Bullet (mascot)

Bullet III at his home ranch near Tulsa, OK in 2010

Bullet is the name of the horse that is ridden by the "Spirit Rider" at Oklahoma State University-Stillwater football games and other special events. The current Bullet is a black American quarter horse gelding. Bullet was introduced as an Oklahoma State tradition in 1984 by the late Dr. Eddy Finley as part of the Spirit Rider Program. Finley, a graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, was said to have been inspired by the Red Raiders' Masked Rider when creating the Spirit Rider tradition.^[1] Bullet gallops out onto the football field at Boone Pickens Stadium, ridden by the Spirit Rider carrying an orange OSU flag, during the pre-game performance by the Cowboy Marching Band and after every Cowboy touchdown. The current Bullet is the fourth horse used in the OSU Spirit Rider program, and the third horse to be named Bullet.

The first Spirit Rider horse, a black mare named Della, was owned by John Beall Jr., who served as the original Spirit Rider at OSU.^[2] When Beall left OSU, the university decided to keep the tradition alive. In 1988, the school bought its own black horse and through a contest put on by the school newspaper, The Daily O'Collegian, and won by OSU Senior Scott Townsend, "Bullet" was adopted as the name of the horse. In 2003, Bullet I was retired and OSU broke in another black horse to roam the sidelines. Bullet II died shortly before the beginning of the 2005 football season and was replaced by a third Bullet, who still serves with the Spirit Rider program today.

In addition to riding Bullet during football games, the Spirit Rider is charged with the task of taking care of the horse, such as cleaning Bullet's stall at the OSU Equine Center, feeding and exercising Bullet every day and bathing Bullet three times a week.

In 2001, Bullet was one of three finalists for the MD Barns Silver Spur Award presented by the American Quarter Horse Association. The award honors American Quarter Horses that have made a significant impact on the lives of others and created a favorable perception of the breed.

References

Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball

Venues	Armory–Gymnasium (1919–1938) Gallagher-Iba Arena (1938–present)

Rivalries	Oklahoma

Culture & lore	History Bullet Pistol Pete 2001 team plane crash

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Oklahoma State Cowboys football

Venues	Boone Pickens Stadium (1920–present) Sherman E. Smith Training Center

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Oklahoma: Bedlam Series Texas Tech

Culture & lore	Bullet Pistol Pete "The Waving Song" "Ride 'Em Cowboys" Marching band Johnny Bright incident 2007 Texas game 2015 homecoming parade crash

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Mascots of the Big 12 Conference

Judge and Bruiser (Baylor)
Cy the Cardinal (Iowa State)
Big Jay / Baby Jay / Centennial Jay (Kansas)
Willie the Wildcat (Kansas State)
Sooner Schooner / Boomer and Sooner (Oklahoma)
Pistol Pete / Bullet (Oklahoma State)
Bevo / Hook 'em (Texas)
Super Frog (TCU)
The Masked Rider / Raider Red (Texas Tech)
Mountaineer (West Virginia)

Live animal mascots in college sports

The American	Jonathan (Connecticut) Shasta (Houston) TOM (Memphis) Peruna (SMU)

ACC	Osceola and Renegade (Florida State)

Big 12	Judge (Baylor) Boomer and Sooner (Oklahoma) Bullet (Oklahoma State) Bevo (Texas)

Big East	Butler Blue (Butler) Jack the Bulldog (Georgetown)

Conference USA	Tech (Louisiana Tech)

Ivy League	Handsome Dan (Yale)

Mountain West	CAM the Ram (Colorado State)

Pac-12	Ralphie the Buffalo (Colorado) Traveler (Southern California)

SEC	Tusk (Arkansas) War Eagle (Auburn) Uga (Georgia) Blue (Kentucky) Mike the Tiger (LSU) Bully (Mississippi State) Sir Big Spur (South Carolina) Smokey (Tennessee) Reveille (Texas A&M)

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