WATCH | Meet the bull riding African cowboy: ‘It’s like being on a rocket’

24 August 2021 - 12:15
By emile bosch AND Emile Bosch

21-year-old chef in training Katlego Selolo describes himself as an adrenaline junkie. “If it doesn’t give me blood-rush, it doesn’t interest me,” he says.

Selolo shares an avid love of cowboy culture with his father, Peter Selolo, who works as a prison warden on the horseback unit at Baviaanspoort prison, where the family resides. 

After being taken to the Rough Stock Rodeo in Onbekend on the outskirts of Tshwane by his father, Selolo discovered his true passion — bull-riding.

The sport has been called “the most dangerous eight seconds in sport”, with the goal being to stay mounted on the bucking animal for eight seconds.

“It’s like being on a rocket!” Selolo says.

He's been riding bulls since he was 19, though he's grown to know horses his entire life. 

Selolo spends his free time at his father's Invincible U-Turn ranch. Katlego cares for the horses, breaks in younger mares and helps maintain the ranch. 

“My father started the business to get black community in a white sport, usually they say it's a white sport,” Katlego says. 

Katlego hopes to find work in the USA one day, where he can be closer to the sport. 

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