On the road again...

The week started off great.

The first little bull riding that I went to I won, and everything was looking good, but ever since then I haven't drawn worth a crap. I've only gotten on one solid, good bull in the past two weeks. I've ridden every bull I got on except for one. I've been on 10 bulls, but only one of them was a money bull.

There's a time to make money and there's a time to spend money, but it takes money to make money. That's a fact of life.

We're going up and down the road and we're paying four dollars a gallon for gas, and you have your entry fees that are anywhere from $220 to $320 everywhere you go, you have hotels to pay for and you've got anything extra that you need to take care of. Even though I'm not riding bad – don't get me wrong, I still had to ride them – but I'm working my butt off for 8 seconds for something you're only going to be 80 points on.

I'm not too down about it. I've spent a lot of money and I've made a little bit – about enough to cover my expenses – but then you have other guys who are in the truck with me that haven't stayed on a bull all week long and they're going broke.

There are guys that have already spent $5,000 between gas, plane tickets, rental cars, food, hotels, entry fees, and these are down. They've definitely got their heads down and this is the turning point of the year right here.

People look at the Built Ford Tough Series and they say, "This is the halfway point. This the turning point." No. No. No. The turning the point is after the break.

The break, which is what I call Cowboy Christmas, is when everything heats up and gets going. You can go – it's really about a month, month-and-a-half is what I consider Cowboy Christmas – and ride a bunch of bulls and win a bunch of money and really pick your head up before you come back for the last run of the Built Ford Tough Series, you're riding good and then you go into the Finals kicking butt, you got your confidence up, money in the bank and it seems like nobody can stop you.

Then again, you could been on top of the world before the break and you go through Cowboy Christmas spending thousands, losing thousands of dollars, getting bucked off plenty of bulls, and then you come back to the last run of the Built Ford Tough Series and on into the World Finals with no confidence.

This is the turning point of the year as far as I'm concerned.

You're having to spend some money at this point and you're not having somebody give you a show-up-check when you get there. It's not easy. It's not all well groomed either. You're having to wear the same jeans for three days in a row, and there was one point where I hadn't taken a shower in two-and-a-half days. When I finally got to take a shower I was like, "Oh man, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

You only get three hours of sleep a night and, this time of year, you actually get used to that. You get three hours, you wake up and you're like, "Lets go hit the road." Then an hour-and-a-half later after driving you feel like you're going to pass out, but whatever.

Not only that, but we've had fun these last two weeks too.

We went to the Mall of America in Minneapolis. It was me, Pistol Robinson, Kolt Donaldson and Cord McCoy and we were all hanging out, riding roller coasters and doing all kinds of cool stuff.

You don't think about it, but at the end of the week whenever you look back at your checkbook you're like, "Wow, I spent a lot of money and I haven't made nearly as much as I spent, so I better start paying attention."

You get to worrying about that and you get to pressing and trying to make yourself ride better, but at the end of the day it's all about having fun, and if you ride your bulls well enough, then the money is not ever going to be an issue.

That's the thing about riding bulls: it doesn't matter how good you draw or how bad you draw, because if you consistently stay on your bulls, they can't keep the money out of your pocket.

Every night when I get back in the truck, I tell myself that I might not have done as well here as I had hoped, but it's not my fault. I did everything I could to the best of my ability and I rode my bull. I did as well as I possibly could, and if I keep doing that, eventually they're going to have to pay me – the money is going to have to come to me.

You're riding with 10 other guys – five in this truck and five in the other – and everybody starts getting their head down and talking about how bad they did. You have to kind of step back and say something to them.

It's hard being a rookie and having to be the one to say something to them.

Those guys get their head down and they get to fighting themselves, but you have to take a step back and say, "Hey guys, we're among the Top 45 bull riders in the world."

The other thing is whenever you show up at these types of events, you're not the weatherman. You don't know whether the outdoor arena is going to completely dry and it's a beautiful day or whether it's going to be pouring down rain and lightning and thundering. You don't have any idea.

Last night in Springdale, Arkansas, it was lightning and thundering and the wind was blowing and I don't know how in the world we didn't get soaking wet, but it didn't start raining until as soon as the bull riding was over with.

That is hard for some guys. They don't want to get their stuff wet. They don't think they can hold onto their rope as well. They can't focus. Then you got other guys, like me, who are like, "Let it rain."

There might be 40 bull riders there that night, but 39 of them can go ahead and put their heads down and pout about how wet and cold they're getting and I can step up to the plate and win their money while they're complaining.

That's what it takes.

Personally, I don't care if it rains, because if it does that marks out about half the guys right there. Some of them will turn out and go watch it from their truck. Some of them will get on and jump off their bull in two or three seconds. Then some of them will get on their bull and try their butt off to win regardless of the elements.

Those are the guys who at the end of the day are going to be at the World Finals.

There are people who would kill to be where we're at right now. People spend their whole lives working to get where we're at, so no matter how good or how bad you're doing, you always have to keep your head up, because one negative person in the truck with four positive guys can bring the whole truck down if you let it.

You have to keep a good attitude. So that's the thing: you have to run with guys who have a positive attitude. You know, birds of a feather flock together and no matter what, at the end of the day, you have to be thankful.

If you won $10,000 that night or if you got bucked off and got your face thrown in the mud, you have to say, "God blessed me and I'm thankful for where I'm at. I'm among the Top 45 guys in the world and I'm out here doing what I love for a living, which is something that most people only dream about doing."

I'm thankful for that. Really, every day when I wake up I'm thankful that this is what I get to do. This is something that I dreamed about ever since I was little bitty and, I don't know, if you don't humble yourself every once in awhile it'll take you over.

Whenever I'm not doing so good I have to step back and just be thankful. I'm not anywhere near where I want to be, but I thank God I'm not where I was two years ago.

Getting to ride against the best bull riders in the world and getting to get on the best bulls in the world every night is something that is unexplainable – not just getting to do that, but actually being competitive with them.

It's awesome.