Teaghan Bertamini, a 15-year-old from Acme, is badass. She is among the few girls participating in bull riding, one of the deadliest sports in the world.
According to a study of almost 4,500 competitive bull riders, nearly 40% of reported injuries were rated severe, with fractures the most common.
Fatalities are also a reality of the sport. Since 1989, at least 20 professional bull riders have died. Just last month, a young 19-year-old bull rider was killed at the Southern Alberta Rodeo after being struck by the bull.
Yet, equipped with little more than a helmet, mouthguard, glove, and vest covers, Bertamini is fearless on the back of a bull. She’s focused on one thing and one thing only.
“I’m just focused on my job – staying on for eight seconds… And if you succeed, it’s, ‘I conquered that big 1,200-pound animal. It’s overwhelming, with the adrenalin and everything,” Bertamini told The Globe and Mail.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, a bull rider only scores points if they can successfully ride a bull for eight seconds using one hand.
Eight seconds may not sound like a lot, but those seconds feel like an eternity as a bull rider. One wrong move could cost you a severe injury or even death.
But this hasn’t stopped Bertamini. When she’s on top of a bull, she’s also on the top of her game. For most of the season, Bertamini was placed in the top bull riding division of the Crooked Horn Canadian Junior Rodeo Association which serves the rodeo interests of Alberta youth aged 3-18.
As of June 21, Bertamini was ranked No. 1. She is now shooting to qualify for the Junior World Finals in Las Vegas in December.
Bertamini, starting Grade 11 in the fall, also wants to compete in the Canadian High School Finals Rodeo this month. But that dream was cut short thanks to high school guidelines that state rough-stock events like bull riding are for “boys only.”
First climbing on the back of a steer at just 11 years old, Bertamini has more cojones than most boys her age.
Bertamini has always been gifted at sports and was recently named Acme School’s female rookie athlete of the year. On the weekends, she practices bull riding two to three times.
When she isn’t on the back of a bull, Bertamini is playing club basketball in Carstairs or perfecting her riding form on a homemade bucking contraption made by her father.
But even Bertamini has role models. One of her role models is fellow teenager Bailey Schellenberg, the first girl to qualify for the Canadian Finals Rodeo in 2019.
“It was kind of weighing on my mind – if I should ride because I’d be the only girl…Once I saw her ride and make it to the CFR, I was, ‘Okay, this is what I want to do,’” said Bertamini.
Once upon a time, the thought of climbing atop a sheep for ‘mutton busting‘ had Bertamini shaking in her boots. Now, sheep are a thing of the past as the skilled bull rider is making a name for herself as one of the few girls in the sport.
