By Eric Smith
As the sun’s earliest rays begin to crest the horizon over the eastern skies of Belton, the beautiful, pristine, early-morning silence is bucked as suddenly as it was brief.
A speaker outside of Forged Ranch’s gym and workshop blares the Offspring’s hit single “The Kids Are Not Alright,” awakening the attendees of the ranch’s eight-day intensive bull riding course.
One by one, each man steps out of the bunkhouse and proceeds down the driveway to the front gate. Down and back is half a mile.
Seth, the owner, runs the morning workouts which, in addition to being arduous, are also refined with a purpose to every motion, every exercise, every second.
Born in Blue Springs, MO but raised in Oregon, Seth’s career was largely spent chasing human traffickers and attempting to bring them to justice, thus making his last name one he withholds for his own security. Its influence on parts of his training methodology runs deep.
“What looks like blue paint but smells like red paint?” Seth shouts as participants rotate between stations, including a seated rowing machine, kettle-bell swings, jumping rope and others.
“Blue paint!” one responds. The questions gradually increase in difficulty as the workout goes on, straining both physical muscle and mental acuity. It’s a technique derived from
“Kim’s Games” frequently utilized by military units to improve mental recall and detail observation.
“When you learn not to mind, then it doesn’t matter. You can just push yourself and push yourself,” Seth said. “It correlates into bull riding because a lot of times you’re going to battle your mind. You’re going to be anxious…You’re going to be scared. And you’ve got to get over it and look past it — Just ride.”
The workout concludes and the sun, now fully over the horizon, immediately makes its warming presence felt. After some time to shower and get food, everyone convenes in a circle in front of the bunkhouse, less than 100 yards from the morning’s workout.
Day one of this intensive, eight-day clinic is off and running, and it won’t be time to turn in until nearly 11 o’clock at night. Two riding sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening, are bookended by film review sessions that football coaches and players all over would find eerily familiar.
This morning circle, though, is the most poignant part of the curriculum at Forged Ranch. Seth works his way around each of the 15 or so attendees. He asks each young man, some in their late teens, others pushing 30, their name and what they’re there for – what are they after.
Esteban Garcia, who came to Forged Ranch from San Antonio, Texas, like many of the other riders, loves the unique adrenaline rush that only strapping oneself atop a snorting, bucking, violently athletic livestock animal can provide.
“I’ve never had the drive that I’ve had for this,” Garcia said. “From the first time I got on (a bull) and I fell off within not even three seconds, I was like ‘I’m going to learn how to do this, and I’m going to learn how to do it well.’”
Forged Ranch hosts clinics every month with a bevy of options for riders of all ages and experience levels. The eight-day classes are $1,600 which covers all the riding, drill work and instruction as well as lodging and food.
While the eight-day is the staple of the ranch, two and four-day schools are hosted as well as those for junior riders.
A school like this, is not common, and a welcomed asset, according to Garcia.
“Down in San Antonio, the rodeo scene is really clique-y,” Garcia said. “You have to know people, people have to know you and they have to like you.
“Here, (Seth) was just so welcoming. Yeah, it’s kind of pricey but it’s an eight-day school and he provides pretty much everything.”
The morning riding session ends in the early afternoon before the combination of heat and humidity become an even greater adversary than remaining aboard a whirl-winding steer.
Another film session ensues. When one of the riders is found to be fast asleep when his ride appears on the bunkhouse’s television, Seth’s instructions are simple and clear – don’t disturb him, there’s plenty of time ahead for film study. Healthy bodies are more important.
The evening session has a different energy than the morning had. There are many more people. Family, friends, community members, and some who have just come by to check the place out. Festive, relaxed, a rare spot of tranquility and normalcy amidst the increasingly tumultuous seas of current events.
This evening, a Sunday, is particularly special for Seth. One of the young men attending, whom he’s known for several years, wished to be baptized, by Seth, on the ranch. It’s the driving force behind why he does what he does at Forged Ranch.
Forged Ranch is more than an outfit that teaches bull riding but uses that instead as a backdrop to help try and mold those who would dare to climb in the chute, enforcing one of life’s inescapable truths.
Life will buck, twist and spin, attempting to throw us from its back. All there is to do, is hold on, adjust to the gyrations, and get up one more time than hitting the dirt.
Learn more at www.forgedranch.com.
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