Kriti Mehrotra
As a miniseries giving us a true insight into the world of cowgirls and women bull riders, Hulu’s ‘Not Her First Rodeo’ is absolutely unlike any other. It follows five remarkable women under the banner of Elite Lady Bull Riders (ELBR) as they face the in and out of the arena, risking life and limb for a shot at a championship buckle. At the front and center of it all is Jorden Halvorsen, a world champion bull rider, the brains behind ELBR, and the star of Netflix’s ‘How to Be a Cowboy.’
Jorden Halvorsen is a Country Girl Through and Through
Although born on an Air Force base in Florida, considering her mother served in the Air Force while her father was a proud Marine, Jorden Halvorsen primarily grew up in North Carolina. She herself has described herself as a “feral” kid who could never sit still, so to deal with her parents’ divorce while she was in the seventh grade, she turned to sports. She was a figure skater for a while, but her primary passion became horses as soon as she got a pony as a birthday gift, resulting in her trading her skates for a pair of spurs.
Jorden subsequently spent most of her days with her beloved horse, riding, learning jumps, and competing in various rodeo contests revolving around bucking horses to earn ribbons. However, at the age of 17, she suddenly found herself sitting atop a bull by the name of Snowball after being convinced to ride it, even if it was just to cross it off her then-non-existent bucket list. She was genuinely up for the challenge, and while she did slide off within mere moments, the adrenaline rush was such that she knew she wanted to do it all over again.
However, no one could have imagined that Jorden would soon want to pursue professional bull riding, even though it is a male-dominated sport. Instead of letting it hold her back, though, she honed her skills while continuing to work on her family farm, gradually finding herself breaking barriers and becoming a member of the Women’s Professional Bull Riders and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. She made cramped-leg drives from North Carolina to Texas every weekend and out of pocket to compete before finally establishing a name for herself.
Jorden Halvorsen Hasn’t Let Anything Hold Her Back, Including a Near-Fatal Ride
It was in March 2020 that Jorden was competing in a Tennessee Rodeo when she fell off her bull, only for it to end up stomping on her core as it continued bucking. The force of the beast was such that she had a grade 5 liver laceration, meaning her liver was slashed to such an extent that it was destroyed, and she had to be rushed to the hospital. She still remembers that when she regained consciousness, she saw a surgeon walking into her room holding 2 bags of blood and asserting that she needed to be taken back to the operating room for her injuries.
According to Jorden, they literally had to handcuff her as they didn’t have time to give her anesthesia first, so she saw them cut her entire stomach open, the scar of which she still bears. When she was unconscious, she claims everything went bright and white before she saw a figure off in the distance while feeling no emotion or pain of any form. That’s when she realized what was happening and continuously repeated, “I’m not ready! I’m not ready!” only to then wake up.
It turns out her heart had reportedly stopped beating twice while she was on the table, and although doctors had managed to revive her, they had no idea how she’d fare as she’d fallen into a coma. She actually woke up three days later, and fortunately, all her cognitive functions were fine. She did have to go through extensive physical therapy just to be able to walk properly again, but she knew her story as an athlete was far from over, so she worked hard to make a miraculous recovery even as COVID-19 restrictions went into effect. She used this time to recover and was actually back on a bull three months later.
Jorden Halvorsen is a Woman of Many Hats
Even though Jorden faced a nearly fatal and career-ending accident in 2020, she didn’t let it hold her back because she felt as if this was her sign to become stronger and realize that she had to do more. Therefore, as she expanded her wings by becoming an intern at Dale Brisby’s Radiator Ranch before turning into a full-time employee, she also began looking at different opportunities. So, as she realized that the field of women bull riding was drying up owing to the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association no longer running events, she decided to take matters into her own hands and launch a women’s riders league by herself.
Elite Lady Bull Riders was established in 2023, and it swiftly managed to recruit over a dozen riders from all walks of life to provide them with better opportunities while also promoting the sport. In fact, today, Jorden has close to 20 riders in her league, spanning all the way from Brazil to Mexico to several different states, and they are aged 15 to 30, with her being the eldest and most experienced. She is also arguably the best, considering she already has 5 championships under her belt, with the latest being despite her suffering from another injury in 2024.
In the 6-month season back in 2024, Jorden competed in 21 rodeos, winning or placing in 15 of them, which made her earn enough points to lead the table and even win the championship. However, just prior to the Elite Lady Bull Riders finale in Mesquite, Texas, in November, she had another serious injury while competing in a rodeo in Brownwood, Texas – this time, the bull stepped on her leg. She has had miniscus and ACL surgeries on her knees, yet this was different because the bull stepped on her lower right leg, tearing her calf by smashing her fibula and tibia. Nevertheless, with a rod now safely in her legs, she is gradually coming back into action. She hasn’t competed in another rodeo yet, but she is riding on both horses and bulls again, getting all the practice she can to regain her strength and confidence. She is doing so while also continuing to serve at Radiator Ranch alongside her beloved Golden Retriever, Star.
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