The Rider

Brady Blackburn, a rodeo bronc rider with some renown, learned everything he knows about horses and riding from his parents, Wayne and the now deceased Mari Blackburn. Brady is recovering from a fall off a bronking horse in a rodeo, the most serious of the injuries being a skull fracture which required a metal plate being inserted into his head. Including checking himself out of the hospital earlier than advised, Brady is determined to get back up onto the literal and proverbial horse as quickly as possible as being a cowboy is all he knows. But deep in his heart he knows that returning to the rodeo in particular is something that is probably not in the cards without increased risks, which is eventually confirmed by his doctor who tells him that he cannot sustain another serious head injury without some major consequence. He does not even want his friends and family to treat him with kid gloves in being able to do any of those physical activities which are part and parcel for him of being a man and a cowboy. Brady has to come to some realization as to this fact and come to terms with it - which is difficult even as his best friend, former rodeo rider Lane Scott will forever be institutionalized needing around the clock medical care from a similar accident - or end up killing himself physically in the attempt to bronc again, or killing himself emotionally in not being able to do what he loves. —Huggo