In 2003, Brendon Clark left his native Australia—along with all of his loved ones—to pursue a dream of becoming a professional bull rider.
That bold decision turned out better than Clark could’ve ever imagined, as the 34 year old enjoyed a fine 11-year career competing in the pinnacle of the sport, the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS).
The Hollister resident retired after the 2013 season, knowing he had accomplished his goal of competing at the highest level. In an interview with the Free Lance, Clark reflected on the enormity of the decision to leave his home country.
“Obviously it was tough for me because I was leaving home with no real guarantee of anything,” said Clark, who competed in six events in last weekend’s San Benito County Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo. “Not only that, but I’m coming here to do the most dangerous thing in the world, not knowing if I’d be good enough to make it. It was tough for everyone back then, and it’s still tough for everyone to this day. Luckily, I had some success in the sport.”
Did he ever. In Clark’s final season, he became the 27th rider in Professional Bull Riders (PBR) history to surpass $1 million in career earnings. More importantly, Clark earned tremendous respect and praise, becoming a fan favorite not only in his native land, but in the U.S. as well.
Clark went out near the top of his game, finishing 27th in the world standings, including seven top-10 finishes. Clark said talent, hard work, determination and staying healthy proved vital during his career.
“There’s really only 35 guys who make it to the top level in the PBR, and they’re typically the ones who work harder and stay focused a lot more,” Clark said. “There’s just something that sets them apart from everyone else. I’m not sure what it was with me; I didn’t ever want to settle for second best I guess. This is not a game—you have to treat it like a professional. For me, it was always about trying to be better every single day.”
Clark said he was fortunate that he remained relatively healthy throughout his career. Of course, being “healthy” as a bull rider takes on an entirely different meaning than it does for the average person.
Besides one terrifying incident—in the 2009 Bass Pro Shops Shootout, Clark got slammed to the ground and was kicked while riding Black Smoke—he came away relatively unscathed by pro bull riding standards.
“I had some knee injuries and concussions—too many concussions, let’s put it that way—but it comes with the sport,” he said. “If you get injured, it’s pretty tough to make it in this game.”
The 2009 ride on Black Smoke resulted in Clark being hospitalized for five days after he suffered a lacerated liver, contusions, bleeding in both lungs and rib fractures.
“By far that was the hardest one (hit from a bull),” he said. “That was kind of one of them life or death deals, where a lot of people were not sure if I was going to make it through. When your internal organs get crushed and you get stood on, it’s by far worse than everything else. Other than that, I was pretty lucky.”
Clark had no qualms about his retirement, knowing he was exiting at the perfect time.
“I got everything out of it, and I was ready to be done,” he said. “I was happy with what I had done, and I don’t miss it at all. I still love watching it, but I don’t miss it, that’s for sure. There are no temptations for me to get back on a bull and ride one.”
Raised in Morpeth, Australia, Clark was the first from his family to take up bull riding—this despite being the youngest of five children. When Clark was 6, he saw some guys practicing bull riding, and one of them asked him if he was interested in riding.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“I was probably too young to realize what was going on back then,” said Clark, who comes from a rugby-playing family. “At 8, I got my first ride in competition.”
Clark lived in Texas for the first couple of years upon his arrival in the U.S. before settling down in Hollister. Clark’s wife, Alli, is a Hollister native, and they have one boy, Casyn, who is 16 months old.
“He definitely keeps me on my toes,” Clark said.
Clark’s post-retirement days have been just as busy as when he was a competitor. In addition to training horses and doing speaking engagements, Clark also does some broadcasting work for the PBR.
After a distinguished and exhilarating pro riding career, Clark finds joy in the simple things: spending time with Alli and Casyn, training young kids on how to ride and going around the country and back to Australia for special speaking events.
Of course, Clark still competes in events like the Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo; last weekend he earned the Senior All-Around Track award, displaying a variety of skills in the process.
