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gets a $1 million bonus at the end of the year—many live hand-to-mouth, living out of their vehicles, traveling the rodeo and bull-riding circuits. It's far from a glamorous life for most participants in what is easily the world's most dangerous professional sport. A 2007 statistical comparison of injury rates found that bull riders suffer 1,440 injuries for every 1,000 hours spent on (or almost on) a bull. That's 10 times the injury rate for football players, 13 times the injury rate for hockey players, and 1.5 times the rate for boxers. Rightly called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports," bull riders also bear the lion's share of injuries among rodeo athletes, accounting for half the rodeo injuries reported between 1981 and 2005. Bareback riding accounted for another 22 percent, and saddle bronc riding accounted for 16 percent. Concussions, dislocations, and Cody Nance says frequent massage helps keep his problematic lower back and right hip ready for competition. Andy Watson photo/courtesy of the PBR. to get real tight back there because I'm always holding them close to me. "Everybody says 'Just stretch,'" McConnel says. "But even when you stretch out, you still have spots that don't get stretched. Massage just relaxes you and lets you be your best. When everything is working at its fullest, that has a huge impact on your riding." TJ Quinn, a massage therapist in Brighton, Colorado, met McConnel through her husband, a chiropractor. McConnel said Quinn's massages quickly became just as important to him as the chiropractic adjustments. "We've seen huge results with Ryan, and with other bull riders," Quinn says. "We're just able to make them more comfortable." Quinn says bull riders typically have a lot of holding patterns in their bodies because of the monotonous stress of bull riding. Deep-tissue massage, trigger-point release, and myofascial release all help reduce those holding patterns, she says. "If someone has a shoulder injury, he won't move it freely and other muscles compensate, so he stops moving in a balanced way. So a shoulder injury can then create neck issues and back issues and hip issues. It's a ricochet effect all the way down the body," she says. She typically does effleurage and petrissage strokes on stiff muscles, followed by trigger-point therapy. But she's careful not to go too deeply into the muscle too quickly. "Being bull riders, they're ready for pain all the time," Quinn says. "You have to make them feel comfortable. You have to get through that emotional toughness." FAR FROM GLAMOROUS The word tough doesn't begin to describe the life of a professional bull rider. While a few do earn huge prize winnings—the world champion fractures are the most-often reported severe injuries, usually incurred when the rider is struck by the bull's head, stepped on, or thrown to the ground. Shoulders and elbows can get dislocated when the rider's hand is still wrapped in the bull rope after he gets thrown off the bucking bull. Since 1980, the Justin Sports- medicine Team has provided physicians, orthopedists, athletic trainers, and physical therapists to tend to the medical needs of injured rodeo contestants. Indeed, other health-care professionals are better equipped to deal with that sort of carnage than massage therapists. But for every severe injury, there are twice as many minor sprains and bruises. And even injury-free rides can leave bull riders stiff and sore. The cowboy code is not to complain about it. tune in to your practice at ABMPtv 57