A 35-year-old Ohio bull rider was stomped to death by a bull Saturday night at a Warren County rodeo, a death certain to be seized on by the safety-first crowd looking to regulate a way of life out of existence.
Jason Blake Saylor was riding at Fox Hollow Rodeo near Waynesville when the bull tossed him and then kicked or stepped on his chest, according to Clearcreek Township police. He was wearing chest protection. It didn't matter. Medics treated him at the scene and rushed him to Atrium Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Fox Hollow Rodeo confirmed the loss on Facebook: "Our hearts are absolutely broken following the tragic loss of one of our bull riders and brothers in Christ, last night at Fox Hollow Rodeo. There are no words to express the sadness we are feeling. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy."
The New York Post noted that a 2025 report from the Arizona Independent News Network found bull riding is the most dangerous sport in America, with an injury rate more than 10 times that of football. A 2011 Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine study cited in the same report put the death rate at roughly one rider per 25,000 rides. The Cincinnati Enquirer, which also covered the death, omitted that context entirely — a choice that matters when the press frames risk without telling you how rare catastrophic outcomes actually are relative to participation.
Fox Hollow runs events every Saturday night year-round, offering semi-pro and amateur bull riding, barrel racing, and even calf and sheep riding for kids. It is, in other words, a family operation rooted in a tradition that predates every safety agency in Washington.
Saylor knew the risk. Every man who climbs onto a 1,500-pound animal knows the risk. That's the point. The Post noted that just last year another rider was bucked off and trampled in front of a crowd in the Bronx. Men keep climbing on anyway — because freedom isn't freedom without the right to choose danger.
The question isn't whether bull riding is dangerous. It is. The question is whether Americans will still be allowed to choose it when the regulators come calling.
