Lawrence bull rider Jimmy Longley. Photo / Peter McIntosh
In the greater scale of life, 46 is still a pretty young age — unless you are a rodeo bull rider.
Jimmy Longley says riding a 1000kg bucking bull at his age feels akin to an 80-year-old riding a mobility scooter at high speed down an escalator and flying over
the handle bars at the bottom.
"It's pretty hard on the body. At 46, I'm over the hill in terms of bull riding. A lot of them quit when they get to their 30s."
Longley said he, too, had retired from bull riding in his 30s after accruing a long list of injuries, including dislocated shoulders, smashed ribs, a broken arm, a "bashed-up knee" — and he has forgotten how many times he has been knocked unconscious.
But 11 years after his last bull ride, the Lawrence shepherd came out of retirement for one last season, which started at the Mad Bull Rodeo in Henley on Saturday.
