For some, rodeo is cheaper than daycare, said Cody Call, a bullfighter who lives in 150 Mile House.
“My first rodeo was at three months old, travelling with my family.”
Call, now 25, was born into the lifestyle and said you cannot fake being a cowboy.
“You’re either in it or not. There’s no halfway.”
Despite having grown up on a ranch, Call didn’t begin bullfighting until around the age of 20, when the 2017 wildfires forced residents out, including the bullfighters who, if not evacuated, were fighting fires instead.
At the time, Call was down in south Arizona playing junior hockey, but thought to himself, someone still has to bullfight.
“I’ve been around long enough. What could it hurt? I’ve never looked back.”
That’s the thing, though, bullfighting can and does hurt. Call recently dislocated his shoulder while saving a bull rider thrown off their bull at the 2023 Indoor Spring Classic Rodeo in Williams Lake. The injury resulted in surgery.
For Call, the risk has been bred into him, with passion and family pride driving him, he said.
“Why am I destroying my body every week when I could make twice as much at the oil patch and not wreck my body and have a steady pay cheque? You have to truly love it.”
Bullfighting is “a blur, and then a bunch of dirt in your face,” said Call, who described the event as a mind game where everything in you wants to run away. The trick, however, is getting as close as possible to the bull.
“The closer you are, the safer you are. There’s a sweet spot by [the bull’s] neck where they can’t reach you … Once you master how to trick your mind to not run, but stay … you slow down and appreciate jump for jump.”
Still, it’s an adrenaline rush, and Call compared bullfighting to the gladiator days.
“For better or worse, society hasn’t changed since the gladiators were fighting lions. People like to see all the wrecks at the rodeo. They tell their families about it ten years later.”
Call isn’t the only one passionate about the rodeo.
Tyson Pietsch has been a rodeo announcer for some 30 years and said he loves seeing the camaraderie among the cowboys and contestants.
“What’s really neat is seeing the children of people I saw competing 25 to 30 years ago now compete and even some of their grandchildren. I get to see generations of cowboys do what they love and I’m very fortunate that way.”
Pietsch got into broadcasting while in college at Mount Royal College and started working with his future father-in-law, John Duffy, a rodeo cowboy and stock provider.
He’s now been the voice of the Williams Lake Stampede for over ten years and the announcer for smaller rodeos, such as the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo and the Logan Parent Memorial Rodeo in 100 Mile House. Pietsch comes to the Cariboo three to four times a year.
When speaking about smaller rodeos like 100 Mile’s, he said, “They’re all awesome. I mean, the community supports them and it’s just as much work for the volunteers to put them on, but they’re all great. I’ve never been to a poor event in the Cariboo yet.”
A farmer himself who lives on the same farm he grew up on in Buck Lake, Alberta, Pietsch loves that the rodeo lets him meet people and travel, especially with his family who comes along. His four kids, ages 18 to 26, help out, too, whether setting up the sound system or helping with the livestock.
“I want to thank everyone that ever hired me to come out … It’s been a great experience and I’ve made lifelong friends doing this.”