May 22, 2025 • 9 mins
From ABC News Studios, The New Six-Part Docuseries Takes You Inside the Adrenaline-Fueled World of Female Professional Bull Riding.Speak with Series Lead and Four-Time Female Bull Riding World Champion Jorden Halvorsen
"Not Her First Rodeo" follows the Elite Lady Bull Riders, five remarkable women battling in and out of the arena, risking life and limb for a shot at a championship buckle, eight seconds at a time. The women highlighted are Jorden Halvorsen, Catalina Langlitz, Renata Nunes, Athena Rivera and Alexia Huffman. Jorden Halvorsen is a four-time female bull riding world champion and the protagonist of Freeform’s latest documentary series “Not Her First Rodeo.” Driven by an unceasing drive to be the best and her desire to elevate and legitimize female bull riders, in 2023, Jorden created an all-women’s bull riding association, The Elite Lady Bull Riders. In just two seasons, Jorden has signed up nearly two dozen young women across the United States to compete in the novice or the pro division at rodeos all over the country.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
"Not Her First Rodeo" follows the Elite Lady Bull Riders, five remarkable women battling in and out of the arena, risking life and limb for a shot at a championship buckle, eight seconds at a time. The women highlighted are Jorden Halvorsen, Catalina Langlitz, Renata Nunes, Athena Rivera and Alexia Huffman. Jorden Halvorsen is a four-time female bull riding world champion and the protagonist of Freeform’s latest documentary series “Not Her First Rodeo.” Driven by an unceasing drive to be the best and her desire to elevate and legitimize female bull riders, in 2023, Jorden created an all-women’s bull riding association, The Elite Lady Bull Riders. In just two seasons, Jorden has signed up nearly two dozen young women across the United States to compete in the novice or the pro division at rodeos all over the country.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, ero, Hey, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm good?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:03):
Absolutely fantastic? Wow, what an adventure you have been on.
And now that this has turned into a documentary, a
six part documentary, My god, this is going to be
what creates conversations. Because I grew up in Montana. Rodeo
was our life up there, but we didn't have this
kind of rodeo.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Right, yeah, it's what is it like to be a
pioneer in a place like this.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You know, boroting is just something that happened to me
by chance. But to be able to create new paths
for women to come back to the sport, you know
that they had at one point for us, you know,
just it feels really great, and you know, I just
want to create, you know, a space for women to
be able to still ride bulls.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yes, yeah, because I mean so many times the only
thing that we saw women in was was barrel racing.
And it wasn't you know that where you are right
now where it's about eight seconds and man, you're focus
better be on right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So actually they used to have all three rough stock
riding events for women, you know, back before the early
two thousands, you know, women actually used to ride bareback horses,
settle bron horses and bull riding. So you know, they
got rid of that in two thousand and eight. So
like this is really like the first time, you know,
over the last couple of years that it's really trying
(01:20):
to be brought back to that light and be brought
back into the rodeo scene, just as like women's competition.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Did it all start for you the way that I
kind of got into it, and that was that you
would look at the calves and you would try to
ride the calves because I mean, they were scared as
all can be. But the thing about it is that
you still got a good ride out of it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. Honestly, it actually started for me. I was I
grew up riding hunter drum for horses, and I was
working for this trainer and with me being a little
bit smaller, I would just ride all the naughty horses
and ponies. Yeah, and like I would get bucked off
all the time. And so like it actually happened that
she was dating this bull rider. This bull rider was
hanging around and he kind of mentioned to us like, hey,
(01:59):
do you want to ride a bull? And you know,
it kind of start off like as a bucket listening
like just to kind of say we did it, and
I fell in love. I was hooked. I fell very
fast the first time, and I decided that I could
actually stay on them longer. So I just kept going
back weekend after weekend after that very first.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Time, Jordan, I got to tell you something. My father
was actually paid to help break horses. And what he
would do is he would lead the horse into the
Tongue River and he would they'd be in the middle
of that river, and then he would get on that
horse and and and it was one of those things
where I was like, who even thinks like this? Because
the horse isn't going to bring a buck when when
you're in the water.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Right, Yeah, they can't. They can't really move a whole
lot when they're in belly deep water.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah, So how do you invest in a moment that
cannot be predicted? All you can do is prepare yourself
to go in any direction.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I spent a lot of time like practicing like natural reflexes,
you know, like boretting is all you know, kind of counterintuitive,
so you know, we actually I personallytice like doing those moves,
like thinking about you know what that bull might do
and how my body should react to it. You know,
we spend a lot of time like preparing ourselves mentally.
(03:12):
You know, they say bull riding is ninety percent mental
and the rest is in your head, you know. Like
so you know, if that tells you anything, like it's
it's a lot more of a mental battle than it
is actually a physical battle. And so I just prepare
myself with you know, practicing those moves and thinking about
what a bull could do and where my body should
(03:32):
be and just really you know, thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Do you make a psychological connection with the bull you're
about ready to ride? Because I mean you don't know
who you're gonna ride, do you.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, I mean not until you get there. Usually, you know,
we draw each bull out of a hat, so and
every single one of them is very different in their
own unique way, and and so like you know, you
just kind of have a moment sometimes with them, or
if they're a little bit meaner, you probably don't have
that moment with them. But you know, we just sit
there and we think about it, and you know, I
(04:02):
like to try to visualize how my ride's about to go,
and just you know, build up that confidence internally before
I ride.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
One of the things that I noticed after you, after
you've done the successful eight seconds, is the fact that
I see you kind of smile when you're when you're
walking across that dirt.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
It's almost like, yeah, I did it, I did it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, oh man, It's it's like one of the best
feelings in the world, you know, after you've gotten off,
maybe I've just landed on my feet, Like the first
thing I'm doing is smiling, and you don't really see
it till I take my helmet off, you know, Like, well,
once I get my helmet off, I mean I'm usually
grinning ear to year just because of how good it
feels to know that I just rode for eight seconds.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Please do not move. There is more with Jordan Halverson
coming up next. Hey, thanks for coming back to my
conversation with Jordan Halverson. You know a lot of people
don't understand even riding horses. People will get off that
horse and they are so much in pain. How do
you deal with the body aches when you're riding?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Honestly, like I put that all out of you know,
in the back of my mind, Like you got to
put it out of your mind. For eight seconds. It's
only eight seconds at a time. You know, you can't
think about injuries because you know that'll sometimes put you
in a bind. I mean, I remember one time I
broke my arm and I had a rodeo the next weekend,
and the surgeon was like, I need to do surgery
(05:19):
on Thursday, and I asked him if he could do
it sooner, like do it on Tuesday so I could
still ride by Saturday. So yeah, you just got to
put those out of you know, in the back of
your mind.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
I was going to ask you about that because I
know that being in taekwondo, we were always in fighting
tournaments and I would get an injury and my sobbinem
would say, Okay, i'll see you in six weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I wanted to be back in that ring again.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Because that's how you stay healthy and alive and known,
and so you have to battle that war.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah. So I mean, depending on the injury, you know
a lot of times like well, you know you'll ride
through those if it's something that needs to take the
time to heal, like you should take the time. But
you know there are going to be those injuries that
you just got to push through and keep going.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Well, what is the average workout plan for you? Because
I mean, you've got to stay healthy. I mean, your
core energy is so valuable to your success.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, So I typically, you know, workout every day, you know,
at least six days a week, if not seven, doing
some type of movement, like whether I'm doing like, you know,
a balance workout on days I'm not heavy lifting being
a woman, you know, like, there are things that I
need to work on more so than like just the
average mail ball rider, Like I need to really focus
(06:30):
on my core and I need to focus on my
upper body strength that I will naturally lack. So I
really like to focus on those things. Riding horses bareback
is honestly one of the best workouts you can do
for riding bulls, So I typically try to incorporate that
as much as I can.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
With you, there's a team, because it takes a team
of people to make you who you are, I mean
with one of the things we never hear about when
we're watching it on TV is the team, the entire
team that it takes in order to get you out
there right.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So, like for us, our team would be you know,
those stock contractors that allow us to come ride at
their rodeos. You know, people you know that are allowing
us to ride those bulls and bringing us stock. You know,
I have to hire stock contractors and you know personnel,
you know, bull fighters and stuff like that. So like
there's a whole team of people that goes into each
and every rodeo, yep. But as far as like a
(07:21):
team for like as a rider, you know, you're kind
of on your own on that one. Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Do you ever find yourself wanting to go to let's say,
a Red Lodge, Montana because they have rodeo days up
there where they have a rodeo every single night and
and just you know, just just participate with the smaller towns.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I have thought about it before. I mean a lot
of times it just comes down to, uh, what's going
on during those times, and you know, if I have
riders available, and if they have stock and the right
stock and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, this documentary, one of the things that I'm really
hopeful about is the fact that I want it. I
want what you do to be just as popular as
Women's NBA action is right now. And I just think
that this documentary is going to open up the hearts
of so many people because they're going to want to
watch even more of it.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, I really hope so, because this is something that
all five of us girls that are in the show
are very passionate about and would love to, you know,
see it be brought to a bigger stage.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yeah, you know, because it's an ABC documentary, So therefore
I would love to see it on you know, when
they do have the rodeos on the on the national
networks instead of being hidden away in some sort of
ESPN program. Right man, congratulations on what you're doing here.
This is the first step of a brand new beginning
because a lot of people are not going to know
that this is actually happening, right, Yes, sir. Where can
(08:39):
people go to find out more about you and to
follow you and to give you those hits on your
social media pads?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, so I'm on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, just jo
R D E N three nine five, So where you
can pretty much find me everywhere.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Who's your main sponsor? Suit can give them a plug
because they pay a lot of money to be with you.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
You know I don't actually have one.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Really Well, okay, then let's let's start that plan right now. Well, please,
come back to this show anytime in the future. The
door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Will you'd be brilliant today? Okay, all right, thank you,
thank you.
Hey, ero, Hey, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm good?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:03):
Absolutely fantastic? Wow, what an adventure you have been on.
And now that this has turned into a documentary, a
six part documentary, My god, this is going to be
what creates conversations. Because I grew up in Montana. Rodeo
was our life up there, but we didn't have this
kind of rodeo.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Right, yeah, it's what is it like to be a
pioneer in a place like this.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You know, boroting is just something that happened to me
by chance. But to be able to create new paths
for women to come back to the sport, you know
that they had at one point for us, you know,
just it feels really great, and you know, I just
want to create, you know, a space for women to
be able to still ride bulls.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yes, yeah, because I mean so many times the only
thing that we saw women in was was barrel racing.
And it wasn't you know that where you are right
now where it's about eight seconds and man, you're focus
better be on right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So actually they used to have all three rough stock
riding events for women, you know, back before the early
two thousands, you know, women actually used to ride bareback horses,
settle bron horses and bull riding. So you know, they
got rid of that in two thousand and eight. So
like this is really like the first time, you know,
over the last couple of years that it's really trying
(01:20):
to be brought back to that light and be brought
back into the rodeo scene, just as like women's competition.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Did it all start for you the way that I
kind of got into it, and that was that you
would look at the calves and you would try to
ride the calves because I mean, they were scared as
all can be. But the thing about it is that
you still got a good ride out of it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. Honestly, it actually started for me. I was I
grew up riding hunter drum for horses, and I was
working for this trainer and with me being a little
bit smaller, I would just ride all the naughty horses
and ponies. Yeah, and like I would get bucked off
all the time. And so like it actually happened that
she was dating this bull rider. This bull rider was
hanging around and he kind of mentioned to us like, hey,
(01:59):
do you want to ride a bull? And you know,
it kind of start off like as a bucket listening
like just to kind of say we did it, and
I fell in love. I was hooked. I fell very
fast the first time, and I decided that I could
actually stay on them longer. So I just kept going
back weekend after weekend after that very first.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Time, Jordan, I got to tell you something. My father
was actually paid to help break horses. And what he
would do is he would lead the horse into the
Tongue River and he would they'd be in the middle
of that river, and then he would get on that
horse and and and it was one of those things
where I was like, who even thinks like this? Because
the horse isn't going to bring a buck when when
you're in the water.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Right, Yeah, they can't. They can't really move a whole
lot when they're in belly deep water.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah, So how do you invest in a moment that
cannot be predicted? All you can do is prepare yourself
to go in any direction.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I spent a lot of time like practicing like natural reflexes,
you know, like boretting is all you know, kind of counterintuitive,
so you know, we actually I personallytice like doing those moves,
like thinking about you know what that bull might do
and how my body should react to it. You know,
we spend a lot of time like preparing ourselves mentally.
(03:12):
You know, they say bull riding is ninety percent mental
and the rest is in your head, you know. Like
so you know, if that tells you anything, like it's
it's a lot more of a mental battle than it
is actually a physical battle. And so I just prepare
myself with you know, practicing those moves and thinking about
what a bull could do and where my body should
(03:32):
be and just really you know, thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Do you make a psychological connection with the bull you're
about ready to ride? Because I mean you don't know
who you're gonna ride, do you.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No, I mean not until you get there. Usually, you know,
we draw each bull out of a hat, so and
every single one of them is very different in their
own unique way, and and so like you know, you
just kind of have a moment sometimes with them, or
if they're a little bit meaner, you probably don't have
that moment with them. But you know, we just sit
there and we think about it, and you know, I
(04:02):
like to try to visualize how my ride's about to go,
and just you know, build up that confidence internally before
I ride.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
One of the things that I noticed after you, after
you've done the successful eight seconds, is the fact that
I see you kind of smile when you're when you're
walking across that dirt.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
It's almost like, yeah, I did it, I did it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, oh man, It's it's like one of the best
feelings in the world, you know, after you've gotten off,
maybe I've just landed on my feet, Like the first
thing I'm doing is smiling, and you don't really see
it till I take my helmet off, you know, Like, well,
once I get my helmet off, I mean I'm usually
grinning ear to year just because of how good it
feels to know that I just rode for eight seconds.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Please do not move. There is more with Jordan Halverson
coming up next. Hey, thanks for coming back to my
conversation with Jordan Halverson. You know a lot of people
don't understand even riding horses. People will get off that
horse and they are so much in pain. How do
you deal with the body aches when you're riding?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Honestly, like I put that all out of you know,
in the back of my mind, Like you got to
put it out of your mind. For eight seconds. It's
only eight seconds at a time. You know, you can't
think about injuries because you know that'll sometimes put you
in a bind. I mean, I remember one time I
broke my arm and I had a rodeo the next weekend,
and the surgeon was like, I need to do surgery
(05:19):
on Thursday, and I asked him if he could do
it sooner, like do it on Tuesday so I could
still ride by Saturday. So yeah, you just got to
put those out of you know, in the back of
your mind.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
I was going to ask you about that because I
know that being in taekwondo, we were always in fighting
tournaments and I would get an injury and my sobbinem
would say, Okay, i'll see you in six weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I wanted to be back in that ring again.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Because that's how you stay healthy and alive and known,
and so you have to battle that war.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah. So I mean, depending on the injury, you know
a lot of times like well, you know you'll ride
through those if it's something that needs to take the
time to heal, like you should take the time. But
you know there are going to be those injuries that
you just got to push through and keep going.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Well, what is the average workout plan for you? Because
I mean, you've got to stay healthy. I mean, your
core energy is so valuable to your success.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, So I typically, you know, workout every day, you know,
at least six days a week, if not seven, doing
some type of movement, like whether I'm doing like, you know,
a balance workout on days I'm not heavy lifting being
a woman, you know, like, there are things that I
need to work on more so than like just the
average mail ball rider, Like I need to really focus
(06:30):
on my core and I need to focus on my
upper body strength that I will naturally lack. So I
really like to focus on those things. Riding horses bareback
is honestly one of the best workouts you can do
for riding bulls, So I typically try to incorporate that
as much as I can.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
With you, there's a team, because it takes a team
of people to make you who you are, I mean
with one of the things we never hear about when
we're watching it on TV is the team, the entire
team that it takes in order to get you out
there right.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So, like for us, our team would be you know,
those stock contractors that allow us to come ride at
their rodeos. You know, people you know that are allowing
us to ride those bulls and bringing us stock. You know,
I have to hire stock contractors and you know personnel,
you know, bull fighters and stuff like that. So like
there's a whole team of people that goes into each
and every rodeo, yep. But as far as like a
(07:21):
team for like as a rider, you know, you're kind
of on your own on that one. Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Do you ever find yourself wanting to go to let's say,
a Red Lodge, Montana because they have rodeo days up
there where they have a rodeo every single night and
and just you know, just just participate with the smaller towns.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I have thought about it before. I mean a lot
of times it just comes down to, uh, what's going
on during those times, and you know, if I have
riders available, and if they have stock and the right
stock and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, this documentary, one of the things that I'm really
hopeful about is the fact that I want it. I
want what you do to be just as popular as
Women's NBA action is right now. And I just think
that this documentary is going to open up the hearts
of so many people because they're going to want to
watch even more of it.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, I really hope so, because this is something that
all five of us girls that are in the show
are very passionate about and would love to, you know,
see it be brought to a bigger stage.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yeah, you know, because it's an ABC documentary, So therefore
I would love to see it on you know, when
they do have the rodeos on the on the national
networks instead of being hidden away in some sort of
ESPN program. Right man, congratulations on what you're doing here.
This is the first step of a brand new beginning
because a lot of people are not going to know
that this is actually happening, right, Yes, sir. Where can
(08:39):
people go to find out more about you and to
follow you and to give you those hits on your
social media pads?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, so I'm on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, just jo
R D E N three nine five, So where you
can pretty much find me everywhere.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Who's your main sponsor? Suit can give them a plug
because they pay a lot of money to be with you.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
You know I don't actually have one.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Really Well, okay, then let's let's start that plan right now. Well, please,
come back to this show anytime in the future. The
door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Will you'd be brilliant today? Okay, all right, thank you,
thank you.
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