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That is, if they hear the horn.

Payton Fitzpatrick couldn’t, so he kept his grip on the bull.

“My dad was yelling at me to get off,” the 14-year-old said. “I couldn’t hear him either. I thought ‘well, that’s gotta be eight’ so I jumped off.”

He estimates he was on the bull for 13 seconds.

The judges scored his ride a 74 and that put Fitzpatrick in second place in the short-go at the Northwest Miniature Bull finals Nov. 7-8 in Helena. He also took second in average with 206 points in his first appearance in finals.

That was his last ride, and his best, and one that determined the outcome of the rodeo. Fitzpatrick barely qualified for the ride as he entered the short-go in 12th place.

“That’s what it came down to,” Fitzpatrick said. “That last ride was what was going to determine where you were.”

He wasn’t nervous going into the final round and focused on what he had to do.

Earlier, he rode his first bull but was bucked off the second, which put a damper on his thoughts.

“It didn’t put my hopes all the way down,” he said. “I was pretty frustrated with myself but the next night I just got all my focus back and was determined to ride my last two bulls. “

He came back to ride the next two bulls.

Fitzpatrick’s first three bulls were drawn by the contractors. Than the top-12 riders get to draw their own bulls for the fourth round.

“We just kind of hoped to get whatever bull we had been praying for,” he said.

Fitzpatrick didn’t get the one he wanted. The one he wanted was a familiar bull from Montana with the name Double-Cross he drew twice in the regular season.

“He’s one of the smaller bulls but he’s tough to ride,” he said. “He’d come out and spin every time.”

Instead, he got Cowtown, an unfamiliar bull from Wyoming. The bull’s owner offered advice on the bull, saying the bull bucked up and down.

“I was satisfied with my other bull,” Fitzpatrick said. “He bucked real good for me, put me in second place. Yeah, I got a real good bull.”

The top-12 short-go qualifiers each earned a wool vest and a Northwest Finals jacket. For his second place finish in the average, Fitzpatrick took home a pair of chaps.

Fitzpatrick said it was an honor to win the awards.

“They put a lot of money into that stuff and it feels a lot better when you earn it,” he said. “I was really glad to earn those prizes.”

But he wasn’t the only one to win.

His Nanny, Karen Hulse from Tex., bought him in the Caclutta.

“It’s just like a people auction,” he explained.

With Fitzpatrick’s finish, he and his Nanny earned $800.

“I bet she was really happy with that money,” he said.

The support from his Nanny was present as she sat with his family, friends and sponsors in the stands.

Last year, he didn’t have as much support.

“But, of course, I wasn’t riding very well either,” he explained. “This year, I got pretty serious with it.”

He also got a lot of support from his sponsors, as they paid for everything from travel expenses to entry fees.

“They were really important in me getting to those finals,” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t think I could have made it without them.”

To know that his sponsors are behind him, it allows Fitzpatrick to focus on riding bulls and not worry about anything else.

During the trip, he took his mind off bull riding with a tour of Helena from his grandpa’s brother.

“I was wanting to win the finals, but I wasn’t worrying about the finals until I got there,” he said. “I was having fun, sightseeing and everything else.”

Fitzpatrick will have the winter off, as he hasn’t practice since the rodeo, before prepping for the World finals in June.

Last year the event was held in Okla. and he had a couple friends who went, telling him the bulls buck pretty good, making him anxious to start practicing.

Until then, he will kick back and wait.

“That’s been the highlight of my whole year, that finals,” he said.

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