“’Superstition is not going to help you,’ Adriano Moraes says. When he started riding bulls professionally in the United States in 1993, he found American cowboys to be oddly obsessed with bad luck — they didn’t put their hats on beds, accept $50 bills or eat chicken before getting on a bull. Instead, Moraes says, develop your core strength. He did 2,000 crunches a day during the 15 years he competed with the Professional Bull Riders, the international organization known as the P.B.R., eventually becoming its first three-time world champion. Bulls can weigh up to 2,200 pounds and are bred for their explosive leaps and midair spins. “Dance with the bull,” advises Moraes, 45, who retired in 2008 and now scouts talent (bovine and human) and runs events for the P.B.R. in his native Brazil. ‘Never try to fight; if you fight, you always lose.’ Stay up near the animal’s shoulders, away from its high-kicking hindquarters.”
—”Tip: How to Ride a Bull” by Malia Wollan