Urban Cowboy

Arnold Guzman does not need to look for a 4-wheeler or a fancy truck to get the ride of his life.

All he has to do is find a bull to ride.

Guzman, 14, began riding bulls two years ago by learning on a barrel attached to rope tied to trees in the back yard of Weslaco High School art and rodeo teacher Frank Quesada’s ranch north of Mercedes. He eventually graduated to riding Baby, his favorite black and white bull, who grazes in part of the ranch’s 10 acres.

Guzman is the first student since Quesada began working with rodeo students in 1975 to qualify for the Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo in Gallup, N.M., that starts Thursday June 28 and ends July 7. There will be 898 students from 44 states, along with Australia and Canada, competing in goat tying, junior bull riding, team roping and other events.

“I’m nervous but excited at the same time,” said Guzman, wearing orange and beige boots and a beige cowboy hat.

Guzman and Quesada hope to have enough money to stay through the whole competition. The hotel will cost about $600 plus gas and food, Quesada said.

Guzman fought his way through regional and state junior high competitions before earning a trip to New Mexico. In between those, he traveled as close as Edinburg and as far away as Port Lavaca to compete against the best his age. He earns belt buckles for victories and wears them before putting them in boxes after he wins new ones.

The keys to staying on a fast-moving bull are balance and strength, Quesada said.

Guzman is comfortable with ranch life. He grew up on a family ranch between Nuevo Progreso and Rio Bravo in Tamaulipas before moving to the United States seven years ago. He also enjoys hunting and fishing. Guzman, a rising eighth-grader at Hoge Middle School, became interested in bull riding after watching it on television.

He wants to join a college rodeo team after high school and hopes to become a veterinarian.

Results will be posted on the Web site www.nhsra.org, and some of the competition will be shown later this year on satellite channel RFD-TV.

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Daniel Perry covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4454.