Feature: Houston rodeo cowboys take pride in roughest rides

While some people choose the easiest, safest pathway through life, Rodeo cowboys who enter saddle bronc horse or bull riding competitions choose one of the roughest ways to make a living on Earth.

Cody DeMoss and Corey Maier are used to the work of cowhands and familiar with rodeos because of growing up on ranches in different parts of the United States.

They, both in their early thirties, all said that beyond the money or "purse" they earned when they win, there's actually a thrill from staying on for a full eight seconds.

The excitement comes from being on the back of a wild horse or bull that bucks as hard as physically possible with the intent of making any rider fall off.

"I've been doing this all my life, professionally for the last 15 years," said DeMoss, 34, saddle bronc rider from Louisiana who rode as if in a whirlwind on Monday night at the world's largest Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

In saddle bronc riding, the rider has to get in the saddle on top of a wild horse in the chute, get his feet in the stirrups, and you have your rein measured properly from the horse's head -- the lead rope -- you take the lead rope in one hand, and wait for a certain look in the eyes of the beast.

"As soon as you see that far-off look in his eyes, you nod," DeMoss said. "Then it becomes a spurring competition. From the highest point on the horse's neck that you can reach to just behind and below the saddle. For every jump the horse makes, you've got to do your part as well."

The nod signals the opening of the chute, the horse lunging and bucking with all its might, and the seemingly long ride has begun with the clock ticking down.

DeMoss said he has broken bones in competition and does not know too many cowboys who have not had a bone splinter or shatter during their careers.

The payoff, DeMoss said, is the purse but also a sense of flying while in -- or hovering just above -- the saddle.

Maier, from Timberlack, South Dakota, who has been a professional bull rider since the age of 18 after growing up on a ranch, agrees with DeMoss.

"It's an adrenaline rush," Maier said. "When you take a 2,000-pound bull that's got more power in his left ear than you do in your right arm, and you decide to get up on the back of that bull that doesn't want you on him, you've got to love to do it."

Maier said that cowboys who get even an inch out of shape will lose, "One inch out of shape, you can lose power pretty fast," Maier said. "You have to make sure you're giving 100 percent."

"If you ride a wild animal that does not want you on his back and you did it anyway, managed to stay on despite whatever his plans were, it's kind of a manly feeling," DeMoss said. "Saddle bronc riding has always been the classic event in the rodeo, and if you're really good, really in time with the horse, it's poetry in motion." Endi