The Porch Gets Up Close With OSU's Spirit Rider And 'Bullet'

At Oklahoma State University football games, one of the iconic things fans get to see on the field, other than the teams playing, is OSU's Spirit Rider and their horse, "Bullet."

Ahead of the Cowboy's homecoming game on Saturday, the Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch traveled to Bullet's home ranch near Tulsa to learn more about what goes into preparing for game day.

The current Spirit Rider, Keaton Cunningham, said taking care of Bullet has been a part of her life since she was growing up.

"For as long as I can remember, my parents were in charge of the program, so I grew up every Saturday in the fall, heading to Stillwater," Cunningham said. "The horse before him, his predecessor, was kind of my hero, and that was who I spent most of my time with."

Cunningham said Bullet spends most of her time at their ranch except for game day in Stillwater. When he's not representing the Cowboys on the field, he's just an ordinary horse.

"We come here in the summer, you ride him, build a relationship with him the whole summer," Cunningham said. "But the morning of game day, usually come down here about 5 a.m. depending on kickoff time. He gets ridden, he gets a bath, we make sure that the truck and trailer [are] hooked up, everything is ready to go."

Despite spending most of his time on the Cunningham's ranch, the family does not own Bullet, whose true owners are the OSU Athletic Department. As such, due to Bullet's insurance policy, Cunningham said no one but her mother, the current Spirit Rider, or someone with university approval is allowed to ride.

However, Cunningham said that shouldn't stop anyone from trying to come meet the horse on game day.

"We will be walking through the homecoming parade Saturday morning, and then we're at the block party two hours before kickoff," Cunningham said. "We're at the Alumni Center an hour and a half before kickoff, so come by, get a Bullet card, meet Bullet and it will be a fun day. Go Cowboys."