SPORTS — Morales and Contreras paving way for Mexican bull riders in the United States

By Darci Miller 

All it took for Francisco Morales to know that he wanted to be a bull rider was getting on a single bull.

The native of Irapuato, Mexico, grew up trick roping and riding horses – and jumping on bulls sans rope in his father’s feedlot – as his family was passionate about Mexican rodeo.

But when he got on his first bull, he was convinced that was the only life for him.

“I remember when I first got on my first bull – you know, proper, in a bucking chute with a bull rope and a glove – I was like, ‘Wow, this is what I want to do,’” Morales said. “That feeling that I got that first time is the same feeling that I’m getting now. And you don’t get it anywhere else.”

Morales went to his first professional rodeo when he was 14 or 15 years old, and he didn’t even plan on riding. But one of the bull riders told him there was a spare bull and invited him to enter, offering up his own bull rope and glove so Morales could ride. And ride he did, placing third and winning more money than he knew what to do with.

“At that time, at the ranch, I remember that I had to do a lot of chores on vacation, when I was on a break at school, and I used to get 50 pesos a week,” he said. “And that was a lot of work. So I did that (bull riding), and I remember I won like 650 pesos, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to work ever again!’”

Morales is now 38 years old, and has a 17-year PBR career including 167 qualified rides across all levels of competition and a PBR Mexico title in 2017.

Tune in on the PBR’s Facebook page to hear more about Morales’s life and career in a new documentary premiering at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

The video also showcases his PBR Global Cup Team Mexico teammate Juan Carlos Contreras, who also began bull riding thanks to his family’s influence: his grandfather rode bulls in the Mexican style, and Juan Carlos followed him into the sport.

“I think I was 10 years old when I rode the calves,” Contreras said. “My grandpa said, ‘Ride it,’ but Mexican style. Two hands. And I rode a little calf. And I said, ‘That is all – I love this one.’ Growing up, I started to practice the real cowboy style.”

Growing up in Huichapan, Contreras would watch videos of PRCA and PBR superstars and dream of one day making it in the United States.

“When I was little, I used to dream of the PRCA Finals, the yellow bucking chutes,” he said. “I thought about it all the time when I was growing up. I’d say, ‘One day, you’ll stay in the USA and ride bulls.’ When I saw a little bit more videos from PBR, I’d say, ‘I’ll stay one day in the PBR.’”

Contreras made his PBR debut in 2010. He’s a two-time PBR Mexico Champion and has two PBR World Finals appearances under his belt in 2012 and 2018. On the premier series, he’s a career 11-for-43 (25.58%).

Both Contreras and Morales agree that, while bull riding in Mexico has improved dramatically in their lifetimes, there are still a number of obstacles preventing more Mexican bull riders from making the leap to the United States.

“In Mexico, it is more fun, more like play, and here is more professional,” Contreras said. “It is more easy to stay in Mexico. Come (here), and the language is really, really, really different.”

Morales recalled his first PBR event in the United States, when he didn’t know a word of English.

“The first time I went, I was getting ready, and the stock contractor was talking to me, and the judge was saying something, and I was like… it’s hard,” Morales said. “There are some guys that have got a lot of talent. Some of them, they don’t want to come, but when they come to the States, they don’t ride the same. I don’t know if it is the pressure they put on themselves, or just not the same caliber of bulls. I don’t know. It’s a hard question to ask.”

While the decision to ride and make a life in the United States may not have been the easiest road to take, it’s one that neither of them regrets for a moment.

“The first time, like I said, that feeling that I got, I just don’t get it anywhere else. It fills me,” Morales said. “If I can still ride a bull and make a little bit of money, and I feel what I feel, I can still do it.”

“I just want to help the young guys to come back here and make their dreams come true,” Contreras said. “This is my life, and this is the price to pay for my dreams. But I am really happy to stay here and ride for my country.”