ABOUT THIS EPISODE
A PRCA bullfighter isn’t there to look fearless, he’s there to be trustworthy when everything goes wrong in a split second. We talk with Colt Steggell about what bullfighting really is: reading cattle, attacking the bull’s line at the right moment, and taking responsibility for a rider’s safe exit. If you’ve ever wondered how rodeo athletes protect each other while still competing, his answer lands hard and clear.
Colt breaks down the realities people never see on camera: broken ribs, cracked sternums, and how a bullfighting vest helps but doesn’t save you from bad decisions. He also walks us through the PRCA pro card process step by step, from getting NFR level signatures, to paying for evaluations, to fighting pro rodeos on a permit while you’re still being scored. Failing twice nearly crushed him until blunt feedback forced a reset: be more aggressive, and stop doing it like you’re not having fun.
Then the conversation turns to the topic he most wants in the open: veteran suicide and mental health. Colt shares losing a fellow soldier, surviving two suicide attempts, and why dissociation and depression can hit even if you never deployed. We also talk about community-driven support through WarriorsnRodeo and Operation VetNow, and how brotherhood can be a real lifeline, not a slogan.
If this hit home, share it with a friend, subscribe for more real stories from the rodeo and military worlds, and leave a review so more people who need these conversations can find them. What part of Colt’s story stayed with you?
Instagram:
@the_stegg45
https://www.instagram.com/the_stegg45?igsh=MXhlbXpydzA4NjRjNA==
Shoutout to:
Colton Steggell
The Steggell Family
Rodeo Community
Jace Angus
Riley Riddle
Operation VetNow
Warriors and Rodeo
Ag-Gear Store
Use Code: Milesmountains
For 15% Off
Raising Awareness:
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
Mental Health
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:29.920
Cool, how are you, man?
00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:30.480
Good.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:31.760
How are you doing, man?
00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:33.439
Doing all right, doing all right.
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.359
It's an honor to have you on, believe it or not.
00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:40.000
I've been wanting to have you on since July 2023.
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.520
Can you believe that?
00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.000
It does not seem like it's been that long.
00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:45.280
It's been a long time.
00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:46.159
I know, man.
00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:48.960
And I'm hit, I'm hitting my fifth year doing this.
00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:59.920
I mean, it's been a while and been been dealing with some things, but just knowing that it's been almost three years trying to get you on, you know, says a lot that you're on.
00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:01.280
So it's an honor.
00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.359
And yeah, you're on, you're a bullfighter.
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:10.319
You're not just a bullfighter, you are a PRCA bullfighter.
00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:11.680
Yes, sir.
00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:16.239
And then a veteran, which holds true to your heart.
00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:17.519
Yes, sir.
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:28.959
It was one of the best and worst times of my life, and there's definitely days that I miss it, and days that I'm looking back and glad to be out, but I'm sure you get that too.
00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:30.000
Yeah, yeah.
00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.200
So let me ask you this what what makes you miss it?
00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:44.319
I miss the camaraderie and just how basically how close you get to how many people are in the military.
00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:52.159
Like you can be best friends with someone, and then the next day they're gone to a different state, different country, something.
00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:57.920
But then it's also you get to meet so many different people that aren't from your same background.
00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:08.319
Like one of my best friends was Antonio Nicosia, who's from Philly, and I'm from Utah, and I'm like, I never thought that I'd become best friends with someone that grew up in Philadelphia.
00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:10.240
Yeah, I gotcha.
00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:11.360
I gotcha.
00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:15.120
But it was almost like the rodeo world too.
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:18.639
The camaraderie is high, the brotherhood is high.
00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:20.560
I feel when I'm in it, you know.
00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:26.000
Like I don't I don't fight, I don't participate, I just you know put athletes on blast.
00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.560
And I feel welcomed.
00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.639
Sometimes I don't, but then I feel like that's just all in my mind, you know.
00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.639
And then you know, they take me in and the camaraderie is high, just like the military.
00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:40.000
I think that's what brings me into the whole rodeo world.
00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:43.199
But but yeah, what are your thoughts on that?
00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:44.719
Do you feel like the rodeo world?
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:56.960
I mean, you see some people, I mean, you can fight people or fight bulls alongside people who are southeast, northwest, Texas, Oklahoma, right?
00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.759
Oh, yeah, it's been it's been fantastic getting to travel the country.
00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:06.240
I've been everywhere from Alaska to Florida to New York and California.
00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.439
Like it's it's been fantastic meeting people everywhere.
00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:11.599
I've been fighting bulls everywhere.
00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:29.840
It's and the way that it just brings everyone in, you're right, it is like the military because it is the only sport in the world where the people that you're competing against will actively risk their lives to protect you as you're competing against them.
00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:44.560
Because, like, just for bull riding in instance, if someone gets knocked out in the dirt, the people that haven't even gotten on their bull yet will jump out of the bleach or out of the chutes and come try and get you back into the chutes where you're safe.
00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:49.680
So they're risking their own life when they haven't even gotten a chance to compete yet to protect you.
00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:50.159
Yeah.
00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:51.120
Yeah.
00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:52.000
Yeah.
00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:55.919
So why do you why do you fight bulls?
00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:57.360
Why do you rodeo, man?
00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.719
I rodeo pretty much because of that camaraderie.
00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:09.360
It's the closest thing that I've found to the military, but also it is an absolute brotherhood.
00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:16.800
It is you'll meet some of the best people you've ever met that come from different backgrounds through rodeo as well.
00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:31.680
And then it's also for me, it's the aspect of knowing that every time I step foot in that arena, that those guys that are strapping themselves to the bulls are trusting me with their lives to be able to protect them.
00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:44.319
My whole job is to take that bull away from them, to take the hit so that they don't have to just to make sure that those bull riders get out of the arena safely, even if it means that I don't.
00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:45.199
Okay.
00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.720
Were you born and raised in the rodeo world, or you just pick it up?
00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.680
I was kind of born and raised into it.
00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:58.720
So my father, he was a bull rider, and then he was a bullfighter as well.
00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:06.160
And then my little brother is a PRCA bull rider, and actually went to college for bull riding down in Texas.
00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:08.959
And so it's kind of been a family thing.
00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:15.519
I stepped away from it when I was younger to play football and kind of always missed it.
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:24.000
I ended up playing a just kind of being practice squad up at the University of Utah for a year, and then I dropped out of college and joined the military.
00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:31.040
And while I was in, I had some buddies that wanted to go to the practice pens there in North Carolina.
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.480
So when we were there, they didn't have a bullfighter.
00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:40.480
That guy got pretty pretty hurt from there not being anyone out there with him.
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:43.279
And so I started stepping out in front of the arena.
00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:48.319
I was like, hey, like I've been around this my whole life, I'll I'll step around and see what I can do.
00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.639
And I fell in love with it after that.
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.879
Like, it's the biggest adrenaline rush that you'll ever find.
00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:09.120
And like jumping out of planes, being shot at, like, it's nothing compares to when you're face down with that 2,000-pound animal coming straight at you that could kill you on accident, let alone when they're trying to get you.
00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:10.720
I believe it, man.
00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.199
And you're the first one that actually said adrenaline rush.
00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:18.639
A lot of people are like, you know, there's something about it, but you just right off the bat just said adrenaline rush, okay?
00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.319
So you're you're you're adrenaline junkie kind of thing in a good way.
00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:22.879
In a good way.
00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:23.920
Exactly.
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:30.800
So it was a love at first sight, just the adrenaline that is, and then and come head to head with a bull.
00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:43.759
Yeah, it was the first time I stepped around one and like I shot, I was dumb, and I was just sitting there with like one of those flags that they used to herd like sheep, thinking that that was gonna help.
00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.800
And I got the bull's attention with that flag, and he came after me.
00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:54.639
And that was the first time I ever really had a really mean bull come after me.
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:59.360
And after that, when I finally got away from him, it was it was love at first sight.
00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.519
I was like, all right, like that was amazing.
00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.519
I want to get right back to it and actually learn how to do this.
00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:06.319
Yeah.
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:12.240
And then uh when uh top or your sergeant came around, found out what you're doing.
00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.240
Did they agree or disagree?
00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:16.399
Oh, they definitely disagreed.
00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:32.639
So the first time they found out about it was while I was stationed up in Alaska, and we were doing live fire exercises up on the mountains and pulled on gas mask, everything, went running up the mountain and passed out because I wasn't able to breathe.
00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:41.120
And then Sergeant woke me up, had me run back down the mountain with my gas mask, and passed out and tumbled down the mountain on the way down.
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.639
When he got up to me, he was like, Stegel, what is wrong with you?
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:53.360
And I just lifted up my shirt and showed him that I had I ended up being four broken ribs, and you could see all the bruising and everything.
00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:54.879
And he won't asked me what I was doing.
00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.360
I was like, Well, this weekend I was out at a rodeo playing bullfighter.
00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:02.720
Well, what did he say?
00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:03.439
What did he say?
00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:04.639
What was his response?
00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:07.279
He told me that I was a dumbass.
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:08.319
Yeah.
00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.319
Did you not have protection, or did you did they give you protection or no?
00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:28.240
No, so as a bullfighter, we have we've got this little vest that it's about maybe an eighth of an inch to a quarter inch of plastic with about a quarter inch of padding, and that's all we get, and it's just to try and disperse the power behind the hits.
00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:31.199
Yeah, yeah.
00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.159
So you you did wear that and still broke four minutes.
00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:40.960
Oh yeah, I've I've broken two of those vests in half from getting hit by bulls.
00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:54.639
Like I got I got pinned between the corner post on a fence and a bull with one of them, and it broke that vest in half, broke a total of six ribs and cracked my sternum.
00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:15.200
Uh, and then the year after that, I actually broke another vest from just getting hit, I got flung up in the air from one of the bulls, came back down on the bull's head again as he was popping his head up and broke that vest and broke a couple more ribs.
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:18.720
Yeah, all right, all right.
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:20.159
How much are those vests?
00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:43.519
If you get what I was wearing at those times, they're cheaper ones and they're about 250 to 300, and then you can get uh the upgraded version of those, and they're about 300 to 350, and then you can get a personalized one like I have now, which can run you anywhere from 400 to 600.
00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.240
So personalized as it is, dude.
00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.279
Yeah, is it thicker?
00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.399
Is it thicker, or is it just fitted to your body?
00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:57.360
It is so it's called a Jones Pro Gear vest.
00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:01.679
Okay, yeah, they have different sizes that you can order.
00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:17.120
And the two that I broke were TK specialties, which they're still really good vests, and there's still a lot of really high-name people that wear them after I I was just I was dumb enough to wear them after they shouldn't have been kept wearing.
00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.039
So that's the reason I kept breaking them.
00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:29.360
But with these Jones Pro Gear ones, I like them more because they don't go so far down on my back, and I can pick out different sizes.
00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:50.559
Like if I want my front plate to be a large and my back plate to be an extra large, and I want my two side plates to be mediums, yeah, I can customize them like that to fit exactly how I want them, or I just run everything a large with the medium straps because I like mine a little bit tighter.
00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:51.279
Okay.
00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:53.200
Okay.
00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:56.559
How long in total have you been uh fighting bulls?
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:00.960
Eight years now.
00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:02.720
Eight years, okay.
00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.840
Not not too easy, not too easy years.
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.200
I mean, I I pay attention to you guys a lot, man, and you guys go through the ringer.
00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:19.519
So eight years, okay, and then you've been you've been pro for a year and a half, year.
00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:26.320
Yeah, I got my pro card last year in I think June or July, so right around a year now.
00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:29.919
So take us down to how you get a pro card.
00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:35.679
How why is it so difficult for athletes like yourself to get a pro card?
00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:36.960
Because it is difficult.
00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:42.080
I mean, a lot of people think outside looking in, a lot of people think, oh man, you just fight bulls, you know.
00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.000
You they can put anybody on the street.
00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.919
Like, believe it or not, people think that, you know.
00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.720
So, can't can you take it down to like why is it so difficult to get a pro card?
00:11:51.279 --> 00:12:01.840
So it is difficult to get a pro card, first off, because you have to have three signatures proving that you are even good enough to get evaluated.
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:08.960
And those three signatures have to come from three NFR people, which is the National Finals Rodeo.
00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:15.200
And they are the best of the best out of all of the bullfighters across the world.
00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:26.320
The top three bullfighters every year get chosen by the top 15 bull riders to go fight the NFR.
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:39.200
So you have to have one NFR bull rider and two NFR bullfighters sign for you and say that, hey, yeah, this guy is good enough that I vouch for him.
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:57.840
Then after you get, even getting in contact with those guys is hard because they have so many people trying to talk to them and ask questions or anything that then trying to get them to come out and watch your rodeos is almost impossible because they want to see you in person after you fight before they sign for you.
00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:10.799
And then so after you get those three signatures, then you pay five, I think it was like 500 bucks to the PRCA for them to send someone out to evaluate you.
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:18.960
And you have to give them a list of five rodeos that that person or those people, because they could send multiple, or they could just send one.
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:25.360
So you give them a list of five rodeos that they have people come out and evaluate you and give you a score sheet.
00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:33.600
And the people that come to evaluate you are or they either are or were some of the best that ever did.
00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:43.679
Like my my evaluator was Jerry Jones, which is the one that, or Gary Jones is the one that made the bullfighting vest that I now wear.
00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:48.240
But he was also an NFR bullfighter and everything back in the day.
00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:58.240
So they don't just like random people come evaluate you, like they are some of the top people in the world that come to evaluate you and give you a score.
00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:07.039
Then after you get that evaluation, if you pass, which my first two attempts, I failed.
00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:13.600
I didn't get I didn't pass my first two attempts, so luckily my third time was the charm when I did pass.
00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:14.320
Yeah.
00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:27.120
But then once you pass, then you have to buy your permit, and that's like 300 bucks, and that lets you start fighting pro rodeos if if you get hired.
00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:43.279
But it's kind of a cutthroat world trying to get pro rodeos as well, because there's so many good people that have their cards that it's it's tough getting rodeos, but you have to fight five of those pro rodeos on your permit.
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:49.120
And at each of those five pro rodeos, you get evaluated again.
00:14:49.279 --> 00:15:00.879
So you're getting evaluated by the stock contractor, the announcer, and it they send a total of I think three evaluations to each of those pro rodeos.
00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:10.960
So you get evaluated for those as well, and you have to pass every single one of those before you get your actual card, and then you can buy your card if you pass all of those.
00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:17.120
So it's a it's a long, lengthy process to try and get your actual pro card.
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:18.000
Yeah.
00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:18.960
Yeah.
00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:25.600
When when you when you did it, let's say the the first two times you didn't pass, how how did it make you feel, man?
00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:27.360
Did you feel less of than a person?
00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.919
Do you feel like you you did you give up?
00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:31.519
Did you feel like you should have?
00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:33.519
Or did it get you hungry, man?
00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:34.559
Did you did you want more?
00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:42.159
Did you like, you know, I'm gonna show these guys that you know that they they denied, you know, denied me, I'm gonna show them.
00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:49.840
I mean, what so the first time I applied was right when I moved back to the states from Alaska.
00:15:49.919 --> 00:16:02.960
So right when I got out of the military, and that first time I kind of knew that I wasn't going to get I wasn't going to pass because I was just kind of trying to figure out what I needed to improve on.
00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:09.519
And luckily, like they gave me Gary Jones' number because he's on that evaluating me the first time as well.
00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:19.279
And I was able to call him up and be like, hey, like I'm just moved back from Alaska, like I applied and I know I failed, but like what can I work on?
00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:20.080
What did you see?
00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:26.639
Because that was the main goal of me applying this first time, and he lifted everything out.
00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:34.559
I I love Gary because he is very blunt, like he tells you straight how it is, and he does not beat around the bush.
00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:41.600
But yeah, that's that was that first time I kind of knew I wasn't going to pass, and I just wanted to know what I needed to work on.
00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:42.080
Yeah.
00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:54.799
And then the second time I had gone to a couple different schools, like I went to Cody Webster's school, I went to Frank Newsome, I went to I went and talked to those and went to schools with like the best people.
00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.879
And I felt like I was ready my second time.
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:03.600
And when I failed, it did, it was like a gut punch.
00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.720
Like I was like, all right, like what do I need to work on?
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.960
Like what is there?
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:15.359
And I called Gary up again and he told me like, hey man, like you aren't aggressive enough.
00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:27.440
Like you are doing good getting like once you have the bull and everything, but you aren't aggressive enough getting to the bull and making sure that that bull is coming with you.
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:32.880
Like, we have to attack their head and make sure that we're the only thing that bull sees.
00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.039
That way it doesn't see the guy on the ground.
00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:39.359
And then he also told me that it it looked like I wasn't having fun.
00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:58.480
And that is him telling me that it looked like I wasn't having fun is what really struck home to me, because I was like, yeah, like at that point in time, I was kind of like I was a little bit more scared of the bulls, and I was because I had just broken a couple ribs, like I was I was breaking bones every year.
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:10.240
And yeah, then that was so it was it was a little rough, like yeah, that that hit home, it was a gut punch, and once he told me that it wasn't I wasn't having fun, I was like, okay, like so.
00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:15.599
I went back to my house and I sat around for a couple days and was trying to figure out why I bullfight.
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:21.359
And it I realized like it's because I enjoy it, like it is fun to me.
00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:28.559
It's fun being there with the guys, it's fun getting to know everyone, getting to see all these places that I've gotten to see.
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:36.559
Like, I need to go back to having fun, and I need to have enjoy what I'm doing and not just treat it as a job again.
00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:45.759
And so then I took a year and a half, two years before I applied for my third time, I went to like three or four more schools.
00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:48.640
I went and I just was making sure that I had fun.
00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.599
Like I felt in control of the bulls.
00:18:51.759 --> 00:19:09.599
I felt like me being in control and being as close as I can to where I keep a two can in my right pocket when I'm fighting bulls, and I keep it there because when I feel a bull's horn hit that two can and I hear that sound of it ringing, it's that to me that's fun.
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:13.119
Like I can feel how close they are, I can see everything.
00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:19.599
Like I went back to having fun, just being like, hey, like I'm playing a game of like centimeters right here.
00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:20.480
It is fun.
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:21.680
Yeah, okay.
00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:27.359
And then after that, like it was for my third time.
00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:31.680
I went out and look, I was even fighting with one of my best friends at that point.
00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:41.839
Like, him and I were just out there having a ball, and we were making fun of each other, we were pointing at each other as we were grabbing a bull's ear, saying, Hey, I got my hand on, now it's your turn.
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:47.119
Like it's that third time I felt a lot more in control.
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:53.839
I was having a lot more fun, and I genuinely enjoyed doing it again.
00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:05.839
And I am looking back at it now, I am thankful that he did fail me that second time because it made me really sit back and look at myself as to why I was doing it.
00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:08.559
Okay, all right, all right.
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.440
Take me down to when you got approved.
00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:14.319
And were you ecstatic?
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.519
I mean, how how was it?
00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:17.359
How was the the mentality?
00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:19.680
I mean, you celebrate, what?
00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:22.319
I mean, take take me down.
00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:24.559
Oh, I was insanely happy.
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:40.640
I got the email while I was at work, and this was when I was still working construction, and I was laying pipe, I was down like I remember that day specifically because we just broke a water line, and I had been in the mud all day.
00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:44.960
It was cold, it was just a random cold day in the middle of June.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:56.000
I don't know if it was just because I was sunburnt that I was cold or what was going on, but I was cold and had broken a six-inch water line that was just throwing water everywhere as in the mud.
00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:02.400
So it was just it was just a bad day, and then I get home and that email, and I was ecstatic.
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.079
It made it made that day one of the best days of my life.
00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.559
Getting to Do you remember the day?
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.200
I don't remember the actual date.
00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:19.119
I know that I was laying pipe there in Salt Lake City at the new water treatment facility.
00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:21.359
But yeah, I don't remember the exact day.
00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:21.920
Okay.
00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.519
So do you celebrate beers on you or what?
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.240
Or whatever you do on you.
00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:35.440
So the first thing I did was I actually called my mom and told her, hey, I finally got it.
00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:36.319
And what's she said?
00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:44.400
And then she was ecstatic too because she knew that how much I've been trying for it, and the amount of money and time and everything that I've been putting into it.
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.720
And it's all starting to pay off now.
00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.400
And it was a great time.
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:56.720
I called her, and then I called my dad, and he's always been in a good influence on me, and it's just been it was a great time.
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.759
And then after that, I went and called my buddies and met up with some of them for.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.039
Some beers and got a little too drunk that night to show up to work at five in the morning the next morning was still a little drunk.
00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:08.880
Yeah, but it was worth it, right?
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.599
Hard work pays off, hard work pays off.
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.200
So, all right.
00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.039
I said before we've been talking since 2023.
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:23.119
You know, you veteran status, both of us, but you you you wear it and you you're you're you're proud of it.
00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:34.160
I'm not saying I'm not proud of it, but you when we connected, you mentioned veteran and how you want to talk about veterans and your you know not just your status, but 22.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:36.799
Not much so much 22, but suicides.
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.279
But nowadays everybody says 22 a day.
00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.039
I I believe it's more than 22.
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:53.599
I always thought it was more than 22, but that stuck out you know more than you fighting bulls, and you said that you would like to put that on the spotlight.
00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:57.359
So suicide, veteran suicide.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:04.720
Can can you elaborate why you would like to talk more about it or talk on that topic?
00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:09.279
I mean, I know that, but it's man, it's like a lot of people will be like, man, it's like somber.
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:20.640
You know, a lot people who lived it, like myself and you, we don't we talk about it, but only amongst our boys, you know what I mean, or our fellow veterans to an extent.
00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.079
Only like maybe if we have a few beers, we talk about it, but don't really talk about it.
00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:36.480
So I would like to talk about it with you, if that's okay, and uh if you don't mind, and and why you would like to talk about veteran suicide.
00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:44.559
So the reason I want to talk about it is so much is uh so while I was in, I had one of the best people I've ever met.
00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:46.400
His name was Sergeant Mohea.
00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:48.880
He killed himself while we were in.
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:54.559
And then also while I was in, I attempted to kill myself twice.
00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:03.440
And the first time I didn't really know what was going on and just just was just depressed and down.
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:08.640
And the best thing I can say is yeah, I was depressed, I didn't want to be here anymore.
00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:16.960
And then the second time uh my depression got so bad that I just started uh like I would lose track of time.
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:19.920
I think I think it's called dis disassociating.
00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:20.480
Yeah.
00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:30.160
Where there would be days that I wouldn't remember, hours, like I would just it just felt like my body was just on autopilot and I just wouldn't remember anything.
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:45.359
And then I actually got a phone call while I was driving, and it kind of woke me up out of one of those episodes, and coming to find out I was heading towards the center pillar on a bridge, going about 120 in my truck when that phone call happened.
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.440
And so I thank God every day that that I got that phone call.
00:24:50.079 --> 00:25:01.279
But besides those instances, I've got a lot of friends that have dealt with the same thing with the depression with us having our friends kill themselves.
00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:02.799
Like it's not fun.
00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:08.640
My uh my fiance even had one of her best friends kill himself, and she was the one that found him.
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:19.039
And while she was it's a it's a rough spot that I think that we need to address more openly.
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:20.640
That way we can get help.
00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:28.640
Like this amount of stress and stuff that we have to go through in the military, it there's nothing that equates to it.
00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:47.920
Like, even if you haven't been deployed, like I'd never got deployed, my fiance never got deployed, I know a lot of people that never got deployed, and I understand that the people that got deployed, like they have it rough, like you're one of the ones that got deployed, like it hits you guys home, like it's hits you like a freight train.
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.519
But then even those of us that didn't get deployed, we still had to go through so much stress.
00:25:54.160 --> 00:26:04.400
But because we didn't get deployed, we feel like we aren't we aren't at that same level and we can't ask for the help that you guys can.
00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:10.079
And I feel like that needs to be addressed because it shouldn't be to where we feel like that.
00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:15.200
It should be to where like, hey, we we are all one group, we are all one brotherhood.
00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.680
Like, let's try and help each other out.
00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:28.160
So well through my bullfighting, I've actually gotten to join up with two organizations, Warriors and Rodeo and Operation Vet now.
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:35.200
That both of these organizations, like they don't pay me any money, they don't do anything besides just help people.
00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:55.440
And the reason I wear them on my jerseys and try to get them as much light as possible is because they are working actively 24-7 with people all around the world to try and get veterans help to get anyone help really and to draw them into more of a brotherhood.
00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:14.559
So Warriors and Rodeo is EMS, firefighters, police, every military, and they try and pull everyone from those backgrounds into rodeo to try and get to have everyone feel the brotherhood of rodeo and get back to having those people in that close-knit group.
00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:24.880
And then Operation VetNow is trying to get veterans from all over the world from all different backgrounds just into sports in general.
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:25.279
Yeah.
00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:38.720
We have people that are racing cars, that are drifting cars, that are doing shooting competitions and archery competitions, to we have Connor Matthews and Liz that are professional MMA.
00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:44.640
Or Liz Liz Carmucci is another one that's professional MMA that's part of that group.
00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:50.640
And it's just trying to show everyone like, hey, like, we don't need to be by ourselves.
00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:56.559
We can be active, we can be inside these groups, inside any sport that we need to be.
00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:58.880
That way we can help each other.
00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:14.000
And it's so I want I wanted to bring up the suicide part of it because I've gone through it, I've attempted it, and I wanted to just try and tell people like, hey, I've got first hand experience, like it's horrible.
00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:17.279
Like, we need we need to try and put an end to it.
00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:21.119
We need to do everything we can to reach out to people.
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:29.519
Like if you're feeling down, reach out, and if you're not feeling down, still reach out to your friends because you never know which one of them isn't.
00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:34.799
Like we try and act like we're the big manly men and that we don't need to act.
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:45.359
And that is one of the biggest misconceptions I've ever seen, because when I was feeling that way, I didn't reach out because I thought that like, hey, I'm a manly man, I don't need to reach out.
00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.440
And it or you're the only one.
00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:51.119
Yeah, or like no one else knows how I'm feeling because it's just me.
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:56.000
Like, I'm just to me, I honestly kept telling myself that I was a pussy for feeling that way.
00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:11.359
And when I finally reached out and got help, it was they told me like, hey, like, no, it's you're not a pussy, you're actually strong for reaching out because it shows that you are strong enough to ask for help.
00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:12.799
Yeah.
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:18.559
So to me, it's I just wanted to re tell people like, hey, if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to reach out.
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:28.319
Like, even if even if I don't know you and you're just listening to this podcast, like, my name is Colton Stegel, like reach out and I will do anything I can to try and help you.
00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:30.559
Okay, I appreciate you, man.
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:32.000
I appreciate you stating that.
00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:40.799
When when you reached out and and you said that you know you are strong, you know, to that you were reaching out, were you still in the service?
00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:41.759
Yes.
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:44.720
Man, man, that is that okay.
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:46.000
You were still on the service.
00:29:46.079 --> 00:30:07.920
When when I was at the time when you reached out, you know, this was before 22, this is like you know, 22 a day, you you you would be cast aside, you'd be a castaway, you'd be put into some some brigade that you don't want to be in and end up getting secondary trauma on top of your primary trauma, right?
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:23.920
And I'm I'm so thankful to hear your story, what you said, that you know they encourage you to speak out because before they if they find a flaw, dude, they cast you aside and you're just a number, man.
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:31.680
And man, I am so thankful and blessed to hear that they actually turned around, I mean, and changed their ways.
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.920
That that is awesome to hear.
00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:38.319
Yeah, man, that that blew me away, man.
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.799
I I I appreciate you telling me your story.
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:54.079
Didn't know that you uh you know had issues and tried to, you know, do your thing and yeah, yeah.
00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:55.599
It's all good.
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.359
I'd I'd joke about it now.
00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.680
I'd make locked jokes about it now.
00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:18.079
So like I'm I'm all good and I I kind of found God through it because it just the pure timing of that phone call that if I didn't get that phone call and it was I still have that same ringer on my phone today just to remind me of it.
00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:27.039
That it was just the the ducks quacking and it reminded me, and for some reason that hit me in my head, and I was like, why in the hell is there a duck in my truck?
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:44.160
And that is what made me like wake up out of that and notice what I was doing, and but it was it kind of made me feel God because it never I never yeah, I was never close to God before that.
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:54.079
Like I had been baptized and everything, and I never really believed in it, but then after that happened, I was like, okay, like there has to be a reason that that happened.
00:31:54.160 --> 00:32:00.640
There has to be a reason that I'm still here because of that, especially with all the dumb stuff that I've done throughout my life.
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:06.160
Like I got my parachute didn't open twice while I was in, I got blown up while I was in.
00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:14.799
I was in a coma, like, and then I rolled four wheelers and been told by doctors that I should be dead from blood loss, like multiple times over.
00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:21.440
And that was the time that finally like struck home to me, like they there has to be a reason that I'm still here.
00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:43.039
And so I after that set out searching for that reason and ended up becoming a lot more into bullfighting because I was like, if I can be saved, then I feel like my job is to save others, whether it is in the arena through talking to people or something else, like my job has to be to try and save others just how I was saved.
00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:46.000
Yeah, well, I appreciate the honesty, man.
00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:46.799
I really do.
00:32:46.880 --> 00:33:23.920
And I uh man, I'm I'm so glad that the military or you know armed services have changed their ways on treating people who are seeking for help, seeking help, you know, because before there was a reason why, you know, one one day, one day, you know, you're into formation, someone's there, morning formation, they're not there, and then come to find out, you know, they had the the the coroner at their, you know, you hear from top or from the Toon Sergeant or you know, squad leader saying, Hey, the coroner's at the house, you did this.
00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:35.599
You're like, oh my goodness, seriously, and and then you know, the you do you you see you see people do it in front of you, you hear people do it right in front of you.
00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:40.400
A couple porta potties away, you know what I mean?
00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:43.279
So yeah, it yeah, it's it's deep, man.
00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:47.920
A lot of people think it it's it's it doesn't happen, it does happen.
00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.640
And yeah, man, I appreciate you bringing this up, man.
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:55.039
And I'm glad and thankful to to know that they they changed their ways, man.
00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:57.759
So that's awesome that you got the help.
00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:02.400
I'm I'm thankful that other service members are able to get the help when they need it.
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:09.039
And if if those people who are listening, if you need to reach out, feel free to reach out.
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:11.679
You can reach out to me, you can reach out to anybody.
00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:17.599
I mean, call 911, call call every service number that you think and know of.
00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:21.519
You know, Google goes a long way, but you know, people do care.
00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:25.679
It's not just a fad, it's you know, people are out there to talk to you.
00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:29.840
So, man, thank you for this conversation, man.
00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:31.440
No problem.
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:34.239
I didn't I didn't think it would hit me this hard, man.
00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:36.960
But yeah, yeah, well, yeah, appreciate it.
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:42.960
So but war what is it, Warriors Warriors and Rodeo Rodeo.
00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:44.239
Warriors and Rodeo.
00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:56.639
I tried to get a hold of them back then, and you know, I'm still I still follow them, but man, that though those those athletes there, I know just the name of you, Jace Angus, Riley Ridd Riddle, Hank the Yank.
00:34:56.880 --> 00:35:03.840
I don't know if you know Hank the Yank, uh, but but still I've had Riley on a couple times.
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.320
Jace, I've had on Hank the Yank.
00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:13.519
He's gonna come back, I think, in August or September, whenever his rodeo uh world you know dims down before the NFR.
00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:23.760
But uh Ben Walton, been wanting to get him on, but he, you know, he's he he's low profile, but still doing his duty, you know, uh in the rodeo world.
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:32.400
But man, that's a lot of people close knit uh warriors in rodeo, close knit and dude, it's camaraderie, dude.
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:36.159
You can just hit up and be like, hey man, good job, you know, like thanks, thanks.
00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:39.119
Oh, I listened to this one episode, you know, and it's vice versa.
00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:40.079
It's pretty cool, man.
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:46.559
It's it's it's cool what the rodeo world does, you know, and the culture.
00:35:47.519 --> 00:35:48.639
It's great.
00:35:48.880 --> 00:36:13.440
I'm gonna just keep going on about rodeo and about how it brings the brotherhood in because there's a lot of people that you would have never thought that were veterans or anything in the rodeo world, and but it is I like to say that the only two places that we still praise the Lord and sing the national anthem are rodeo and hockey, pretty much.
00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:15.199
Yeah, yeah.
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:26.159
And it is it's a great time when you're sitting back there just messing around with everyone, and everyone for the most part, everyone in rodeo can take a joke, and it's fun.
00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:31.519
Like we joke around all the time, we mess with each other all the time, we play pranks on each other.
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:34.480
It's it's honestly like just one big family.
00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:35.199
Yeah.
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:53.039
Jace Angus and I were actually hanging out in Vegas a couple months ago after a rodeo, and I was playing a prank on him and tried to get this really rather large woman to go hit up hit on him because I was telling her he thought that she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
00:36:55.840 --> 00:36:56.480
That's funny.
00:36:56.559 --> 00:36:57.519
How did that go?
00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:01.039
Jace just stared me down as she left him.
00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:05.920
Oh, that's funny.
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:07.440
See, small world, man.
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:08.800
Small world.
00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:13.920
All right, couple couple questions, and we'll be on our way, if that's okay.
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:15.360
Sounds good.
00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:16.400
All right, man.
00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:18.480
No, no, no BS here, okay?
00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:19.519
I take it serious.
00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:20.480
Music, all right?
00:37:20.719 --> 00:37:21.519
Music world.
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:24.239
Number one song on your playlist right now.
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:26.000
Don't joke fully.
00:37:26.880 --> 00:37:32.880
Honestly, it is, and it's gonna surprise probably a lot of people.
00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:36.800
It is from his name is Broken Vows.
00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:46.320
And it is it's called uh Blood on the Promise by Broken Vows.
00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:56.559
Okay, it is kind of more like a it starts off a little soft and then turns into kind of like Screamo music almost.
00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:58.639
Okay, I'll check it out.
00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:01.760
What's uh the band that you're into right now?
00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:04.000
Just any band.
00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:09.280
It'll be an old school one and it's gonna be Bring Me the Horizon.
00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:12.000
Okay, did you hear listening to their new stuff?
00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:15.199
Their new stuff look list sounds just like the old stuff, man.
00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:17.039
I'm like, oh yeah, I'm into it, dude.
00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:34.400
It was I finally was able to go to the their last concert I went to was in 2013 at Warp Tour, and then I was finally able to go to another one of their concerts last year, and it was with them motionless and white and the plot and you, and that was an amazing concert.
00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:36.320
Oh yeah, plot and you is hard too.
00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:42.400
They just don't get the they don't get the uh advertisement like they do, like the other two do.
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:44.559
So no, okay, all right.
00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:46.239
So you're a metal head, that's good.
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:51.519
But the new Bring Me Uh Verizon is like is the oldest, yeah.
00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:53.039
It's old school, it's back.
00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:56.239
I'm I'm so thankful, man, because I they they got soft.
00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:57.679
I was like, not good.
00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:03.360
I stopped listening to them, but then I found out that they uh came out with this new one and it's harder than hard.
00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:04.480
I was like, Yes, I'm good.
00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:06.079
Okay.
00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:07.760
Do you read a book?
00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:08.880
Do you read?
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:10.400
Yes, I do.
00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:20.400
And uh the book I'm reading right now is actually an older book, too, and it's uh part of the Ranger's Apprentice series from John Flanagan.
00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:24.719
Okay, what's the one book that changed your life?
00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:29.920
It'd probably be called uh Unfuck Your Brain.
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:31.760
Okay, oh, yep, yep.
00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:32.800
That's a good book, man.
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:33.920
Yep, I gotcha.
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:36.400
Yeah, those are very good books.
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:43.119
All right, your go-to snack on the road.
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:52.000
You can't ever go wrong with like Reese's pieces and like a Mountain Dew or a Red Bull.
00:39:52.239 --> 00:40:06.719
But if I'm trying to stay awake for a long period of time, yeah, I mix a Red Bull with an orange juice, and then I'll sip and drink on that while I'm just eating uh salt and pepper potato chips.
00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:07.760
Salt and potato?
00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:08.239
Okay.
00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:09.199
Alright.
00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:10.320
How's that spilt?
00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:11.599
How's that?
00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:14.719
Spilt milk is by far.
00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:16.480
I know you're sponsored.
00:40:17.039 --> 00:40:24.000
Yeah, but so the only reason I end up getting sponsored from them is because of how many I drink.
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:25.119
Oh, yeah.
00:40:25.199 --> 00:40:25.599
How many?
00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:27.199
Yeah, how many do you drink, man?
00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:41.119
I drink at least one a day for my breakfast, and then like if I'm just wanting like a quick like little burst of energy or something before the gym, I'll actually drink one of those before I go to the gym too, rather than pre-workout.
00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:52.320
Because they give you all the protein, they give you 20 grams of protein with the same amount of caffeine as in like an espresso shop, and they're only 90 calories.
00:40:52.480 --> 00:40:56.800
So, like one, I'm kind of a heavier dude, so I'm trying to lose weight.
00:40:56.960 --> 00:40:59.039
So to me, that's a great thing.
00:40:59.280 --> 00:40:59.920
Yeah, yeah.
00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:07.199
But those spilt milk drinks, like they are by far like they are my go-to breakfast every morning.
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:09.119
Okay, all right.
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:10.960
And your favorite flavor?
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:12.480
The peanut butter one.
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:15.119
Peanut butter chocolate tastes like the Reese's pieces.
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:17.519
Okay, next next question.
00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:22.400
I haven't asked this that much lately, but I have to ask you, because you are a bullfighter.
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:24.400
Do you eat peanut butter jelly sandwiches?
00:41:24.719 --> 00:41:25.360
Yes.
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:28.719
Okay, how do you how do you build one?
00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:30.719
Like, do how how would you build it?
00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:33.519
Do you more on the peanut butter, more on the jelly?
00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:37.119
What I put a bunch of both.
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:41.760
Like, if it's not leaking out of the sandwich as I'm eating it, there wasn't enough.
00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:44.320
Are you a jam guy?
00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:45.519
Preserves, what?
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:48.159
I am a strawberry jam.
00:41:48.719 --> 00:41:49.039
Okay.
00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:49.840
All right.
00:41:50.800 --> 00:41:56.559
So what do you say 70 to 30 peanut butter or what?
00:41:56.960 --> 00:42:08.320
I would go 50-50, but on the normal side, like a normal jar of like strawberries or strawberry jam that's like that big, yeah.
00:42:08.639 --> 00:42:12.000
Probably a quarter of it goes on the sandwich.
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:14.000
And same with the peanut butter.
00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:15.519
Like I use a ton of it.
00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:16.559
All right.
00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:18.400
So basically 70-70.
00:42:18.480 --> 00:42:21.119
We're just going full over 100%, dude.
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:22.480
Oh, yeah, 100%.
00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:23.360
All right.
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:26.880
Like, I use chips and scoop up whatever falls on the plate.
00:42:27.119 --> 00:42:27.440
Okay.
00:42:27.760 --> 00:42:28.320
All right.
00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:30.239
Do you have an off-season?
00:42:31.039 --> 00:42:32.400
No, not really.
00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:44.639
So technically, the off-season is like September to April, because there's not that many rodeos.
00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:52.320
But there is like the Texas swing, and in the warmer states, there's always rodeos going on.
00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:55.360
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia.
00:42:55.519 --> 00:43:00.079
Like, there's always rodeos going on, so you can always go find something.
00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:05.360
Just like last November, I was fighting in Las Vegas.
00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:08.719
And then in December, I was fighting.
00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:11.920
In January, I was just going to practice pens.
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:15.920
And then February started going to rodeos again.
00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:16.719
Okay.
00:43:17.360 --> 00:43:20.880
So you travel all off season to work.
00:43:21.599 --> 00:43:22.000
Yes.
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:26.960
So I uh I was lucky enough that I got a four-day a week job.
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:34.320
So Friday through Sunday, I'm traveling to different rodeos, and then if there's rodeos during the week, I just take time off.
00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:35.599
Okay.
00:43:35.840 --> 00:43:36.159
All right.
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:39.199
So you do have a regular day job, okay.
00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:40.800
All right.
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:45.599
What's your number one thing you like to do on your day off?
00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:47.519
Or when you have time off?
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:53.039
When I have time off, I like to go shooting or up in the mountains.
00:43:53.360 --> 00:44:05.519
Or recently it's just been probably the past couple of months has just been sitting around and'Cause everything's so busy that it's just been it's been nice to just relax for a day or two.
00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:06.559
I gotcha.
00:44:06.719 --> 00:44:07.519
Like today.
00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:08.239
Yes.
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:10.159
Thankful that you're on then.
00:44:10.719 --> 00:44:21.840
Oh yeah, I've got today off and I actually ended up having a rodeo cancel this weekend, so I've got the whole weekend, so I finally get to go take my fiancee on another date tomorrow.
00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:23.679
So I'm happy about that.
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:26.000
Where are you going or is that at a surprise?
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:33.119
I'm going to end up taking her to one of my favorite restaurants in Salt Lake, actually.
00:44:33.519 --> 00:44:33.840
Okay.
00:44:34.239 --> 00:44:34.800
All right.
00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:35.679
Nice.
00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:36.400
Okay.
00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:37.679
Well, have fun.
00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:39.280
Hopefully I didn't spoil it.
00:44:39.519 --> 00:44:40.480
It's all good.
00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:47.519
Favorite rodeo to fight, not because it's just the rodeo, but through scenery.
00:44:47.599 --> 00:44:51.760
Because I know you're you're living in that God's country and you travel to and for.
00:44:52.079 --> 00:44:57.679
I mean, you go everywhere in that area, God's country, Montana, Wyoming, and Dakota's and stuff like that.
00:44:57.760 --> 00:45:00.159
What's your favorite rodeo to fight in?
00:45:00.559 --> 00:45:04.960
My favorite rodeo to fight in would be Kodiak, Alaska.
00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:06.320
Okay.
00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:11.360
It is it is an absolute small town rodeo.
00:45:11.519 --> 00:45:16.320
Like their bucking shoots are inside of a barn, and there's only two of them.
00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:25.599
And but it is the epitome of a small town rodeo where like everything closes down for the rodeo.
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:28.800
But it is.
00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:38.400
You can be sitting there warming up to fight bulls or get on bulls or horses or anything, and you look over, and there's a grizzly bear catching a salmon out of the river.
00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:40.079
Yeah, that's crazy.
00:45:41.519 --> 00:45:43.039
Do you go there every year?
00:45:43.360 --> 00:45:45.679
When I was up in Alaska, I went there every year.
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:50.079
I haven't been back in about two years, but I definitely would like to go back.
00:45:50.159 --> 00:45:53.760
It's right now it's just a money thing trying to get back up there.
00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:54.480
Okay.
00:45:54.639 --> 00:45:55.199
I gotcha.
00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:56.079
I gotcha.
00:45:56.400 --> 00:46:00.159
Any up-and-coming athletes that you I mean you don't miss.
00:46:00.239 --> 00:46:06.800
So I mean you you you see them, you're like, man, this guy is this guy's gonna be good, or this guy is good, he's gonna just get better.
00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:12.480
Any uh upcoming athletes that you know you pay attention to?
00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:21.280
A real brand new up-and-coming athlete is actually a guy that I've been working with a bunch and training, and his name is Sam Banks.
00:46:21.519 --> 00:46:34.079
And he's he's a 19-year-old that I think by the time he is 22 is going to have his pro card and be making waves in the pro circuit.
00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:34.800
Okay.
00:46:35.440 --> 00:46:43.039
He is he is heads like I probably wasn't even good as as good as him two years ago.
00:46:44.400 --> 00:47:03.199
He is he is making waves, and I think the second he starts getting a little bit more of a name for himself, because this is only his second year ever fighting, that once he gets a little bit of a name for himself, so that way he can start getting some of those pro signatures for his card, I think he's gonna be a shoe-in.
00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:16.480
So I'm gonna I would say within the next four years, he'll have his card, and I'd say within the next eight, he will be like a name, brand name, such as like Koy Kraut.
00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:20.719
Like he will be he's gonna be someone.
00:47:21.119 --> 00:47:21.519
Alright.
00:47:21.599 --> 00:47:30.320
What what sets uh him aside from you and all the others that you've you've worked with alongside of what sets him apart?
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:36.960
What sets him apart is mainly just how willing to listen and learn he is.
00:47:37.199 --> 00:47:37.760
Oh, okay.
00:47:38.159 --> 00:47:53.519
Like, I know that when I first started, like I was so scared, I guess would be the best way to put it that I when people would tell me things to get me better, that it kind of go in one ear and out the other.
00:47:53.679 --> 00:48:01.039
But with him, like he enjoys it so much and he enjoys the atmosphere so much that he actually retains the knowledge.
00:48:01.440 --> 00:48:05.280
And he will come up, yes, he is extremely coachable.
00:48:05.679 --> 00:48:07.519
Yeah, and he'd come up to what?
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.199
He said he'd come up to you.
00:48:10.079 --> 00:48:15.199
Yeah, he comes up to me or anyone else and just asks questions.
00:48:15.599 --> 00:48:18.320
He is not afraid to ask questions.
00:48:20.079 --> 00:48:20.400
Okay.
00:48:21.119 --> 00:48:30.320
What event, not bullfight, not bullfighting or riding, what event do you watch when you're yeah, when it's either bullfighting or riding?
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:41.199
I watch saddlebronk the most because I think that when there is a good saddlebronk ride, like it is just absolutely beautiful to watch, just the timing of everything.
00:48:41.360 --> 00:48:45.440
Like it that is genuinely like the cowboy event.
00:48:46.320 --> 00:48:46.639
Okay.
00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:48.960
Not not bull riding.
00:48:49.599 --> 00:48:50.960
No, yeah.
00:48:51.199 --> 00:49:00.719
Like it is, it is saddle bronch riding, is like the original cowboy event from breaking horses that way we can go to the push cattle.
00:49:00.800 --> 00:49:03.679
Like it is, and it is just beautiful.
00:49:03.760 --> 00:49:10.880
Like, if you watch Stetson Wright or Jace Angus or any of those guys, like it is just gorgeous.
00:49:11.280 --> 00:49:12.239
Yeah, I gotcha.
00:49:12.320 --> 00:49:15.920
I've heard that so many times, and yeah, I gotcha, I gotcha.
00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:16.719
All right.
00:49:17.599 --> 00:49:19.280
Ultimate goal, man.
00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:22.000
In the business, ultimate goal.
00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:25.119
Ultimate goal is NFR.
00:49:25.519 --> 00:49:38.480
I want to be up there, I want to have my name and lights, and I want to have all those guys that are making it to the NFR bull riding be able to trust me enough that I am there with them.
00:49:38.639 --> 00:49:39.920
Like that is the ultimate goal.
00:49:40.079 --> 00:50:00.880
I don't think I don't think you can ever get past that to know that the best of the best trust you so much with their life that they are willing to put you out there at the same time as them when it comes down to them winning millions of dollars on the meanest, baddest bulls around.
00:50:01.119 --> 00:50:04.960
That they trust you enough to make sure that they will be safe on those bulls.
00:50:06.159 --> 00:50:07.599
Okay, gotcha.
00:50:07.760 --> 00:50:09.360
Do you go to the NFR?
00:50:09.840 --> 00:50:12.480
Yeah, I've been the past three years.
00:50:12.639 --> 00:50:15.199
It's a it's a great time to go and watch.
00:50:17.039 --> 00:50:20.880
I watch it from the bar or from restaurants and stuff like that.
00:50:21.199 --> 00:50:22.800
You going this year?
00:50:23.119 --> 00:50:25.599
I don't know if I will be there this year.
00:50:25.679 --> 00:50:30.800
I've got so I've got a daughter on the way, and she's due on December 10th.
00:50:31.039 --> 00:50:31.920
Thanks, man.
00:50:32.239 --> 00:50:34.400
I'm a December baby, so yeah, man.
00:50:34.480 --> 00:50:35.039
That's awesome.
00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:36.000
Congrats, man.
00:50:36.159 --> 00:50:38.400
Congrats to you and your fiance, man.
00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:42.400
Congrats on future wedding, too, man.
00:50:42.719 --> 00:50:43.840
I appreciate it.
00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:45.679
Well, I got I gotcha, I gotcha.
00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:53.199
Well, anytime you go to the NFR in the future, hit me up because I go every year for the first weekend just for the entertainment.
00:50:53.360 --> 00:50:54.079
That's it, man.
00:50:54.239 --> 00:50:57.039
So that's the only time, man.
00:50:57.119 --> 00:51:01.119
That's the only time I go to Vegas, dude, for the NFR in the first week.
00:51:01.360 --> 00:51:02.320
I yeah.
00:51:02.480 --> 00:51:03.519
But all right.
00:51:03.840 --> 00:51:12.400
One thing you would like to share to the kids that are thinking about the rodeo fighting in the future, what would you say to them right now?
00:51:12.880 --> 00:51:25.840
For those that are I would tell them that you're going to get your bumps and bruises, and you're going to win belt buckles, and you're going to have all this fancy hardware.
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:28.800
But the bumps and bruises will heal.
00:51:29.039 --> 00:51:32.000
The buckles are going to sit on a shelf and collect dust.
00:51:32.239 --> 00:51:38.960
The one thing you will be never be able to replace is the friendships and memories that you make with all these people.
00:51:39.039 --> 00:51:42.400
So definitely take your friends and your traveling partners and everyone.
00:51:42.559 --> 00:51:44.239
Don't take them for granted.
00:51:45.039 --> 00:51:45.360
Okay.
00:51:46.239 --> 00:51:46.719
Cole.
00:51:47.280 --> 00:51:48.400
Last question, man.
00:51:48.559 --> 00:51:53.920
Anything you would like to share that I left out, didn't bring up, or we didn't talk about.
00:51:56.719 --> 00:51:57.360
Not really.
00:51:57.519 --> 00:51:59.440
I think we got everything pretty much covered.
00:52:00.079 --> 00:52:00.320
Yeah.
00:52:00.800 --> 00:52:12.639
Last thing I would just like to say is that I hope everyone that listens to this is having a good day and they keep listening to your podcast because you're doing great things with it and you're telling stories that normal people would never get to hear.
00:52:12.880 --> 00:52:14.000
Well, I appreciate it, man.
00:52:14.079 --> 00:52:14.800
I thank you.
00:52:15.440 --> 00:52:18.000
Almost been five years, and I'm still going.
00:52:18.159 --> 00:52:23.119
I've been battling cancer twice in less than you know in over a year.
00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:24.320
Yeah.
00:52:24.400 --> 00:52:29.920
So I appreciate the kind words and I appreciate the listeners and uh yeah, you giving me a chance.
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:38.800
But the doubt that you had before, not in the DMs, but before, like thinking that you know, this is your first podcast, you weren't gonna do it.
00:52:38.880 --> 00:52:40.239
I'm gonna put you on blast, man.
00:52:40.320 --> 00:52:43.280
Dude, you annihilated this episode.
00:52:43.440 --> 00:52:47.760
I just want you to know, and I'm gonna keep this in the in the episode.
00:52:47.840 --> 00:52:53.039
I'm not gonna edit this out, but I want you to know, man, the doubt that you have, dude, you don't need it, man.
00:52:53.119 --> 00:52:54.719
You you're natural at this.
00:52:54.880 --> 00:52:57.519
I hope others have you down for a podcast.
00:52:57.599 --> 00:53:00.079
I hope this opens a lot of doors for you.
00:53:00.239 --> 00:53:04.079
And and and dude, I appreciate your time, man.
00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:05.440
I I really do.
00:53:05.679 --> 00:53:08.320
And yeah, you shouldn't have any doubt.
00:53:08.800 --> 00:53:09.840
I appreciate that, man.
00:53:10.079 --> 00:53:10.719
It means a lot.
00:53:11.119 --> 00:53:15.280
The fact that you blew this out of the water and we went this far.
00:53:15.519 --> 00:53:16.239
Come on, man.
00:53:16.400 --> 00:53:17.519
Says a lot, dude.
00:53:17.760 --> 00:53:18.320
Says a lot.
00:53:18.400 --> 00:53:23.599
I think a lot of bullfighters that I've had on, they they go 20-30 minutes, dude.
00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:25.840
I think we've almost gone to an hour or so.
00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:28.960
That right there to just blow the doubt away.
00:53:29.119 --> 00:53:29.519
All right.
00:53:29.840 --> 00:53:30.320
Awesome.
00:53:30.400 --> 00:53:31.440
I appreciate it, man.
00:53:31.679 --> 00:53:32.239
All right, man.
00:53:32.400 --> 00:53:37.199
Colt, man, I really appreciate your time on your off day.
00:53:37.440 --> 00:53:39.119
It's an honor to have you on.
00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:46.639
It's been a while a while, it's been uh years in the making, but you're finally on here and you blew it out the water.
00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:47.840
Till next time.
00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:49.760
Sounds good, man.
00:53:50.079 --> 00:53:51.119
I appreciate it.
00:53:51.199 --> 00:53:52.159
Thank you so much.