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Steamboat Springs — Despite all the technique and resolve required to stay on a bucking bull as it thrashes around the Brent Romick Rodeo Arena, bull rider Tony Mendes knows the stakes of the competition are simple.

“Some days it’s money, and some days it’s mud,” he said after admitting that his bull, Whamo, got the better of him during their first ride of the night. “It was supposed to be better, but he was a smart little bull. Once I started to lose control, it was all over.”

Riders saw plenty of dirt and mud at Sunday’s PBR Rocky Mountain Bull Bash in Steamboat Springs. The event featured 43 professional cowboys competing for $15,000 in prize money as they rode some of the nation’s top-rated bulls in front of a full house. Once the first chute opened, the rides rarely stopped except to accommodate the occasional stubborn bull.

Ross Lewis, from Killdeer, N.D., took first place in the Bull Bash earning a reward of $4,469.

Stetson Lawrence from Trenton, N.D., was the first rider out of the gate, and he hung on to score an 81.5.

“I definitely get more focused when I’m the first one out there,” he said. “I thought I did all right considering it was a pretty nice bull.”

Before bulls were guided out of the stocks, and the arena filled, Priest Creek Ranch owner Gary Scholten was celebrating with friends and family, wondering how his bulls would fare in the arena. After they were tested for endurance and the ferocity of their bucks in Acton, Mont., his 11 bulls were brought to Steamboat to face the cowboys.

“It’s a mix of emotions deciding who to root for,” he said. “If the rider rides well and the bull bucks well, then it’s good for everybody. I guess I will be rooting for both.”

The annual bash attracted top bull-riding talent from across the United States. Reality TV star Cord McCoy, who was featured in last season’s “The Amazing Race,” was just one of the riders deemed to be “top of the crop” by the announcers before the competition.

But by 6:30 p.m., the bulls seemed to be winning the night as the judges still didn’t have 10 riders with high enough scores to advance to the final round of the competition.

The scores didn’t bother rider Jaylee Britt, who was satisfied with his first ride. The rider from Hermiston, Ore., had a simple description of what it was like to hang on to a bull at a professional level.

“It’s like you are driving 70 miles per hour down a freeway, and then you chuck your steering wheel out the window,” he said after scoring a 74-point ride. “It sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”