Short Biography: Richard Neale Tuff Hedeman

Tuff Hedeman Richard Neale “Tuff” Hedeman was born on March 2, 1963 in El Paso, Texas. He was born last of six other siblings. He lived in Texas during the school years and in New Mexico during the summer so he could work with his dad. His dad worked at the race tracks in Raton, New Mexico for a while he got transferred to a different racetrack. Helping his dad work at the race track got him started in the rodeo life at age four and a job at the racetrack when he was eight. Tuff got his nickname when he was four when his dad and Tater Decker were behind the chutes talking and he needed in the truck. Richard accidently slammed his hand in the door and did not make a noise or shed a tear. Decker said that he was a “tough nut” so the Tuff part
Bodacious was a muscular yellow Charbray bucking bull that weighed 1,900 pounds. This bull was ranked the most deadly and dangerous bull in the PRB. He was known for his explosive exit out of the chute. Also, his technique of kicking his back legs up, bringing his head to the ground, and slamming his head back crushing the riders’ faces. His bone crushing technique is what sent Tuff to the hospital. Tuff Hedeman got the lucky draw of choosing bodacious to ride in the finals. That bull has had only six other riders ride him and none of the six had lasted an eight second ride on this bull. That undefeated bull has sent every rider to the hospital, so Tuff knew he was up for a good ride. Tuff was ready to beat this bull and Bodacious was ready to show him that he was not an easy ride. During the ride Tuff said his first jump felt fine. Then Bodacious’ horn hit his face and he ended up getting slammed on the ground and his body went numb. He said he could not close his jaw so he knew it was broken. When he looked up at the audience they were all staring at him with terror in their eyes. They could not find the ambulance driver, so Tuff just sat down and watched the ride on the TV screen while he was waiting. When they got him into the ambulance, his eyes started swelling
Then in 1998 he retired from bull riding. He was an active bull rider for 18 years and he had his fun with it. He is now an ambassador for the CBR and lives back in Texas with his wife and 2 kids. He achieved many rewards after retiring and is still well-known for what he has achieved he has gotten put in the Texas rodeo hall of fame and in the Professional bull rider hall of fame. Even though Tuff is retired, he still loves to go to rodeos and watch ropings and bull ridings. He even broadcasts for the CBR. After all of the fun and hard times in his career, he has accomplished more than any bull rider