It's as if everything in Colby Edgar's life has led to this moment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
On Tuesday, the Tamworth bull rider will head to the US for a seismic experience that he will undertake while becoming a man.
The 17-year-old will represent Australia at the annual Youth Bull Riders World Finals in Abilene, Texas, this week. Following the event, he will attend a rodeo college in Odessa, Texas, for two-and-a-half years after landing a scholarship.
If all goes to plan, Edgar will stay in the US while competing as a professional bull rider.
"It would be really cool to live over there for a long time," he said. "I'd like to come back to Australia, but I don't know when I will."
![Bull rider Colby Edgar holds his lucky bull rope, and pats his dog Polly, at his family's Warral property on Saturday, July 29. Picture by Mark Bode Bull rider Colby Edgar holds his lucky bull rope, and pats his dog Polly, at his family's Warral property on Saturday, July 29. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/7898dcf7-8086-4726-a88b-b2112d3a7421.jpg/r0_0_3629_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The life-altering undertaking will be made easier by the company Edgar will keep in the States. Four of his friends, fellow bull riders, will also attend the rodeo college.
They include Tumut's Toby Deudney and Coonabarabran's Linden Raaen.
"We've competed, and we've seen each other every weekend, since we were eight years old," said the former Farrer student, who had been drafting cattle and doing maintenance work at the Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange. "We've kinda grown up together, really."
Read also:
"It would be a little bit daunting if I was heading over there by myself. It just makes it a bit easier [having mates with me]."
While at the college - a sports school that includes basketball, baseball and American football - Edgar will study metal work and relearn bull riding, starting from the basics.
The former NSW hockey representative's most cherished possession, his old bull rope, will be in his gear bag when he travels to America. He recently started using a new rope.
"The [old] bull rope kinda symbolises where I started from and where I am now ... and how it's helped me with all the tough bulls that I've gotten on before," he said.
![Edgar's mother, Janelle, says she and her husband Paul want their son to "give back to the community in any way" he can. Picture by Mark Bode Edgar's mother, Janelle, says she and her husband Paul want their son to "give back to the community in any way" he can. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/b5c3d9d7-3cdf-4646-b198-d1d4da65d7b2.jpg/r0_0_3251_2724_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"And I may have been bucked off those bulls," he added, "but then the next weekend you get back up and you get on them."
Edgar, who currently leads the PBR Junior Academy Rising Stars standings, has never encountered anything he enjoys more than bull riding, and doubts he will.
When he nodded his head and the chute opened, he said, his mind shut off and his body took over and did what it was trained to do.
"That's the best part of it: you can just shut off," he said. "Even those eight seconds [a successful ride] feels like a long time."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News