Canadian duo buckle up for North Queensland’s deadliest bulls

Canadian champion bullriders Chanse Switzer and Weston Davidson have no idea what to expect from Australia’s toughest and deadliest bulls when they cling on for dear life for eight seconds at a time in Townsville.

Canadian champion bullriders Chanse Switzer and Weston Davidson have no idea what to expect from Australia’s toughest and deadliest bulls when they cling on for dear life for eight seconds at a time in Townsville.

As they squint on a sunny beach overlooking Magnetic Island the duo realise that if they had not taken an exchange trip through Professional Bull Riding, they could right at that moment be feeding calves in the snow on their ranches.

Switzer, 25, and Davidson, 23, are top up-and-coming PBR contenders in Canada but until Friday night were completely untested on Queensland stock.

They first heard bulls were not as rigorous compared to those in their own circuit, but then, more recently, they heard Australia’s breeding programs had quickly caught up and were using cutting edge technology to develop tougher bulls.

They are among 28 bullriders competing for a pool of $205,000 in the Townsville Entertainment Centre this weekend, and the two cowboys are keen to go back home with some of that Aussie cash.

PBR Canadian Cowboys Chanse Switzer and Weston Davidson at Pallarenda ahead of the PBR finals. Picture: Evan Morgan

The grand final with feature several undefeated bulls this season, including Mooseys After Party and Roid Rage, each having a 100 per cent success rate at throwing off their riders.

It’s Switzer’s first year competing in PBR, and he’s ranked as Canada’s rookie of the year, and sixth place in the charts.

He broke the mould as a rough rider in his family, because even though they were all into rodeo sports, they were more focused on timed events such as roping and barrel racing.

His family believes his childhood obsession watching the movie Eight Seconds, about American rodeo legend Lane Frost, while riding toys like a bull, was what influenced him to pave his own way.

PBR Canadian Cowboys Chanse Switzer braves the Townsville heat in his chaps and vest, as he overlooks Magnetic Island. Picture: Evan Morgan

His mother wanted him to stop after progressing from riding sheep to steers, before he hurt himself badly on full-grown bulls, and clearly taking wisdom from famous country music song ‘Mummas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.’

“But as you can tell, that didn’t really work too well for her,” he said.

“But sometimes they don’t get a choice.”

PBR Canadian Cowboys Chanse Switzer and Weston Davidson realise that if they did not accept the PBR exchange, they would at that moment be feeding their cattle in the snow. Picture: Evan Morgan

Riders such as Switzer believe riding a bull requires more of a mental ability to focus, and not allow fear or expectation to have an impact, and it could be challenging evaluating the performance of the last ride.

“You can think about what you need to do different from the last one, and what you need to do this time kind of thing.

“But as soon as you climb over that chute and get ready to climb in with them, your head completely goes blank, and you don’t think about a single thing, you’re just going through the motions.

Weston Davidson would like to see a kangaroo while he was in Australia. Picture: Evan Morgan

“There’s some guys that can’t even remember what happened in the bullriding, they can make an 88 point bull ride, they won’t even remember what they did.

“Now I would say that I typically remember everything that happens, because after you get on so many it kind of slows down, and you get the momentum of it.”

Davidson said he had never been to Australia before, and that he really wanted to see a kangaroo before he left next week.

He grew up in a culture competing against cattle at a ranch, with his father also a rider while his uncle fought them, and started mutton busting – riding sheep – when he was two-years-old.

He has been riding bulls in arenas for eight years, but early this year he broke his jaw in a bull ride gone wrong, but fortunately for him it was a quick recovery and allowed him to get back on the bull after a month.

But he was excited to be able to change the pace, remove himself from his comfort zone, and “jump over the pond” to compete in another country.

“We don’t really know anybody, we know a few people over here that have come to Canada, but don’t know any of the bulls or stock contractors, so that’ll be a little different,” Davidson said.

“But it’s good too, keeps you on the edge.

“Us Canadians are going to come and give it our all and hopefully win some Australian money, we’re going to bring the thunder down under.”

Originally published as Canadian duo buckle up for North Queensland’s deadliest bulls