SAN ANTONIO – What’s it like going head-to-head with an angry bull?
Justin Rumford knows. He does it every night during rodeo season.
Rumford is a rodeo clown, and if you’ve been to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, you know he’s got a very important role.
Yes, he wears the makeup, but this cowboy clown wears many hats.
“I’ve got several titles,” Rumford said. “Rodeo clown, entertainer, barrel man, cheerleader and all-around good time.”
Rumford describes it as his dream job.
“This is going to sound crazy, but this is honestly how I feel. I love working with bulls. I love working with mean bulls,” he said.
Rumford says, unlike working with people who may try to lie to you and cheat you, you know what you’re getting with a bull.
“You know their intentions going in,” he said.
So what’s it like getting knocked around by a bull?
“You know, actually, it’s not so bad,” he said.
That’s thanks to Rumford’s $6,500 barrel. It’s made of aircraft aluminum and padded on the outside and the inside.
But as the saying goes, “you mess with the bull, you get the horns.”
And he has gotten those horns quite a few times.
“Even lately. So I’ve been a little sore on one side,” Rumford said.
The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo runs through Sunday.