Introducing: Emmy Arnett

Raging Bullrider

Arnett takes all kinds of bull. Scott Troyanos

By Deborah Moss

Six years ago Emmy Arnett was hanging out at a rodeo in Orwell, Ohio, when a few cowboys challenged her to try bullriding. Arnett, who was at the rodeo as a barrel racer, not only decided to give it a shot but also went out and won her first competition by staying on the bull for eight seconds, an eternity in the sport. (Trust us on this one.)

Some might consider mounting a 1,500-pound bucking bull a little daunting, but not the 5'2", 110-pound Arnett, who has since added bareback bronco riding to her repertoire. She likes to tell of a rodeo last August in which she was thrown from a bull and wound up under its belly. Thanks to a protective vest, she walked away with only a few cracked ribs after the animal did a little two-step on her chest. "You just heal up and get back on the next one, the good Lord willing," says Arnett, 25, who was seventh in bullriding and eighth in bareback riding at the Professional Women's Rodeo Association national finals in November.

Those numbers aren't too shabby for a PWRA rookie who, in her day job, works as a parole officer in Meadville, Pa. Though her two careers seem to have little in common, Arnett says she has one rule of thumb that applies tobulls, broncos and criminals: "Never let your guard down, and never turn your back on them."

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