to remove you from their back?
Well, look no further than myguest today, gavin Hawk.
Gavin has been riding bowls forthe past eight years.
At only 18 years old, he isjust coming into his prime.
(00:22):
Hang on tight as we ride bowlswith Gavin Hawk.
Hello everyone, my name is JakeBushman and I am the host of
Journey with Jake.
What a thrill and adventure itwas for me to chat with Gavin
Hawk, who is currentlyparticipating as a bull rider in
the PRCA, also known as theProfessional Rodeo Cowboys
(00:43):
Association.
You will love the maturity ofthis young man and his
willingness to work hard and gofor his dreams.
Who knows, one day you may hearWorld Champion and Gavin Hawk
in the same sentence.
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
This is a podcast aboutadventure and how, through our
adventures, we can overcome thechallenges of life that come our
(01:04):
way.
While I expect you will learnsome things about different
adventures, this show willentertain you.
Each episode will featuredifferent guests or guests as
they share experiences andstories from the different
adventures they have been on.
Not only will you beentertained, but you will also
hear the failures and trialseach guest faces and what they
have done or are doing toovercome the hardships that come
(01:26):
their way.
My goal is to take each of uson a journey through the
experiences of my guests, withthe hope that you'll be
entertained and inspired toovercome your day-to-day
challenges.
After all, it's not all aboutthe destination as it is about
the journey.
Welcome back to Journey withJake.
(01:58):
This is episode number 72 today.
As I was preparing for thisepisode, I had one of those
moments where I just thought howfortunate and blessed I am to
be able to speak one-on-one withthese fantastic guests each and
every week.
Thanks to all of you who tunein and listen.
I hope you are not onlyentertained by some fantastic
stories and experiences of myguests, but I hope in some way
(02:21):
you feel inspired and thismotivates you to continue your
journey and do whatever you arepassionate about.
I know it has really motivatedme.
Speaking of motivation, I didwant to bring some attention to
my guests from episode 50, marioMinert.
Mario has motivated me in somany ways.
Mario is an endurance and lifecoach and has brought some more
(02:42):
focus and inspiration to my roleas a podcaster and where this
is taking me.
I know he can do the same foryou and whatever role you have
going on for you.
We all need some guidance fromtime to time and there's nothing
better than a personal coachlike Mario.
Check out Mario Minert onInstagram it's at mariominert
and Minert is spelledM-I-N-N-A-E-R-T.
(03:05):
Or check out his website,mariominertcom, and let him know
.
Jake from Journey with Jakesent you.
Finally, I want to invite allof you to follow me on Instagram
at Journey with Jake podcast tosee some clips and photos of my
guests, as well as somepersonal things I am up to as a
way to get to know me a littlebit better.
Okay, let's get to know myguest, gavin Hawk.
(03:26):
I'm excited today because Ihave Gavin Hawk on the show with
me today.
Gavin, welcome to Journey withJake.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Hey, yeah, it's nice to meet you Finally get to come
on the podcast.
That would be a good one.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, absolutely I'm excited for it.
You are a bull rider.
I have not had a bull rider onthe show yet.
So when I think of adventureand this is like an adventure
podcast I mean that soundspretty dang adventurous.
Yeah, sitting on the back of abull and riding a bull.
We're going to dive into that alittle bit.
I would like to know a littlebit about who you are first,
though.
So if you don't mind, kind oftell us a little bit about who
Gavin is.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
My name is Gavin Hawk and I'm from Bandera, Texas.
I'm 18 years old and I'm a bullrider and doing it since I was
10 years old and done it eversince.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Wow, started when you were 10.
Okay, when you're 10, startingoff as a bull rider, are you
riding like big bulls or youkind of start off on something
smaller?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
When you're that young, they usually start you
off on like calves or steers,like just the smaller version
pretty much.
And I pretty much just beggedmy mom and my dad and then doing
it because my dad he used to bea bull rider and my brothers,
they all did it I was like youknow what?
I want to try this.
So I tried it and the veryfirst time my dad told me he was
like you're not ready, youdon't have any spurs or nothing.
(04:41):
You're not ready, you don'thave the right equipment.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And I was like I don't care, I got my own money.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I want to get on.
He's like, all right, shootyourself.
And then I got on and I shouldhave listened to him because I
ended up breaking my arm andbiting a hole through my lip and
all kinds of stuff.
And then I was like I'm sorry,I should have listened to you,
but hey look where I am now, soRight.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, and just a few short years later, really it's
kind of in your blood.
It sounds like it sounds likeyour family.
Sounds like your dad was a bullrider.
How many brothers do you have?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I have two other brothers and I have three
sisters.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Wow, okay, where do you?
Where do you fall in line withthe family?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I'm the at the very bottom.
I'm only youngest, so you'rethe baby of the family.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Okay, very good, so you're in your 18 years old, so
you probably have any.
Do you have any nephew, nephewsand nieces or anything like
that?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Oh yeah, I have one nephew and three nieces, four
nieces now.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Very good.
Is everybody still in Texas?
Or you kind of spread out a?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
little.
Oh yeah, they're all in Texas,and then my mom's side of the
family, she's there in Vegas andwhatnot.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So okay, very good I'm.
I lived in Vegas for 20 years,so that's very good.
Excellent, Good deal.
And hey, Vegas, you know, bigtime rodeo haps in Vegas every
December typically.
So yeah, that's, that's awesome.
Let's talk about bull riding alittle bit and just kind of
rodeo overall, because I'm notsuper understanding of how it
works or how the different Iknow there's different leagues
(06:03):
or what I don't know what youcall them that that you're in.
You start when you're 10, justriding calves or steers,
something a little littlesmaller, and then is there some
junior league that you got into.
I mean, how does this all work?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
if you don't mind, so I started out on calves and
steers, just trying to get thefeel for it, just kind of get in
my mind and body prepared forwhat's coming up later on.
And you start out on calvessteers, then it goes to mini
bulls, which is just a smallerversion of the big bulls, and
then it goes to junior bulls,which is younger, bigger bulls,
and then it goes to the bigbulls and right now I'm at the
(06:35):
big bulls, so I'm at as best asit gets, are you?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
in some sort of I don't know what they call it a
circuit or some sort of rodeo.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, I'm in the cowboy pro rodeo association.
Right now I'm doing the.
It's called the.
They stands for CPR for short.
And then I got my PRCA, whichis the big boys, the big bubble.
And then they got the PBR andI've had a couple offers to go
to the PBR but I just kind ofstuck with PRCA so far, just
(07:03):
going to get the feel for it,and CPR, right now it's kind of
like a.
It's just kind of getting meprepared for what's coming up
later on, like traveling andstuff, and right now I'm doing
pretty good in the CPR.
So I'm winning the year endright now and the rookie year.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You're in your rookie year of CPR.
Okay, very good, awesome.
Okay, very good, rookie yearyou're so.
That's preparing you.
You're on the big bulls.
It's preparing you for whatcomes next.
Why, why did you want to be abull rider?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I guess it was just in my blood.
And then first, soon as I goton my first one, I said I was
never going to do it again.
And then a couple weeks later Igot on my next one and I've
done it ever since and it's justthe adrenaline rush it gives
you and everything.
It's just Hard to get away fromit.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Let's talk about that for a minute, because I've
heard people say that Bullriding can be addicting.
Yes, very there's like a fearto it, but there's also this
adrenaline rush.
What is that?
Why is it so addicting?
What is it that it does?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's just I mean the feeling you get whenever you get
off of your boy and you werejust like you rode Really good
and you were a high amount ofpoints, and just the feeling is
the best feeling in the world.
People say it's equivalent, theadrenaline level is equivalent
to skydiving.
That's what they say, but I'venever been skydiving, can't
(08:21):
compare it quite yet.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
But just that feeling , I would imagine.
I mean, I first of all, I'm,I'm not getting on a bull, all
right we'll just put that upfront.
I'm not gonna get on a bull Idon't know I'm.
I'm in my mid 40s now, so Ijust it's not gonna happen.
But I totally respect peoplelike you who do that and find
joy in it.
People might look at you andsay, oh, you're crazy, but I
(08:44):
think it's pretty awesome.
I bet you do it.
How do you prepare to be a bullrider?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It takes a lot of preparation and hard work.
Honestly, you can't just go outthere and just think you can
ride anything.
I mean, it takes a lot of skilland Training to get your mind
right for it, and it's so.
They say it's 90% mentality and10% physical and Honestly I
think it can be 50-50, becauseit it can really be in your head
too, like you can say, oh, I'vebeen on this bull before and
(09:13):
he's bucked me off, but thistime we'll see what happens.
And there's some people whodoubt themselves.
But then it also comes withphysical, which is training, and
so what we do for training iswe have like a barrel of some
sort, and Sometimes you caneither keep it stationary to
where it don't move and you sitthere and you make your moves,
the correct moves, or we haveone that is on a Brace and it's
(09:38):
on like a seesaw almost, and itjust bucks up and down like that
, and then there's some otherones that go out there and then
they make them spin and allkinds of stuff.
But the best one that I foundthat works for me is the
stationary that just sits still,because you can really Slow
down all your mechanics and justwork on it.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Do you have some sort of coach that helps you with
that?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I do, and his name is Gary Lafieux.
He's a 1970 world champion inthe NFR, so he's he's been there
, done that.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
he knows his stuff.
Wow, okay when you'repracticing on that.
He's kind of making sure yourmechanics, your positioning,
that sort of thing okay.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
And he taught me how to Do all those correct moves
and whatnot.
Big shout out to him.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
I mean, look where you are now.
So, yeah, definitely Perfect.
Yeah, give him a shout out forsure.
Yeah, cuz I would just imagineto you and I like how that you
said it it could be 50 50between Mental and physical,
because I feel like you got tobe in some shape too.
I don't think you can just notbe in shape and go out there.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
You can't just be out there and just be like, oh, I'm
just gonna go get on a bull andI'm gonna ride him.
It's like you have to train forit and Stay in shape and stay
physical.
It happens.
But some people they they haveto really get in shape, whether
they're overweight.
Or there's some guys that I'veseen that have been really
(11:04):
overweight and they've beengoing out there and just making
a good ride just because they'vedone it for so long and they
know what moves to make and howto do it.
But then I've also seen someguys that have done that and
gotten really hurt.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
So I was gonna say I would think it would be part of
that getting hurt.
Yeah, that would probablydefinitely come up.
What do you do to physicallystay in shape?
Do you have any kind of routineor anything that you do?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
No, not really.
I just kind of go for a jogevery once in a while and I do
push-ups, sit-ups, what not?
I have a sauna suit that I'llput on every once in a while.
It's just a sweat it all outand just stay in shape, and they
fit, I guess a Sauna suit.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah what is a son of the kind of what a son of it's
pretty much like it's like aShirt and some pants that you
put on.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's just like it's almost like a reflective
material.
So it just makes you sweat andit sweats all your water weight
out and whatnot.
So a lot of people use it forwrestling, like whenever they're
doing weight cutting when theyneed to drop weight.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, perfect.
Well, I mean, yeah, you looklike you're good shape, you're,
you know, healthy young man, Ithink you're healthy, thank you,
and you've been doing it sinceyou were 10.
That accident that you had thatfirst time, was that one?
Was that when you were 10 yearsOld, when you cut your lip, or
was that?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, yeah.
My tooth went through my lipout the other side and then the
bull stepped on my wrist andbroke it and my mom was so mad
because we had to go toCalifornia for a wedding the
next week.
She was like you better coverthat up and hide it in all the
pictures.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
And I was like, alright, so did you have a cast
on or something?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, I had a cast and I had had a little blister
right here.
That from where my tooth wentthrough it.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Okay, so how long after that Did you get back on
it?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
It was about six months, six months later.
And then I was like, dad, Iwant to do it again.
And he was like, alright, I'llget you spurs this time.
And he went and bought me apair of spurs and he was like
Then we're gonna take you out tothe local rodeo here in Bandera
and we'll put you on a steer.
And I was whenever I got in theBuckinshoe and I started crying
(13:06):
because I said I didn't want todo it again.
And then I was like I changedmy mind, I don't want to do it
anymore.
And he was like no, you'redoing it.
And I had, I was squeezing onto the shoot so hard and he was
priming my hand off of it andfinally I just said let's go.
And then I rode the steer andI've done it ever since did you
make the fully seconds on thatsteer yeah?
yeah, I won my first ever rodeo.
(13:28):
Well, actually the one that Igot, the one I got hurt on, was
my second ever one.
The first ever one I actuallygot on.
I won the rodeo.
My brother took me out to arodeo and he was like we'll put
you on these little tiny minibulls and see how it goes.
And he entered me up and IEnded up riding in and I won it.
So he's crazy.
And then I got hurt on mysecond one.
(13:50):
Then after that, to this then.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
So then you took the six month break to get fixed up,
get better.
Your dad took you out.
You're kind of having secondthoughts, yeah, when you're in
the shoot ready to go.
You mentioned spurs.
What is it that spurs do?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
spurs they there a thing that goes on your feet
which is has a Kind of like.
People call it a shank, butit's not like a knife, it's like
a little metal piece thatsticks out about two to three
inches whether what you prefer,how far you want them to stick
out or not and then it's got arow on the end.
It's a dull row.
(14:23):
People think that it's animalabuse whenever they we use those
, but it's really not.
It's soft and it's dull.
So it just helps us get abetter grip holding our feet in
the bull and holding our legsdown, and Sometimes people get
on without them just to keep thestrength in their legs, and I
do it every once in a while whenyou're competing, you're
wearing those just to kind ofhelp you, the grip or whatever.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah but sometimes you may, you may do practice run
or something without it, justto get build up the strength.
Okay, yep, interesting Okayyeah, cuz I mean you see spurs,
you know, you see those moviesand people yeah, yeah so you
kind of know what they look likeand things, but it was yeah, I
just wondered why it was soimportant with sounds like when
you got hurt, you didn't havethem on.
No, I didn't.
So then, and your dad's like,hey, yeah, you're gonna have
(15:08):
some spurs this time.
Yeah, so you did that and thatmade a big difference.
Okay, so, when you rode that,after you broke your arm and you
rode that, that steer, whatwent through your mind?
You won.
I mean, how, what was, whatwere you feeling?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Oh, oh, it was an awesome feeling.
But then after that, I was wellthe one that I broke my arm.
I didn't end up covering thatone.
He whipped me down the firstjump.
He came out and whip me underhim and then Stunt me and then
the six months later I went andgot on again and I felt great
and I was like I'm doing thisfrom here on out.
I was like can I do it againnext week?
(15:41):
Dang, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So over the course of your years, then and you don't
have to give me an exact number,but how many, I mean how many
rodeos competitions you thinkyou've been in?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Oh, countless a lot.
I can't list, yeah, from howmany bulls I've probably been on
.
I've probably been on about3000 bulls.
Wow with my riding career, andthen Rodeos.
It's probably about Brown 20003000 somewhere around there.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
It's usually happens kind of like over a weekend
typically.
So are you riding like just oneday of the weekend, or is it
like you're riding Friday andSaturday?
How's this work?
Multiple.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Sometimes we'll have a full week of radios.
In Texas they have them allover.
This weekend's kind of a slowweekend, but we're gonna go out
to a radio tonight and we'regonna go and get on out at Taos
radio company there.
They got a pretty good radiogoing on over there.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So how do you do that ?
You're 10 years old, you startgetting into this.
How do you do it with schooland with you know, being
traveling all the time to theserodeos?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
my mom didn't let me really travel as much Whenever I
was younger, because I wasstill figuring it out and we
just kind of go on the weekendsand then after school we go and
practice sometimes.
And then, whenever it startedgetting serious and I started
taking it as more of a jobrather than just the hobby, and
she was like, well, you got tofigure something out, you can't
(17:06):
keep missing school, I was like,why don't I go home school?
And then she was like we cantry it.
And then we've home schooledever since and that gives you
the opportunity then to travelyeah, to travel and then take it
with me and Do it a while I'mon the go.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Is your mom the teacher then?
Or how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
No, I go through a Online service which is like you
have watch videos and you taketests afterwards and then that's
pretty much it.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Okay, we're gonna kind of ask this question here
how are you doing with youronline school?
Were you pretty good at it, or?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I'm not.
I'm kind of I'm a little bitbehind.
That's why I haven't graduatedyet.
I should have graduated lastyear, but we got a lot late
start in the school year lastyear so it kind of put me behind
.
So I had to do it all throughsummer.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Very good, okay.
Well, good for you.
I'm glad you're doing that.
I'm glad you're at least gonnaaccomplish that.
And, yeah, you know, get yourhigh school diploma.
I think that's important andyou kind of move on from there,
whether you go to college orwhatever.
Who knows?
I mean, it sounds like you'reon your way to be in a
professional bull rider.
You are kind of somewhat of aprofessional already, so that
sounds like it's gonna be a goodcareer for you.
So I think that's that'sawesome.
Let's talk about that support alittle bit.
Your mom said, yeah, okay,let's do the online thing.
(18:16):
You can do online school.
It sounds like your brother's arider's, your dad is a rider.
You have a great coach.
How's that support been for you?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's been great.
I have a great support system,no matter.
No matter what I do or anythingI do in radio, they've always
supported me, no matter what,and I can't be thankful enough
for them because you're alwayson the road, because you're
Constantly going to rodeos andthings.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
How about some of those normal teenage social
things, you know, dances andproms and things like that?
Have you exact?
Just, is that just been kind ofin the back?
Yeah, backseat for now.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Yeah, I don't really.
I don't really care to go anddo partying or dancing or
anything really like that.
I just kind of stick to what Iwant to accomplish in my goals
in life, which is ride bulls andbe a world champion, and that's
been my goal ever since.
So that's what I stick toawesome.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Well, let's talk about that.
How's it coming along me?
What is it that?
You're?
You know?
How are you staying focused inorder to be a world champion?
What do you got going on?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
people think that guys who rodeo or do boring,
they're always out partying andJust drinking all the time.
And it's really.
I mean, if you want to be goodat it, you just focus on
yourself and train and get yourmind right and go to those big
rodeos and hit all those bigrodeos and stay Consistent and
then you'll be on your way tothe, to the wind.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, you can't just take it for granted, you can't.
I mean, I think the perceptionis because you talked about
people think they're outdrinking and party.
I think it's media.
I think the media is kind ofshowing off, is like some of
these movies that we've seenabout.
They're out partying anddrinking.
Yeah, I mean, we all know acowboy loves to loves his beer.
You got like you said you'reyou're focused on something,
(19:55):
you're focused on the task athand.
You want to be a professional.
Tell me kind of take us through, Gavin, your, your, you show up
to your rodeo, kind of.
What's your process?
What time do you get there?
How do you mentally prepare andthen walk us up to the shoe,
get us on the bull, if you don'tmind, just kind of take us
through that whole experience.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
So usually whenever we are headed to the rodeo, we
like to get there about an hourearlier, just so that way we can
pay our fees and Get the draw,like what bull we drew.
And then we get our rope orgear set up and all kinds of
stuff.
Usually we I mean, we'd be fineif we showed up 30 minutes
before, because more riding isusually the last event Sometimes
(20:34):
I have two sections.
Sometimes I'll put one at firstand one at the end, but we used
to get usually get there aroundhour to 30 minutes earlier, so
that way we can get everythingset up and prepared and be ready
for what has to come.
And then Whenever it's time togo, they'll run your bull
through the alley and run theminto the shoot.
And Sometimes, if you don't knowthe bull, you can ask the stock
(20:56):
contractor who owns him, whathe does and how he bucks and
he'll let you know.
Or sometimes I have videos ofthem.
Show them.
You show you a video and betterchances.
But sometimes the bull won't doalways do the same thing.
Most of the time they don't.
Usually they tell you he'sgonna go one direction and he
usually goes the other.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Okay, so you watch them, come through the shoot
there, and then are that, whatdo you call it?
The alley?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
So what you call it, yeah, the alley, which is like,
well, sometimes we call it asnake, so it's.
They just run them into thereand then it leads them into the
shoot.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Do you take a look at the bull Besides video or
talking to the stock contractor?
Do you sometimes take a lookBefore it even runs through?
That, I mean, did you ever kindof go, yeah, take a peek at it?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah, yeah, they'll be in the back pain.
One time I drew this a bull outand burn it Texas and he was a
One of the biggest bull, the oneof the biggest pets there, and
he was like I walked up to thefence and he comes up to the
Fence and I just startscratching on his head and I was
feeding them hay and stuff.
My mom has a video of it.
It was funny and she was likeshe posted on take talk.
(21:58):
She was like ready for him tobe 90 or something.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
And what happened with that bull ride?
Do you remember what happenedon that ride with that bull?
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I ended up getting second place on my road Yep.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
That's awesome.
Yeah very good.
It's so funny because when Isee those video and I've seen
some videos of people back inthe pen kind of looking at the
bull they seem all docile andnice.
You know they're coming upletting people scratch them,
yeah, but boy they they'retrained to.
They want to get you off.
That's incredible.
Can you tell us, maybe, whenyou're getting on that bull,
what's going on?
I mean, did your heart startbeating faster, like when you,
(22:31):
when it's in the shoe and you'regetting ready to get on it?
What kind of how does it?
I mean?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Everybody has nerves whenever they're about to get on
, no matter what and I don'tcare who you are I know you got
some nerves in here there'snobody in this world who's
getting about to get on a bullthat isn't nervous or doesn't
have a little bit of fear inthem.
But you, I mean just trustingGod and he's just trust the
process and he's right there byyour side.
He'll keep you safe and justpray to him.
(22:58):
Every time and I mean everybodygets nervous before they're
about to get on and your heartgets to beating a little bit
faster and harder.
And then, whenever you're inthere, it's just like, okay,
it's time to do business andjust turn that switch and you
don't listen anything and youcan't hear anything.
You just focused on what you'reabout to do.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Can you tell us you mentioned God?
Can you tell us a little bitabout how important that is to
you?
Because I've seen some justsome pictures of you and stuff
that it looks like that's a veryimportant thing to you.
So can you, would you mindsharing a little bit about your
faith?
Speaker 2 (23:28):
He's my Lord and he's my, he's my father.
So I mean, I always put mytrust in him, no matter what, no
matter what happens or what'scome going on, and I always put
my trust in him and that's.
I've just always been taughtthat and I always believe in
that.
You know, that's just the wayI'm.
I guess that's just the way Ilive.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
It's great, it's a good, good perspective to have.
It seems like that's kind ofnot the big thing that's
important nowadays, which is tome kind of unfortunate.
I think that's I'm glad thatyou have that kind of at the
forefront Of your mind.
I think that's that's reallyimportant.
I want to hear a few stories,maybe a rodeo in particular, or
just some stories of and itdoesn't necessarily have to be
(24:08):
the egg the ride itself, maybeit's something that happened
before.
I, like you, told the storyabout you know, scratching the
nose of that, yeah, a big bull.
But any, yeah, any stories thatyou can share with us about,
about riding, or just some ofyour experiences being in this
industry.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, I, I can tell you a little bit of story about
this.
One time we were out and youprobably never see it in a
million years, but one time Igot on this bull out and up in
the Panhandle of Texas and I wasa little bit younger, I was
about 14 or 15 at the time and Iwas riding this bull and I
(24:41):
wrote him to write about likeseven point something seconds.
And I came off of him and myarms slid down the, the rear end
of him in his tail wrappedaround my wrist and the.
He had stickers inside of his,uh, inside the hair on his tail
and it caught around my wristand it drugged me around the
arena and and I was gettingslung around like a rag doll all
(25:06):
kinds of places.
It was crazy and you'll neversee that again because I've
never, ever seen it happen andeverybody was like godly dude,
that was the craziest thing I'veever seen.
I was like it would be my luck.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Wow, okay, so I'm trying to picture that by the
tail.
Yes the tail of the bull, cuzI've seen people get hung up
with their ropes, or whateverI've seen that, but you were
being dragged around by the tailof the bull wrist was yeah yeah
wow, okay, is there video outthere?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I got, yeah, I have a video and I can send it to you,
but okay it's crazy becauseusually people, whenever they
say they like, hung to theirtail, which is like the bull
rope.
So whenever you grab the excess, we call that our tail, like
the other rope that we wraparound Our hand.
That's it.
We call that our tail also.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Okay, that's why you're like it's the bull's tail
, not the tail of the rope, okayand Some people they hang up to
that, like with their spur.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Sometimes they'll have their row and it'll catch
in that rope and they'll dragaround by it buy it from the
bull and it's happened to a lotof people.
I almost had it happen theother day and I got close to it
but I pulled it out.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So when you got drug around by the bull's tail, not
the tail of your rope, did yousustain any injuries from that,
or you just banged up a littlebit?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I was just banged up a little bit.
It kind of pulled some muscleson my wrist.
It went even my right wrist itwas my other hand and it was.
It just pulled, pulled somemuscles on my wrist and it
wasn't too bad.
It was just I was a little bitbanged up because I wouldn't
didn't even know what was goingon.
I didn't even know I had thebull's tail because all of a
sudden I hit the ground and Ididn't know it wrapped around my
(26:43):
wrist and all of a sudden itjust yanks me back and I was
like, oh god, where are we going?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Wow, that's incredible.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthe people out there that are
helping you, like these rodeoclowns and stuff.
I mean, they seem like they'vegot a pretty important job.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Yeah, and they have a very important job with that.
You, you don't really know whatto do because sometimes usually
if like a guy, where it catchesspur inside of the tail,
they'll get a knife and they'llcut the rope so it saves the
rider, but with that you can'treally cut the bull's tail.
So they didn't know what to do,so they just jumped on top of
me and just tried pulling me out, so and they were getting there
(27:19):
for what they did, yeah that'sincredible.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, it's amazing to me how they'll they'll risk
their.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah, you know, by jumping in there to help you
guys to help the riders.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
It's a pretty, pretty neat.
I'm hoping maybe at one somepoint I can talk to a rodeo
clown to just kind of hear theirperspective of things, I think
that'd be a lot of fun.
Well, that's a great story, man.
Yeah, something that you'llnever see.
I don't think I've ever seen it.
Like I said, I've seen them gethung up before other ways, but
never by the actual bulls tail.
Whoo incredible.
Any particular competition orrodeo or something that where
(27:50):
you just were awesome and youjust felt good and man, you know
, like any story like that.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, I have like the beginning of the cowboy pro
rodeo association the series ofit.
At the very beginning of it Ihad a very great, great start to
the season and I rode everysingle bull that I got on that
like 10 or 12 Rodeos in a rowand I was winning money at every
single one.
There was like nothing couldhave bucked me off.
(28:15):
I ended up winning a rodeo andgetting and that was like one of
the biggest rodeos you can winof the year because it's a big
indoor arena and it was reallynice facility.
And then I rode a really goodbull that night.
He was a real big black bull andhe had crooked horns kind of
and he was huge.
He was a real big and he wouldjump up in the shoot and like
(28:36):
jump over the top of it and he'ddo it one time and then he'd
sit there and stand still.
But he was a really good bulland nobody is really ridden him
besides another guy I know inthe PBR and stuff and he's a.
He's just great.
And then I ended up riding himand I was like 86 or 87 points
on him.
So wow.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
So his routine was was he, would he jump up once
you were on him?
Is that when he'd do the onejump?
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah he would, and then he'd settle down and just
stop it.
Some bulls just have a routinelike that.
Some of them just like eitherlean super hard or some just do
one jump in the shoot and thenthey're fine.
But they just have theirroutine, just like how we have
ours.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
That's so interesting .
Yeah so leaning, meaningthey'll lean like put pressure
on your leg.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
They'll put pressure on your leg against the shoot.
I just actually I own a bulland his name is Biggie and he's
the biggest bull I've ever seenin my life.
I didn't know he was that bigwhen I bought him.
He's probably about 2200 poundsand he leans super, super hard
in the shoot because he's so bigand he takes up the entire
(29:39):
bucking shoot.
So he just leans on your legall the time and last night we
bucked him and he jumped up andkicked in the bucking shoot and
caught his foot inside the slotand my foot was right there and
he put his foot on top of mineand I was trying to pull it out
and I couldn't.
It was hurting so bad and thenfinally I just had to freakin'
pull his leg out from under meand it was just he's heavy.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Oh, Biggie huh.
So that's your like practicebull.
You kind of use him forpractice that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yeah, Very good I bought him out of Tennessee.
I bought him for a practicebull and I didn't know he was
that big when I bought him and Ijust seen pictures and videos
of him and I was like oh yeah,he's just good size.
And they just said big,four-year-old and I was like all
right.
And then I bought him and thenI saw him and I was like, oh my
God, I was like this is a bigpractice bull.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Well, it's good that you have something real that you
can practice on as well.
So you started off the yearjust fantastic.
What about when you have a fewdown times Like I'm guessing
you've had a few where you'remaybe struggling a little bit,
can't get a bull?
You know you're struggling,maybe not having good draws
either, whatever that may be.
Yeah, what do you do to kind ofovercome that?
(30:53):
How do you keep yourselfmotivated?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
You just got to really put the work in and you
got to really train and train,because sometimes from that
happening is due to your lack ofwork and preparation.
Coming into it Like, say youwere going into a slump that's
what we call it.
In slumps you just like you'rebucking off and you're falling
off of everything.
Then we just call it a slumpand it's due to something you
(31:16):
either did wrong in yourmechanics when you're working on
the barrel or doing somethingLike sometimes you can just have
your free arm too high or toolow and or your feet keep coming
back or something and you needto sit up on a mortgage just due
to what you did in preparationor something.
Like you're not drawing the bestof bulls.
(31:38):
Some bulls, I mean, they'reharder to ride than others and
they all do something different.
Sometimes you get them goodones that are just right there
and they just buck right upunder you and then sometimes you
get those ones that are harderto ride that just move forward
out from under you.
Sometimes it can screw yourmind if you're falling off all
bunch like that and you just gotto get back in the practice pin
, get on the ones you know youcan ride and just ride them over
(32:00):
and over and then work your wayback up and then you're riding
good again.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
So that's what you just do.
You just kind of keep it going,you just try to keep your
motivation up.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I mean that's what I was saying is 50-50.
It's in your mind and it'sphysical.
I mean it can do.
It can screw your mind a lot ifyou're bucking off a bunch like
that and you're just like, goddang, I got to get one road.
I mean you're just thinkingabout it too much Sometimes.
You just got to go out thereand just have fun, just keep a
smile on your face becauseyou're doing what you love.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Have you had a slumper too?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Oh yeah, everybody goes through one.
I've had them quite a few timesand there's been times where
it's really messed with me andthere's just been like right
after that I was having thatstreak and I had fallen off of
like one or two and then I wasgetting a road, mad at myself
for it, and my dad was like youjust need to take it back to the
(32:53):
practice pin and just have fun,because you know how to ride
them.
You're doing it good, it's allin your mind.
Right now You're buckingyourself off with what you're
thinking.
And I was like, yeah, you'reright.
And then the next rodeo.
I went out there and just hadfun with it and didn't even
think about it and just won therodeo.
Just won the rodeo, good foryou.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
That's good.
I like the fact that you'relearning from that.
I think we all kind of even notnecessarily with bull riding,
but just in our own lives, Ithink sometimes we all kind of
go through little slumps, and soit's right.
I mean, you know how to do it,you know what you need to do.
Just a matter of, okay, let'senjoy this instead of taking it
so serious and sometimes you gotto do that and get back out
there right?
Is there any bulls that youhave not been able to master,
(33:36):
that you have not been able toride, or have you ridden pretty
much all the bulls that you'vewanted to?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
There's been quite a few.
I mean, some of them are justrandom bulls here and there, but
that I've only been on like onetime.
My boss, he has about 30 to 40head of bulls.
He has all kinds he has likeall the way up from these junior
bulls all the way up to rankopen bulls and he has this one
called the Wingnut right now andhe's been one that has bucked
(34:04):
me off for quite a bit.
And then there's been a lot oftimes where me and him have been
90 points plus and he'sdefinitely my favorite one for
sure Wingnut that's yourfavorite bull.
Uh-huh, and he's a real big dude.
He's tall and long and he's gota lot of weight to him he's
about 2,000 pounds and some ofthe PBR judges that are there's
(34:26):
one that came out last night tothe practice and he had judged
the world champion and the PBR.
He was had set the world recordfor the PBR and he was 97 and
three quarter points and thatjudge judged that and he told me
he was like that bull rightthere.
He needs to be at the PBR.
There's not very many guys whowould ride on there.
(34:47):
And just to say that I'm doingit is pretty damn cool.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Yeah, that is awesome .
Good for you, wow.
So you're pretty much, you'repretty close.
I mean, when are we going tosee you in Vegas?
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Oh, I've been there one time and then, but it was
for the youth finals, so theyhad it was called the IMBA, the
International Miniatur BoardRiders Association, or something
like that.
We went there in 2019 for thefinals.
I ended up getting like sixthere's seven in the world or
something, and then that's thelast time we went to Vegas, but
(35:22):
most of our finals they happenaround here, and then the CPRA
finals they're going to happenout in Houston, and that one's a
pretty big one too.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
What time of year does that happen?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
That one should happen in October.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
So coming up next month, yeah, yeah, coming up
Very good, wow, okay, good, I'llhave to do some little research
and see how you're doing withthat.
Yeah, very cool, awesome.
So I'm going to go to the PBR.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah, I do.
I don't know.
It's kind of half and halfright now because I've people
have told me like the PBR judgehe told me to go to PRCA first
and do a year of it or do twoyears of it, try it out, rather
than go to the PBR straight inyour as soon as you turn 18,
because he says that PBR rulesyou're getting on real rank
(36:12):
rules all the time.
No matter what you're gettingon, sometimes you'll draw one
here and there.
That is just nice, that you'lllike.
But in PRCA you get a lot ofgood ones every once in a while.
But there's just a lot of good,nice bulls that you can get on
all the time and it's a lotwhere.
That's where it tear on yourbody rather than getting on rank
bulls every single weekend youcan.
(36:34):
Sometimes you'll draw one hereand there.
That's just good and you'llpick up a couple of checks on
him.
So he was like just go try outPRCA first and then go to PBR
whenever if you choose to go toPBR.
Now they got the PBR teamseries going on which is like
kind of like NFL but Bull Ridingstyle it's.
It's pretty neat.
I've had an offer to go to oneof the teams and I haven't heard
(36:58):
nothing back yet.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Wow, okay, I didn't realize they were doing that.
I used to watch PBR quite a bit.
In fact, when I lived in VegasI used to watch them watch it,
you know, the weekends quite abit, just for fun.
And so you know, jb Mooney,there's writers like I used to
watch all the time that were alot of fun to watch, and I think
that's a particular and doesn'thave to be from the PBR, but
just any particular currentwriter that you really look up
to that you think that youadmire.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Oh yeah, I really, really think that Jess Lockwood
he's two time PBR world championtoo.
He was the youngest ever win aworld championship.
He was 18 whenever he won hisfirst one.
He has the riding style likethe best riding style I've ever
seen and that's who I try toride like.
He's won two world titles andwhy not copy the best?
Speaker 1 (37:43):
The one thing about bull riding that seems a little
tough for me.
Obviously you got to make, youknow, you got to make the eight
seconds to get a score, but thenit's kind of like some of it's
a little subjective, based onwhat the judges are looking for
and things like that yeah, thedraw, you can get a bad draw.
Where you get a bull it's notyou know, that doesn't do much,
yeah.
So that part would seem alittle tough, but I do.
You think it's just theconstant being consistent,
(38:04):
working hard, that that'll workitself out.
I mean, what's kind of yourthoughts?
Speaker 2 (38:07):
on that.
Well, I mean kind of hard tosay.
I mean, honestly, it's just,it's 50-50,.
Honestly it's.
I mean you have to really workhard to get out of where you're
at and say you're in a slum.
You got to really work at itand fix whatever happened or
where you did wrong when youwere training.
And then if you need help, Imean ask somebody if you really
(38:30):
needed help and ask a coach orask another rider.
That is pretty dang good andthen they can either help you or
it won't help you.
It's just, it's 50-50.
You just kind of got to trainyour mind and figure it out.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Do you use our good camaraderie amongst bull riders,
like do you try to help eachother out?
I mean, is it like that or isit okay?
Speaker 2 (38:52):
It's like a family back there in the radio.
So I mean all bull riders, Imean some of them don't like
each other.
They're just that's likeanywhere, right.
Yeah, it's just like any othersport.
I mean some guys don't likeeach other and I mean it happens
, but mostly in all the rodeoit's all like a big rodeo family
.
We all help each other out andlook up to each other and help,
(39:15):
say they needed money to getdown the road.
I mean people will help eachother out and I mean it's just a
family back there and how isthat the whole financial side of
it?
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Because you have to pay fees and things to get in
these rodeos.
You're not just walking in anddoing it, but you could.
They're pay off.
You could have a pay off if youdo well and get paid for it.
How does that all work, is it?
What's that like?
Speaker 2 (39:34):
I just would not want to be a roper because their
fees and what it costs to takecare of them horses, the horse
trailer, all that that's way tooexpensive, so I'll stick to the
board riding it's like it's alot cheaper.
I mean the gear on range.
I mean you got to pay for yourgear and everything like your
poro, your vest, your helmet,shafts, spurs, all that.
(39:56):
I mean that ranges in price.
And then there's fees, which isa usual.
Fee is about $75 to $100.
That's usual.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
That's kind of the norm.
Could be higher, could be lower, depending on what type of
rodeo you're in.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Okay, and then just get down the road, paying for
diesel and depending on how farit gets and how far you have to
go.
It's just.
I mean, it depends.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
It ranges.
Texas is a huge state, so yeah,like I said, paying for diesel
to get down the road.
Where are you staying?
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I'm in Bander Texas.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Okay, you're in Bander, texas, but if you go to
a rodeo that's out of town, doyou have to like stay in a hotel
or do you say how does that?
Speaker 2 (40:34):
work.
Sometimes it depends, like ifit's a really far drive, like
four, if it's four hours plus,I'll stay in a hotel, but if
it's like three hours, two hours, I'll drive home that night and
just make it home real late andthen just wake up the next day
and do it all over again and doit again.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Wow, okay, very good.
Okay, I wonder, because thatcould get costly as well.
I've been traveling all overthe place, so, wow, interesting.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
And sponsorships help with all that too.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Perf.
So do you have a few sponsors?
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yeah, yeah, like Gary and my coach, he's gotten me a
lot of sponsors, and then myboss, he helps me out whenever,
and then I have another sponsorthat gives me a lot of money and
they Okay, you've mentionedyour boss, so do you have like
some sort of day job thenbetween yeah, so I'm a farrier,
(41:23):
I do horse's feet, I put shoeson them and, yeah, trim them up
and Okay, that's why you kind ofhave an idea too how much it
costs to like for those calfropers and things like that.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
That's got to be expensive then to take care of
those horses Very good.
So you do that.
That's your like kind of yourday job.
You're a Western guy, I meanyou're a cowboy, like that's
kind of that's what you are andthat's what you do.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
My life.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
Yeah, that's who you are.
So eight years now you've beendoing it 18.
What's the average lifespan?
I mean, I would think it's kindof more of a young man's game.
How long do you want to keepdoing this?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
I'm going to try to go as long as I possibly can
until I just physically can't nomore.
And then I mean sometimes itgets to the point where your
injuries get too serious andthen like if it happens again,
then it can be life-wrisking.
And I mean there's been peoplewho I've seen that ride all the
way up to 45 years old and I'mlike, dude, you're still riding,
(42:18):
pretty dang good for being 45.
But usually people stop aroundwhen they're like 32, 33,
somewhere in that range, andthen it starts to put a little
bit of wear and tear on theirbody and they're just not like
how they used to.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
So I would say you're coming into your prime.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Yeah, yeah, right now , my age is the best I will.
From here to about 26, 27 isgoing to be my best years.
A lot more to come A lot moreto come.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
So everybody look up Gavin Hawk, Check him out.
Where can people, if peoplewant to follow along, kind of
see your story.
Where can people follow you?
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Gavin Hawk on all social media Instagram, Facebook
, TikTok.
Just, I mean, my name isspelled G-A-V-A-N-H-A-U-C-K, so
look me up and I should be thefirst one.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Perfect, Gavin.
This has been fun for me.
Thank you so much for coming onJourney with Jake.
I appreciate having you.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Of course, yeah, thank you, it was great.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Fantastic.
Special thanks to my guest,gavin Hawk.
Be sure and check him out onsocial media.
Again, it's Gavin Hawk and it'sspelled G-A-V-A-N-H-A-U-C-K, so
check him out.
He's got a lot of fun stuff.
He's doing some great things.
I see him going right on upthere.
I see him doing some reallygreat things.
Fantastic To talk to such awonderful young man like Gavin.
(43:34):
Thanks to every one of you forlistening to Journey with Jake
each and every week.
I would love it if you couldleave me a rating and review on
Apple Podcasts or wherever youlisten to your podcasts.
That would mean a lot to me.
I would really appreciate it.
If you have an adventure thatyou've participated in, maybe
something you're doing, let'stalk about it on the podcast.
Reach out to me.
You can send me an email, jakeat JourneyWithJakenet, or you
(43:57):
can reach me on Instagram.
Dm me at Journey with Jakepodcast.
Let's talk about it on thepodcast.
Just remember, it's not alwaysabout the destination as it is
about the journey.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Take care everybody.
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